[TQ29m]

I started with computers back when they were all plug and play, you had a cartridge you could plug in, and it would play, you had to buy each "program" and it was sealed up, you could give it some questions, but not many, then along came Commodore, it was really high tech, and you could buy "programs" for it, even a printer, let me tell you, if you had one of them, you were a "tech" savvy guy, yet none of these gave you internet, anything you wanted to do, you could figure out in your head faster. Then about the early 70's, I bought a Radio Shack model, still no internet, and no hd, or ram, it had an A and a B drive, the OS was on the A, and what you wanted to do, was on the B, now that elevated you to some real high Tech guru. I managed to write a program, that would let me take care of my business at the time, inventory, cost, selling price, and even print out tickets, and store the persons name for future deals. Now, today, after going thru all the itterations, I've settled on a model you see everywhere, they are little desk top models, being pulled in off of lease, and sold for about the same as the shipping, they are water cooled, for 24/7/365 use, and do everything I need to do, I buy them off Ebay for anywhere from $39.99, to $59.99, and they are ready to load all your stuff on them, most come with XP Pro, and in 3yrs, I've had one HD take a dump, cost me less than $40.00 for a new hard drive, and of course I had to start a lot of stuff over, I had stored the important stuff on disc, so it didn't take long, and I was back in business, I now have a spare, a twin to the one I'm using now, and I just hook it up once in a while, and update it, they have 4 slots for Ram, and most of them have an 80gb HD, but that can be raised to whatever you want ,for peanuts, compared to a new computer, and you can't buy XP new anymore, so you're stuck with 7 or 8. Me, I'd take 30 minutes or so, and fix my old one for $10.00, and ride on down the road. The one's I have now are chip speed of 3.4gb, 4gb Ram, and 80gb HD, plenty quick for surfin, and ckin emails, and readin IOW! Bob

[Jonr]

I agree with the earlier post that the problem is probably a bad fan. Before you do anything, I would unplug everything from the computer and simply get a good vacumn and clean out all of the vents. You would be amazed on how much dust/dirt/grime your computer will suck into itself. The vents are always very disgusting.

If that failed, I would suggest simply watching the after Christmas specials at all of the big retail giants for the best desk top on sale. Chances are probalby very high that the most basic computer you buy today will be 100 times better than your six year old computer.

While you state your are not a high end user, the most basic user will notice a large improvement when they upgrade from a 6 year old computer.

[cmp]

Back-Up Youir Data asap to be safe.......
Bruce

[Onlydirt]

If you want 99% of your troubles to go away, get a MAC. However its gonna cost ya. The other folks are spot on, if its running its probably the fan, the only other thing that can make terrible noise is the hard drive. Fans are supper cheap and you can get crazy lighted ones or super fast ones also.

[Half fast]

Take the side panels off and blow it out with an air hose...works wonders

[Onlydirt]

Originally Posted by Half fast Take the side panels off and blow it out with an air hose...works wonders

Wear a mask also Computers attract so much dust and dirt!

[billyb]

Hey Cowboy; Give it a quick *******, or tell Dick to chip in on a new tower.