Hi Simbad6! I've only been using PCs for less than two years now and Bryce for less than a month but I found a few things that helped me. Take a look at http://www.blackviper.com/ there's a wealth of information here that will help veterans and noobs like me too! Things like a thorough "services" list detailing what's safe to disable for a more efficient PC or just for privacy and what NOT to install from your Windows disc (system restore and indexing eats up resources and are inefficient if not worthless). Also I installed Spywareblaster and Spybot Search and Destroy. They can be downloaded here: http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/downloads.html and here: http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download Before I open Bryce I disable my Norton Antivirus, Block traffic on Norton Internet Security and close Norton System Doctor. Pretty much anything that might start up or slow down my rendering. I have a P4 2.0 Ghz with 512ram and 128 Vidcard Hope this helps somewhat. I just wish I knew more about all this stuff so I could be more helpful.

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." Leonardo da Vinci