more tips for XP : http://majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=12 use this to turn off a lot of services you don't need / use. really makes things stable and fast :) (use the Safe config first - you can fine tune from there) it's worth doing. my XP Pro just glides along.. add on the best windows shell I've found for Speed and Stability - http://www.astonshell.com/aston/ and you've got a totally stable system. I normally have up times in weeks now.. I only have to take her down if I do an update or install.. :) also - dump Internut Exploder and get something like Firefox. this is not the old security arguement.. just that Firefox is more stable and faster than Internut Exploder...