This may be of interst to you, there are many system resource meters out there for you to know how much of your computer is getting taxed just before a render. I use Sysmeter. It's a skinnable utility c you can find links to at most skins sites. tucows.com is another place to look for system meters. Most tell of you CPU, RAM, Hard Disk Swap, Upload and Download Speeds, Up and Current time. I've even heard of some with temp. readings. You can also edit how many programs load during startup by going to Start>Setting>Taskbar>Advanced>Advanced>Programs>StartUp. All the icons in that folder will launch, during reboot, and then eat resources in your system tray. Delete anything you do'nt use everyday. = )