ManFromTheBand, isn't XP Pro 64bit? If so why won't it utilize all the ram? Vista seems like a RAM hog. I heard W7 will run faster on the same machine, but the requirements call for more ram that Vista if I remember correctly.

I've been experimenting by wiping off all programs except those needed for the PC to run as a business machine. So far it seems to have sped up a bit. I have shut off updates, deleted all the trial software and as much media software as possible and installed Office 2003.

XP pro can be either 32 or 64 just like regular XP.

Out of the box, XP is limited to 2.0GB. There are fine articles about this and the /3GB switch which only helps increase applications compiled "special" to get access to 3GB. The OS gets what's left or the usual 2.75 to 3.5GB you see reported to Windows. The rest is lost due to how the Intel architecture works (Video card I/O mapping etc.) My XP Pro 32 has 4 GB installed and reports seeing 3.25 of that.

Vista and Win 7 will see and use pretty much as much ram as you can throw at them. I am going to upgrade my system soon to Win 7.

I bought a new laptop about a week ago running Win 7 and IE8? Can't find the version, but it's 64-bit. Anyhow, just a couple questions for you techie folks...

If I try to retrieve an old order on the FARVV site (which gives me a PDF file) I can read it fine on my older computer running XP with IE7, but I can't read it on the Win 7 system. I get a message that says "Internet Explorer has stopped working. A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available." Which it doesn't. Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed, so it's not that answer.

Also, does anyone know if there's a way to disable that disc thingy that's supposed to speed up your scrolling, but sends my page shooting all over the place?

I'm still getting the hang of this new system. So far, I mostly like it.

Thanks in advance.