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Thanks hazelnut. For the most part, if we use common sense, we should be just fine. I live in the US midwest and I remember back in the 70's we had a string of brutal winters. The actual air temperature where I live dropped to minus 20 degrees and lower on multiple occasions and we had major snowstorms and blizzards. Spring time during those years brought us some rather violent weather. Came perilously close one April day in 1974 to an F5 tornado. Then the 80's and 90's were relatively calmer. Now we're back to colder winters and stormier springs. I'm not smart enough to say with absolute certainty why the weather behaves the way it does. But, if I had to lean in any direction, it would favor the notion that the biggest influence on weather isn't man-made stuff, but rather because it tends to be naturally cyclical.

Looks like you got the snow, and I got some of the ice, although it was a bit worse a little north of me. Power tried to go out a few times, but stayed on. Today's winds are strong. According to Mr. Gore, all this cold and snow are being caused by global warming. http://blog.algore.com/2011/02/an_answer_for_bill.html I have my doubts. But, what is unfortunate is that it has become politically incorrect to have healthy debate about global warming assertions. Either believe in it, or be labeled as being backwards, anti-environment, etc.

I loved my train set when I was a kid, but it was nothing like this. http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/exhibit/video/4-minutes-wunderland/

Thanks for that info, Andavari. Another toy to play with. Chris

kroozer, I recently discovered* another image-to-icon converter that appears to be portable and lightweight: ToYcon, available here. It's very simplisitc; just drag your .png or .jpg or .bmp image over the box, drop it, and how comes the .ico. (It also works in reverse.) I've been having fun with it. * The web site indicates the download has been around for a few years, so others here may already be familiar with it. Looks like an update occurred about a year ago. Works on XP and Vista.

Thanks Hazel. tzuk keeps cranking out new versions like clockwork.

I'm glad to hear this, Picablu. Have fun experimenting with Firefox.

I clicked the download link from PortableApps.com shown below with the arrow and saved the resulting files (there are about five of them) to my external back up drive that I always have connected to my system. That's where I keep all my portable apps. But, you can certainly choose to save these files to your main computer (example, onto your desktop) if you prefer. Perhaps you may want to make a folder on your desktop that is titled "Test Browsers" and save the portable Firefox files (and or portable Opera or Chrome files) there. All that matters is that you keep track of where you downloaded and saved the files. Then, when you want to run portable Firefox, just click on the file that says "FirefoxPortable.exe" Unless I'm forgetting something, it's pretty much that simple. As Hazelnut mentioned in an earlier post, the beauty of using portable apps such as this is that should you decide you don't like Firefox (or Opera or Chrome), all you have to do is just delete the files that you downloaded (ie, the files that you put in your "Test Browsers" folder). You don't have to use "Add or Remove Programs" in the Control Panel because no program was actually installed onto your system.

Just another thought for you to consider, Picablu. The three browsers you mention (Firefox, Opera, and Chrome) are all available in portable versions. Here's one source http://portableapps.com/apps Just scroll down to the "Internet" section. So, if you wanted to test each of them out without fully installing their non-portable versions on your system, you could use these portable ones for a while to determine which one(s) is your favorite. I use portable Firefox fairly often. (I think, for the most part, the portable versions of these browsers are as functional as their non-portable counterparts...at least enough so that you'll be able to give them a test drive to see how you like them.) (Edit: Apologies to Hazelnut. I need to be more careful to thoroughly read other responses before posting mine. I see you have already suggested the portable versions of these programs. Well, at least I'm in very good company with that idea.)

Update: I took a look at Redhawk's suggestions and couldn't find anything that looked suspicious. My signal strength was excellent and, as far as I could tell, there was no interference. So, I bought a new USB wireless adapter, plugged it in, and voila...success. It's great to be connected again and I appreciate the suggestions you provided. Thanks to all.

Excellent feedback, folks. I hope to start implementing the suggestions this weekend and will follow-up. Much thanks. Chris

Hello all. I?m looking for some help regarding a computer problem I?m having. My guess is that it?s hardware-related, but I?m no expert at this and the possibility exists that it could be a software problem instead. I have a well-maintained 5 year old IBM desktop (Windows XP) at my home. Three years ago we went wireless and bought a Westell Versalink modem and a Netgear WG111 V2 wireless USB adapter. Regarding the USB wireless adapter, I had problems with the CD installation software that came with it, so instead I used the ?found new hardware? Windows wizard that popped up and gave it permission to automatically search for whatever it needed (driver?) to install and run the adapter. That process worked perfectly and for most of these three years I?ve had no problems. A few months ago, however, I started noticing my system began taking longer to establish the wireless network connection when I would try to log onto the internet. And now, starting this past week, it has gotten much worse to where it may take 30 minutes before my system finally makes the connection. Once I am logged on, sometimes my system drops the connection. I don?t think the problem is with the Westell Versalink modem; my wife has no problems connecting wirelessly via her Mac laptop. So I?m guessing that my Netgear WG111 V2 wireless USB adapter may have gone bad. I used Device Manager to update the driver, but that hasn?t made any difference. My two initial questions are: 1) Do you agree that the next step would be to replace the wireless USB adapter? 2) If so, then what?s your opinion regarding my preference to buy one (Netgear?) that I can plug in and install solely using Windows? new hardware wizard versus the wireless USB adapter?s own CD installation software and the potential, associated bloat? Thanks, in advance.

For Sandboxie users, the release of version 3.50 has been announced: http://www.sandboxie.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=9166

Thank you for this, hazelnut.

It may not be exactly what you're looking for, but have you considered Returnil? Simply put, when activated, it virtualizes your system drive. Upon reboot, everything that happened is wiped clean. Several frequent posters on this forum use it. Edit: Oops - Nevermind. I should've read the preceding posts more thoroughly before responding. It looks like login123 already made the suggestion.

Version 3.48, which requires online activation every 90 days, is now available.

Perhaps I should. I've noticed what appears to be a higher than normal number of posts in their forum about problems users are experiencing running 3.46. tzuk seems to acknowledge it here (although I don't have Vista like that OP does).

Thanks for the info, hazelnut. Quite an active thread over there on this topic. Don't know about you, but I've had problems running some apps in version 3.46, so I system restored back to 3.442. It's the first time I had any significant troubles with a new version of SBIE.

WHRX, I just want to affirm you for having the concerns you expressed about your niece's son. My kids aren?t yet teenagers, but regardless, I do and will make every effort to promote safe surfing when they are on the internet?even if it means getting heavy-handed. True, as my kids get older they may choose to pursue alternate ways to view objectionable and potentially harmful material. But it won?t be because I deemed it pointless to try to prevent them from doing so. Best wishes to you and your family.

I've never installed service patches using ISO's. Is this where one downloads the ISO?

Dennis, I really like the concern you have for those of us who come to this forum for advice and help. You're a good man. Chris.

I used Windows Update with no problems.

Thanks Anomaly and Dennis. I appreciate the answers. Dennis, I plan on giving Macrium a test run when I have a free weekend. (Don't want to rush through it.) It's good to know there's support here if I've got follow-up questions. Take care. Chris

I have very limited experience with imaging. My system (IBM/Lenovo) is about 5 years old and I have prepared a few images using a program that came pre-installed (IBM Rescue and Recovery). Fortunately, I have never had to restore from those images; I am only assuming they have been successfully made. I'm tempted to install Macrium given the many kudos that it receives here. But, I try to avoid redundant programs on my computer, so I'm still debating what to do. In any event, I have a question about Macrium that is prompted by Tom AZ's post. If Macrium Reflect is used to create an image of one's computer, and if the hard drive on that pc has to be subsequently replaced, can that image be easily restored to the new drive on that same computer using Macrium's "standard" procedures? Or would the special tutorial mentioned in Anomaly's post need to be followed?

Speaking of Inpaint, version 2.4 is being offered today at Giveaway of the Day..