Super Fast

Well, cause, I tested removal of index.dat files with no problem. Even though I don't (normally) use Windows Help, I have in time past. I don't recommend randomly deleting any old .dat files, because there are programs that use .dat extension for incomplete files & other things. But so far, had no problems when I experimented with removal of index.dat files sometime back. I currently am on W7, but I have used XP for a while. Am testing things in W7, so it may be a few months before I switch back. Have a few ideas how to tweak some things in XP that I learned from testing in 7. Time past... Errrr... I'd say, perhaps less than 4 months ago?

I downloaded samples of different types of videos, & MPC HC had videos it refused to play that worked fine under KMP & VLC. Though there were a few others that worked reasonably well, I ended up dumping GOM player for same reason as the rest. I also dumped Xion, Foobar, Real, Quicktime, & many others in favor of true multi-media players.

MTA, I can access it via FF or IE with 0 problems on this end. Have you tried creating a new user profile on Windows, then letting FF create a new profile to ensure the old is not corrupted somehow? Or going into FF network settings & check that it is set to No Proxy? Sorry to hear of your problems connecting!

That is 1 part of 8 that I like. Wonder how hard it is to make 8's recovery partition maker work in 7? Of course, what do you do if the recovery partition gets infected with rootkits?

Wow!!!! Wonder how many of those have been me? 5? 15? J/K!!!

Thanks! I am looking forward to the full release of ReactOS myself. Free Windows "clone" that is gradually adding emulation support for XP/running Windows programs, etc. Good that 8's only $40, seeing the predecessors that were in the hundreds...

Only on 7 at the moment. But they added support for 8 with the recent versions. See here: -> User shows installation & use on Windows 8.

I have my ways!!!

So, did you use Photo Story or just WMM?

Gee! How can you do that if you love yourself? These people must not feel loved! LOL!

@Keatah... Can you tell much difference between a run of Defraggler & Ultimate Defrag? Just wondering... I have ultimate defrag lying around somewhere, but never got around to testing the performance just yet.

Flash & Shockwave are both created by Macromedia, which is owned now by Adobe. Flash -> Interactive front-end web applications/advertising/short animations. Shockwave -> Destination web content/product demos/presentations/online shopping carts/multi-user games. Flash is the faster, sleeker version, & requires less technical know-how to use. Costs less to master (classes/books/teaching programs). Shockwave is costlier to learn, is more challenging to decode & modify, & requires more expertise. It can also integrate Flash (Flash can't integrate shockwave). Flash is made through Adobe Flash ($699 USD). Shockwave is made through Adobe Director ($999 USD). While they have similarities, the differences are enough that I am glad flash is prevailing over shockwave.

Here are things to try: 1) Test your speakers to be sure they still work. 2) Try another pair of speakers if your not sure the ones you are using still work. 3) With the PC off, ensure your using the correct (usually green) sound input for your speakers & that they are on (if they are amplified) speakers. 4) Right-Click My Computer/Properties, & Device Manager. Install correct drivers if yellow ? exists, & enable if it's disabled. 5) Check your audio on the PC in the taskbar next to the clock. Ensure it is enabled & the volume is 100%. 6) Some PC's have built in audio vs soundcard. Sometimes one or the other will be enabled. Be sure your using the correct audio. 7) If using built in audio, check that it's enabled in the BIOS. 8) Go to Control Panel/Users & create a new user. Test if audio works under the new account to eliminate profile corruption possibility. 9) Check if audio works in Safe Mode by tapping f8 key about once per second on power on to bring up safe mode option. If any of these work, let us know. If they do not, let us know. If worst comes to worst & you have nothing mission critical on your PC, can always reset Windows.

Off topic post removed by moderator.

Not... lately. Although I have in time past. I noted that my machine specs were considerably higher than their test machine, which is probably the reason my FF got so much higher. I do intend to test the later version of IE10 when I have time. Hopefully, they will come out with the final soon.

Not at the moment. But I have used it before, & it also includes skins to make it appear to be XP, Vista, 7, etc... Not a bad proggy.

Agreed. I think they will find out (too late) that the whole problem all along is that they make being able to use DRM'd media so complicated, that you have to be a genius. Not many people want to, or have that much time & energy to invest to do so, which is the real reason they are losing customers. By now, this whole "War on pirates, theives, etc." has reached such an epidemic scale, it has people scared to do nearly anything for fear of being sued!!!

They may find that the actually lose customers, because a large part of their customer base just want things to work. Unfortunately, many mom/dad/grandpaps don't have the time or interest to try to get DRM'd DVD/games to work on their TV/PC. They market DRM limited media as the way to go, & the moral thing to do. But when DRM'd media doesn't work properly, what is one to do? When enough people find out about the DRM they just bought, I expect instead of returns, to see class action lawsuits prevalent.

If I produce a physical chair to sell, & someone tries to take it without paying for it, that is stealing. If someone else produces a chair to sell that is nearly identical to mine, that is not stealing. It's competition. If someone else produces a thought that is nearly identical to the one that I am thinking, they have not stolen anything. Not even if I "patent" the thought. How did this get to be such a controversial issue, or even get to patentable phase? Apple may find that those they sue are starting to sue back!!!

I don't even use help & support on Windows. So I never suffer that problem! I don't believe I have had any problems on my machine in removing index.dat files, either, mta.

I don't watch much TV. Guess that will kill the pay-per-view business? As for the face blink, you mean all you have to do is take 2 pics now? Take a pic with your eyes open & closed, then swap pics to fool the cam?

I thought DRM was already permanently cracked? After all, no content is any good to humans until it is in human understandable format. Of course, once it has been "unlocked" to display in that format, anything can be copied & reproduced.

Nikki, it seems that XP works best if you take XP (No SP) & integrate SP3 via NLite. Upgrading SP to SP to SP on XP seems to cause problems in my testing. If things bonker out, maybe you can still try to create an XP SP3 disk from your XP SP1 via NLite & see if it does any better. I perfer AVG vs Norton, because Norton tries to controll too many parameters & slows or kills machines.

JM, there are too many XP configurations to be able to say conclusively without a posting of your exact startup items & services. If you post your startup items/services, I am sure that we can provide performance boosting tips as well as recommended items to disable. I typically turn off drive indexing (& other resource hoggers) because I use Locate32 instead.

My FF 16.02 got a better score in 10 seconds with 94 tabs open, than their IE10 (presumably with 1 tab open). However, in looking at the specs, their machine also had lower specs than my machine. And I have not tried IE10 lately on this machine. May try later.