truebelief4u

OK, will check out the Zone Alarm.....ummm, one other question, do you have to disable the SP2 (Windows) firewall to use the ZA? (And what the heck does the Windows firewall even do.....every time I run Ad-Aware/Spybot they find stuff that has managed to install itself just from surfing the web...mostly just tracking cookies, but sometimes other stuff as well....I thought Windows firewall was supposed to block that crap, from all the hype about SP2....I can't see where SP2 actually does much of anything! :unsure: )

Ummmm.....the AVG and Spybot both have "real-time monitors," but other than that all I have is the SP2 thing (whatever it does). Registry cleaner.....I have RegScrubXP (free), and it seems to do a good job. Also finally found a utility that actually gets rid of index.dat files [ Index.dat Suite.... http://support.it-mate.co.uk/?mode=Products&p=index.datsuite ], unlike CCleaner which DOESN'T get rid of them like it is supposed to.

Hey, that v2555 doesn't sound too bad.......I may have to rethink this and go for a new machine right out of the box! Thanks!

Oh yeah, one other thing......before I get blasted by some "Christian," the moniker "truebelief4u" has nothing to do with religion.......it has to do with what(ever) one believes (in any field)......there is a vast difference between believing something just because others believe it, and believing something because one has weighed the evidence and facts. I suppose "Christianity," would be a good example, though....lot of "beliefs" there that fly in the face of evidence and facts, but that's my point....whatever it may be, the "correct view" is established by facts and evidence, not by simply parroting the opinions of others. Now have I confused anybody yet? I think ish time fer another Wudbeiser....

I am about to switch from a desktop PC to a laptop. My "old" PC is a Dell, 600MHz FSB, 128MB RAM, 20GB hard drive, running Windows XP-Home Edition (SP2), using IE and Firefox as browsers, and I am about as computer literate as a hog in a slop trough. (But I'm learning! ) A local computer shop, which also deals in used computers, has a small selection of laptops, and the one I am considering is an HP Omnibook 6000: 1GHz FSB, 512MB RAM, 40GB hard drive, running Windows XP-Pro (SP2), and they have it marked $499 (laptop & power source only), or $599 with optical mouse, powered speakers (JBL), microphone, surge protector/power source.........is this a fair price, and is this a good laptop? Internet search via Google has turned up so many results and they vary so widely I still don't know if this is a good one or not, or if it is a fair price. [Prices run anywhere from $400 - $4,000!!! ][That's not a misprint, I said $4,000...and I sure ain't paying THAT much!!!! http://pcworld.about.com/news/Apr132001id46629.htm ] I am switching because I will be moving around a lot in the next couple years, and can't drag a desktop PC with me . . . so if there are any computer gurus out there who have a working knowledge of the HP 6000, please let me know what you think (or feel free to make recommendations). Thanks! Oh yeah.....another question.......I have been using the "free" anti-spyware/antivirus programs (mainly because I'm a cheap bastard).....are these REALLY as good as the paid versions? AVG and Avast for antivirus; Ad-Aware SE and Spybot S&D for antispyware, along with SpywareBlaster. Well, crap, another question while I'm at it....I use CCleaner, and it is SUPPOSED to get rid of index.dat files, but it doesn't....any suggestions as to a free (told ya, I'm cheap) program that WILL get rid of the index.dat files?