[bentwings]

I finally got my box back. At first there really wasn't much changed. no internet, missing files, things changed around...on and on. I tried to work with it but it still got worse. I had already tried some of the fixes suggested before sending it off but it just kept getting worse untill it would barely open windows after about 5 minutes.
Got tired of it. Luckily I made a backup of the important stuff and had discs for the rest of the software.
My son has a "wipe" program that totally cleans the HD. He sent it to me and walked me through the process. He said don't worry about it and don't mess with it. I haven't a clue what it is but it sure wiped out everything. I don't think I could have done better with a rare earth magnet.
I reinstalled the full XP Pro and ser pac 1 as well as MS updates.. While it still isn't exactly as before it is a lot faster than ever. It now boots up in about 45 sec. IE comes on instantly as does outlook exp. I'm not real happy with OE but I can change it as necessary. A couple of my graphic intensive programs now run perfectly. The belly in my screen display is gone and I am able to run one level higher screen res.
My cd/cdr seems slower but doesn't quit in the middle of lengthy transfers as it did before.
The only problem is my printer. Actually I had to give up my original Epson 1270 for my wife's 870. Long story...don't ask. As it turns out the d...m printer won't print. It seems installed ok. I think there is something wrong with the ink system. The printer was only used about 3 mo and very little at that. I'm going to get new ink cart. tomorrow so maybe that will fix it.
The shop actually didn't charge me for the work even though they had about a whole day into it. The guy said I could install XP myself and save some $$$ so I was for that. I'm going to take a pizza over to them Friday for lunch.

I want to thank y'all for the help. I was able to write down the file url's so I can try to fix any future problems before they get out of hand.
Sure is nice to be back on line.
bentwings