Laptopfilter: I'm curious about how CPU usage, noise level, and being able to go to standby/hibernation and shut down properly are related. For a long time (over a year, I think) my HP laptop(running Windows XP) was at 100% CPU usage all the time, ran loudly, and wouldn't go to standby or hibernation or shut down all the way. There's a lot [more inside]
posted on Jan 31, 2007 - 11 answers

Shopping for a cheap used laptop: What are the minimum specs I should be looking for with respect to CPU, RAM, HD? I'm planning to use WinXP (maybe I'll settle for 2K), Open Office, and FireFox (including some AJAX-heavy web sites such as gmail, Google Docs, del.icio.us), with a wifi card. And not much else. I want to avoid "I'm always waiting for this stupid slow computer!" but not spend much more than the minimum needed to avoid that.
posted on Dec 18, 2006 - 24 answers

Winxp laptop: Blue screen, unrequested reboots and mysterious problems. Please help me connect the dots and figure out what's wrong with my computer. [more inside]
posted on Feb 5, 2006 - 6 answers

Is it a bad idea to run the Folding@Home client on a laptop? [more inside]
posted on Apr 19, 2005 - 11 answers

Why do certain Windows applications eat up 100% of my CPU processing capacity, and what can I do about it? This just happened when I started up Zelda Classic, and happens with my SNES emulator. Additional clues and oddities under the fold, Cartalk-style. [more inside]
posted on Mar 22, 2005 - 14 answers

My laptop has taken to switching itself off at random intervals, but only at my parents or in-laws houses. The general consensus is that these houses are hotter than my own and it may be just enough to upset my system.

Can anyone recommend a good freeware (pref OpenSource) program to check up on the internal temperatures of the system? I'm running WinXP.
posted on Jan 21, 2004 - 8 answers