Is there a tool available that will tell me which version of Windows the product key on this sticker is for? [more inside]
posted by flabdablet on Dec 8, 2009 - 10 answers

What are the basic steps to remove personal information off of a hard drive? (XP Home, SP3) [more inside]
posted by salvia on Nov 27, 2009 - 9 answers

Trying to fix a friend's Windows laptop, which is behaving strangely. [more inside]
posted by jbickers on Oct 31, 2009 - 14 answers

Looking for the perfect laptop for traveling. Priorities are durability, lightness, and battery life, in that order. Performance is not too important, but it must run Windows 7 like a champ. Willing to consider netbooks. [more inside]
posted by Afroblanco on Oct 29, 2009 - 19 answers

Is this computer hot? [more inside]
posted by ChurchHatesTucker on Oct 10, 2009 - 12 answers

My laptop hasn't been the same since blitzing some particularly nasty malware. What on earth did I do? [more inside]
posted by nostrich on Aug 20, 2009 - 9 answers

Trouble installing windows xp on a vista laptop (Acer 6530) [more inside]
posted by gigimakka on Aug 18, 2009 - 5 answers

Which one of the multitude of Linux distros should someone who's never used Linux before give a go? [more inside]
posted by n3rt on Aug 18, 2009 - 34 answers

I recently logged onto my computer (Windows XP), and it said "profile not found". Help, please! [more inside]
posted by too bad you're not me on Jul 23, 2009 - 6 answers

When will Windows 7 be standard on new computers and how should this affect my intent to buy a new laptop? [more inside]
posted by jefficator on Jun 17, 2009 - 13 answers

I have a Toshiba laptop running Vista (alas) and a recent spate of problems (extremely slow operations, mostly) seemed to have possibly been caused by fragmentation. I tried defragging, with mixed success. [more inside]
posted by ricochet biscuit on Apr 30, 2009 - 9 answers

Help me take a forlorn old gateway laptop and transform it into a sleek new multimedia monster. Or something. [more inside]
posted by googly on Apr 20, 2009 - 8 answers

I'm at my wits' end trying to find a suitable LCD monitor to use as a secondary screen for an oldish Toshiba laptop. [more inside]
posted by _dario on Mar 28, 2009 - 4 answers

Why can't I install Windows XP Pro on my Dell laptop? I get an error message that says "acpi.sys is corrupted". I can install Ubuntu 8.04 just fine. [more inside]
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints on Mar 24, 2009 - 47 answers

Managing a projector with a laptop at a different resolution. The short: classroom training sessions with a Dell laptop hooked up to a projector is giving me some issues, looking for advice on how to rectify the situation. [more inside]
posted by wile e on Mar 4, 2009 - 3 answers

What does it mean when a used laptop is advertised as having Windows XP installed and coming with a COA sticker? Without having a Windows install cd, is there any benefit to having such a sticker? Would it, for example, permit one to call MS and obtain a new install disk for Windows XP?
posted by washburn on Jan 15, 2009 - 11 answers

How can I reinstall Windows onto an old Toshiba Portege 7010CT with no external drives? [more inside]
posted by ajp on Dec 21, 2008 - 13 answers

What sort of specs should I look for for my new (sub-$600) PC laptop? [more inside]
posted by Caz721 on Dec 19, 2008 - 6 answers

My laptop's right-arrow key is remapping itself. Any tips for diagnosis or repair? [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi on Oct 25, 2008 - 10 answers

How do I remedy the error message I'm getiting on my laptop about the windows\system32\config\system file being missing or corrupt? [more inside]
posted by otherwordlyglow on Jul 12, 2008 - 15 answers

My fantastically unstable IBM T42 (which is on it's 3rd, soon to be 4th, life) died a little while ago, no longer booting into Ubuntu. However, it loves to boot into Windows. How do I nuke both? [more inside]
posted by tmcw on Jul 11, 2008 - 8 answers

Syncing between laptops: How can I easily and automatically sync files and documents between two laptops using Bluetooth? Ideally I want to load up one machine in the vicinity of the other and have all my recent data (documents/data/RSS feeds etc.) syncronised with NO hassle. Any good apps out there? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Jul 9, 2008 - 8 answers

Should I reinstall XP to speed up my laptop? [more inside]
posted by Kiwi on Apr 22, 2008 - 9 answers

What's the best way to erase my hard drive for resale if I don't have original OS reinstall CDs to work with? [more inside]
posted by rhoticity on Feb 29, 2008 - 13 answers

Best US$1000.00 Windows laptop? [more inside]
posted by bodega on Dec 28, 2007 - 13 answers

Is it possible to buy a new laptop for around $500 with Windows XP? [more inside]
posted by nzero on Sep 30, 2007 - 6 answers

BSODFilter: I tried to install a RAM upgrade in my girlfriend's Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop, and got nothing on screen after powerup. So I replaced the old DIMM, and got the BSOD -- the file that was missing was a driver for the Intel video adapter. Long story short, it's still not working. [more inside]
posted by YoungAmerican on Aug 2, 2007 - 10 answers

I was attempting to resize the partitions on my laptop when accidentally my laptop shut down and now I can't boot back into windows. [more inside]
posted by sk381 on Apr 4, 2007 - 10 answers

I'm saving up for a laptop, but I don't want Vista. Can I buy a new laptop with XP installed? [more inside]
posted by clockworkjoe on Jan 29, 2007 - 4 answers

Could turning on hard drive compression actually speed up access on my laptop? [more inside]
posted by Ookseer on Nov 25, 2006 - 10 answers

Please comment on the wisdom of buying a MacBook Pro PRIMARILY for use as a Windows computer. [more inside]
posted by scarabic on Jul 29, 2006 - 26 answers

The backlight on my Windows laptop randomly turns itself off. It used to randomly go into hibernate, until I turned off the hibernate-on-lid-closed feature. Any ideas? [more inside]
posted by Netzapper on Jul 3, 2006 - 4 answers

Are you an expert on gaming laptops? Help me pick a Windows laptop that's small, light, with decent graphics. [more inside]
posted by Nelson on Jun 6, 2006 - 11 answers

used old IBM power adapter on new IBM laptop. The voltage was the same, amperage was lower, but now the machine won't boot with a major Windows 2000 registry error. Am I frying my machine? [more inside]
posted by Parannoyed on Mar 1, 2006 - 8 answers

WindowsXPFilter: How can I make the power meter icon on my new laptop display the time remaining in addition to the percent of battery power left? [more inside]
posted by richardhay on Jan 28, 2006 - 8 answers

My laptop is running hot lately with the fan going all the time regardless of processor load. Is there a windows XP setting that controls processor stepping? [more inside]
posted by srboisvert on Nov 28, 2005 - 14 answers

I recently acquired a vintage laptop with Windows 95 installed on it. I would like to install Linux on it. [more inside]
posted by cloeburner on Nov 17, 2005 - 30 answers

I've a dual boot windows/linux laptop which is periodically attached to a novell network. Does anyone know of a utility to copy files from a drive on a laptop to the network, where they'll get backed up, without me having to remember to do it?
posted by handee on Nov 16, 2005 - 7 answers

The new 15 inch Powerbook suits my computing needs perfectly, but one of those plus new software would actually break the bank. What's the closest I can get with a Windows laptop? [more inside]
posted by godawful on Nov 6, 2005 - 25 answers

Windows XP reinstall troubles. I'm fixing a laptop for a friend of mine, but in the middle of Windows XP Pro reinstall, the installer stops at 35 minutes remaining, while 'Installing Devices'. [more inside]
posted by armoured-ant on Sep 29, 2005 - 9 answers

Help me recover data off a (seemingly) dead laptop hard drive. [more inside]
posted by killdevil on Aug 2, 2005 - 5 answers

I'm trying to burn the Knoppix 4.0 DVD ISO on my wife's second-hand Averatec Windows XP laptop. I have tried almost a dozen DVD burning programs without success. Most of them can't see there's a blank DVD in the drive. What's up? [more inside]
posted by rwhe on Jul 1, 2005 - 10 answers

Why does my laptop freeze up a few minutes after the power cable is disconnected? [more inside]
posted by nobody on Apr 26, 2005 - 5 answers

My girlfriend has a fairly new Dell laptop that has suddenly developed a few problems. [more inside]
posted by tomorama on Apr 24, 2005 - 12 answers

Laptop Clean XP Install:
1] My (on board?) sound card is unrecognised. How do I find out what drivers to use?

2] What programs do you really think I need? I already have VNC, VLC, Firefox, Thunderbird and AVG installed. What else should I add? (Freeware/OS appriciated but not needed.) [more inside]
posted by twine42 on Dec 16, 2004 - 8 answers

Windows users: What's your screen resolution? Are you using clear type? Sometimes I find I cant get anything done unless I'm at 800x600 and with clear type off, but when I'm not working, coding, writing, etc I really like the higher resolution and nicer fonts. What gives?
posted by skallas on Nov 20, 2004 - 42 answers

WinXP: my laptop downloaded a windows update (not sure what sort). Now, when I shut down, it tries to update my machine. I get a message saying that Windows is updating, and it advises me NOT to turn off my machine until it's done. But it continues to "update" forever. I've let it sit for two hours, and it still claims to be updating. Finally, with clenched teeth, I shut off the machine and rebooted. Everything seems okay. Now, whenever I shut down, it asks me if I want to install the upgrade or not. If I say yes, the machine stalls on that upgrading message. If I say no, it shuts down fine. I'm ok with saying no all the time, except that now I can't ever add any new updates. What should I do?
posted by grumblebee on Oct 27, 2004 - 14 answers

My laptop can no longer receive the Internet! The internet comes, via DSL, into my DESKTOP pc. The Desktop's DSL modem is hooked up to a LinkSys Wireless-B router, which broadcasts the Internet signal to my laptop. The lights on the LynkSys are blinking as usual. My desktop is receiving the web just fine. My laptop IS showing the little "connected" (two-computers) icon in the system tray, and when I hover over it, it says "Wireless Network Connection... Speed 11.0 Mbps, Signal Strength: Excellent." But when I start of a browser, I can't get to any page. I CAN get to the same pages on my desktop. Help! [more inside]
posted by grumblebee on Aug 30, 2004 - 11 answers

A USB 2.0 card reader is causing my Windows 2000 laptop to completely hang up. [mi] [more inside]
posted by alidarbac on Aug 16, 2004 - 1 answer

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 by twine42 on Jan 21, 2004 - 8 answers