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

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

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

I love Vista, hate the way it handles flash drives. Obi-Wan, Help Me! I use a Vista laptop and an XP desktop for work. When I copy anything from the XP machine on my flash drive and use it on my Vista Laptop, it won't let me delete or re-save it after editing, saying the file is Read-Only. Even if I copy something to it from the Vista machine it always asks to confirm things. I know UAC is a pain in the neck but is there anyway around it's behaviour on flashdrives?
posted by damiano99 on Dec 18, 2008 - 6 answers

7200 rpm or 5400 rpm laptop drive, that is the question. [more inside]
posted by dancestoblue on Dec 5, 2008 - 15 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

WindowsXP laptop, performed an XP automatic update on itself and has since had no internet connectivity. Despite connecting and receiving an IP address. [more inside]
posted by geekyguy on Jul 10, 2008 - 5 answers

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

Going to try "downgrade" my new laptop from Vista to XP. Most painless method? Software to identify all drivers or other methods? [more inside]
posted by Iteki on Feb 12, 2008 - 13 answers

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

Need to protect sensitive data on laptops taken out to the field. Something like Bitlocker, but for XP maybe? [more inside]
posted by bartleby on Nov 9, 2007 - 9 answers

I need some (more) help to set up a presentation station for a school foyer. I have an elderly XP laptop and 17inch LCD screen mounted some distance away. [more inside]
posted by chairish on Oct 7, 2007 - 4 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

Is this stupid: buying a Vista laptop intending to immediately install and dual boot XP Professional? [more inside]
posted by MaverickX on Apr 27, 2007 - 15 answers

My laptop comes with a "hidden" partition that is approximately 1.5GB in size that contains drivers, configuration settings, recovery utilities, etc. How can I see what's inside and browse that partition? I have tried assigning a drive letter using Partition Magic - but that returns error messages. I would like to take a peek for a couple of reasons, but the major purpose would be to grab the drivers and perform a clean install of XP, free of all the "crapware" that is all over the C: drive. Any ideas?
posted by Gerard Sorme on Jul 27, 2006 - 17 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

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

Wi-fi woes. My XP laptop connects to the Web on my open home network, but I've had problems connecting to other open networks elsewhere. [MORE INSIDE] [more inside]
posted by timnyc on Jan 8, 2005 - 1 answer

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

My girlfriend took her work laptop (running XP Pro) home, and I thoughfully messed with the settings when she left it on the table.

I switched the computer from her work domain to our home workgroup in an effort to transfer some mp3s from our central computer. Of course, the settings wouldn't take effect until I restarted. So I did. Now, I can't get past the login screen-- it tells me that it can't log in and to make sure that the domain and password are correct.

What do I do, besides make her call tech support first thing tomorrow?
posted by Mayor Curley on Sep 26, 2004 - 15 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

Twiddling my thumbs... wirelessly! I'm setting up a new Windows XP Pro laptop with built-in 802.11b. It seems to detect our Apple Airport (I) base station just fine, and connect to it. Just can't get any network services through it (ie: web pages are all 404s). Any suggestions?
posted by scarabic on Dec 24, 2003 - 7 answers