my guess and I do mean guess is that it was a conincidence that it failed right after doing the updates, for DA it was not a drive failure but a corrupted/failed Operating system. It could be due to the fact the drive they provided you was not a new drive, but drives that are brand new sometimes fail. There is an old trick for trying to save info from a failed drive you might want to try it, you freeze the drive literally put it in the freezer,wrap it in paper towels put it in a sealed ziplock baggie, let it freeze well(a few hours or over night), stick it in the enclosure, or plug into the pc, and as fast as possible try to access it and grab your info, it will not work for long but many times it will work long enough to get the info off of it. Usually the window is about 15 mins. You can make it last longer if you put a frozen container or those blue ice packs on top of the drive when you take it out and connect it to the pc (protect it from moisture of course). Have a flash drive or some backup drive ready to go to get that info backed up immediately. You can repeat this a few times if you are lucky. Why freezing a hard drive might help on this site scroll way way down below all the blue text to read the info on how to and why freezing might work. does the drive spin at all? can you hear it spin up? is there any clicking or noise, does your pc recognize or see the drive? If it is spinning then freezing it is not the way to go because a spinning drive is not a dead drive. IF you want to try Spin Rite by Steve Gibson here is the site for it. SpinRite also this link talks of options to try including the freezer technique. Here is a link that might be useful: freezer technique and more

If you are doing an "image" or "clone" backup, that will include the OS as well as all your installed programs, updates, and document (pictures, music, etc.). Then if the hard drive is indeed failing, you can purchase a new one, not expensive at all now, install it, and use the clone to reinstall your entire computer with everything just as it is right now. There are several free programs that will make this type of backup for you if you can get one to install. This will save you a ton of work bringing everything up to date since XP has been around long enough that there are a ton of updates. I have used this one and find the GUI very easy to follow: Here is a link that might be useful: EASEUS ToDo Backup Free

The computer boots normally with the original ram module. When I put in either of the new modules-I get the error message through the blue screen. The specs above are from the 'crucial' scanner, but I bought the RAM elsewhere online. The Dell 4300S is an older system--bought in 2005. I have a new laptop, but wanted to upgrade the memory in the desktop-because I want to keep it as a backup. It still works great-just slow. I like to keep 2 systems because you never know when you might have a problem with one and need to research or download with the other to fix it. ravencajun Thanks for the link to Belarc. I ran the Belarc software- but it seems like the RAM I purchased should be compatible. Of course, I could have missed something. (are you sure the ram you got is non Ecc?) No I'm not sure-could you explain this? This may be the problem. And THANKS AGAIN to all of you for your help.

Locate and open your pictures. How to highlight or select one or more pictures. Hold down on the CTRL Key and start left clicking all the pictures you want to copy or hold down on the left click and drag your pointer to highlight. Another way is at the left top open Edit - click select all. After you have highlighted or selected the pictures you want to copy to CD, look to your left for the words - Copy to CD or Copy all items to CD At the right bottom of your screen you will get a balloon popup. Read and click at the correct spot on the popup. New location. Look to your left and click Copy these files to CD. You will get a welcome to the CD Writing Wizard. Follow directions and finish your copy of your pictures. This D:A location were you copy pictures is located here = Start - my computer - Right click - CD-RW Drive(D:) (Drive E on my PC) - left click Open. ----------------------------------------------------- I have a Windows Address Book on my computer. Start - All Programs - Microsoft Works Word Processor - Windows Address Book. Yours may be listed under something else. The addresses can be saved at this location and sent to your Documents to be printed out for safe Keeping or everything in your Documents can be put on a CD. cg