i installed QT lite and message said must uninstall quicktime.Then iTunes asked me if I wanted to install update to Quicktime. I said yes. problem remains the same after rebooting and again getting a prompt for uniblue. Although I got rid of all QT related programs at the time this problem started, perhaps I missed something and now perhaps have bits and pieces of QT. I can't tell. Don't understand relevance of using QT for the games that came with the software. I will google for a full set of Quicktime. and look for you to suggest something else. It is getting late for some folks but will wait for further instructions after install of QT

Susan, Owbist is great, knowledgeable, and always helpful, so please don't take my response as disputing his obliging and useful advice to you. I have no doubt there is a memory issue that correcting will prove beneficial. What you describe sounds like an overloaded cache directory. This may also be referred to by some programs as the program's scratchpad (or whatever Photoshop Elements calls it). Any program that works with graphics (most programs, actually, whether they work with graphics or not, especially Word), utilizes this area for temporary storage used by your computer's memory. Everything you do in PE creates these temp files, which are an integral part of forming/creating/modifying while in the program. Just opening a graphic in PE prompts the program to automatically generate these cache/scratch/temp files to help it remember the graphic and everything you do to it (such as lightening, sharpening, applying effects, etc.). In other words, PE is creating and storing copies of the information it needs and makes easily retrievable while you task. It is one reason undo is possible, for example, but has many other uses. The program automatically created this area/directory on your hard drive during installation, and some programs build them more heavily and more rapidly than others. That would depend on the size of these files and how many it builds for each individual graphic. Some build only one, but some build quite a few. I have no idea how many PE creates or how big they are. Additionally, there are other temp files the program may be creating. Even though it's finished with those files and has discarded them to the cache/scratchpad directory or to your Temp directory in Windows, it still accesses them. Or, in the very least, they are sitting there in the way, interferring with the program's functionability (is that a word? LOL). This explains your sudden decrease in efficiency. Therefore, adding memory will certainly help but only for the length of time it takes the cached/scratched files to build beyond RAM's ability to manage - which is what actually just happened. Now, your task is finding its location so you can clean it out and be able to clean it periodically. I'm sorry I cannot help with that because I don't have PE. I do have Photoshop but couldn't find its scratch folder doing a quick look. Once you delete all the *junk* in there, PE will resume normal function at a maximum rate of tasking speed that your amount of memory will accommodate. As Owbist indicated, the more the merrier. :) Start another thread for someone with PE to help you find that folder. Incidentally, clean out your Temp directory. C > Windows > Temp Bet you find a bunch of stuff with a .tmp extension. You will likely find files with other extensions, but I wouldn't touch those. Good luck

I would certainly use an external hard drive for back ups. In fact I have just swapped my hard drives around to do that. But it will be for an Acronis image of each of my 3 computers, not necessarily for personal data. Although that might also be done. Besides my backup images of the other drives I keep up to date anti virus, firewalls and spyware programs on my external drive so if friends get into trouble I have those programs at hand to install if they do not have then already.

Well if the Dimension computer has a separate video card - as opposed to onboard - and if both computer have the same video slot (AGP or PCIe) you could move the card from the dimension to the Inspiron to see how it looks before spending money perhaps. Newegg, linked below, show 12 video cards in the $10 to $25 range and 159 in the $25 to $50 range. Frys are another good place to look. Here is a link that might be useful: Newegg video cards