shadow1100mfp

i recently bought a new laptop (hp dv7 1245dx). it has a 320 gb hard drive installed. i'd like to buy 2 things: an express card ssd and a larger regular hard drive. on these, i'd like to mirror the windows partition on the regular one, and the recovery drive from hp onto the ssd. is this feasible/a good idea?

i play games once in a while, but that's a secondary concern for me (i just want to build a good, quality very fast computer). the most demanding program i use is photoshop (it's the top edition adobe sells). i know that'd be best on quad core, but if i went with the dual, would i be overall more satisfied?

i'm trying to decide between these 2 cpu's http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...p?EdpNo=2643933 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...p?EdpNo=3574211 i'm leaning towards the quad just because it's a quad core and its so cheap, but im also leaning towards the dual because it's a little faster and it doesn't seem to have that "too good to be true" feel to it. i don't plan on overclocking my computer at all, but i may dabble in that later (the quad, according to the video on that sight, can be overclocked to about 3.2ghz, i don't know about the other one though). can anyone offer advice or pros/cons to either of these?

part of the reason i chose that specific amd bundle; good/great performance at low cost with spare memory and pcu included. even if i don't use the memory right away with this thing; it'll make a good replacement set should the ones i buy go bad; or i could build a spare computer for my dorm that was of decent performance and keep the higher performance one at home, however; i don't have a preference (i'm not so into games that i have an opinion on every part); between intel or amd; the only difference to me is the basic performance, and as long as i get something that has decent speed etc. than im happy.

well i know it's more personal preference, but i was mainly loking for something like "while the part you had in mind was good/ok, this one is better/cheaper/will work better with the other parts/etc".

because i can use them elsewhere in a different computer.

i don't plan on using the ones in the bundle; i should have mentioned that in the first post. sorry about that

i plan on getting a 1000 watt psu when i find a good one; but the psu is in cluded so i figured it'd suffice for now so are you saying rather than 2 8800gts to go with one gtx280? or 2 of them in sli; if so that solves the problem with the sound card. the only reason i chose the one i have here is because thats hte only one i found that i liked that would fit the pcix1 slot i had; if im only going to use one more expensive video card than i can get a better one with more features the harddrives; i'd like to use sata to connect them and the case only allows for 3; so i chose a good looking 500gb drive; though i'll probably look harder and find one i like as a main drive (250-500gb); one for files (500+gb) and one for games (250 or less gb, high speed) as for the video card you reccomended; i plan on attaching this to my 42inch screen, would it work well with this size screen?

i only plan on keeping the psu until i get a chance to find a good 1000watt one how am i mixing them? i looked at the specs and i thought i found a set that matched pretty well; but i may be wrong it isn't necessary, but i'd rather have way too many usb ports than not enough the fan's i wasn't really set on; as a fan is a fan in my opinion (aside from how much they move; i don't care about lights or anything else) i added the fan controller because i wanted a temp reading on the case and teh ability to control how fast they go manually

i've chosen to build a new pc rather than buy one; i'm going to buy the parts next week but i thought id put my plans on here first and see what you guys thought of it and any improvements you would recommend Case/power supply: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...AIN#detailspecs motherboard/cpu: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...&CatId=2430 memory: (4gb) http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...&CatId=2261 video card (x2 for sli): http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...&CatId=1839 sound card: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...&CatId=2771 Hard drives (x3) sata: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...&CatId=2459 dvd burner/disk drive: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...&CatId=1624 floppy/memory card reader: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...4&CatId=630 usb card: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...7&CatId=511 wireless: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...&CatId=2688 fansx3: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...2&CatId=802 fan controller: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...2&CatId=501 speakers: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...mp;Sku=L23-6335 monitor: a flat panel tv 20-42inch any suggestions i'd be glad to take into consideration and i'll answer any questions if there are any. this pc is a bit overkill for what i'll usually be using it for (music, browsing the web, photoshop, etc.) but it's got enough power that i'll be able to play games when i feel like it

i used some iso burning software idont remember the name though i only downloaded it to burn the iso then i deleted it.

i downloaded ubuntu and dsl, and neither i could get to boot. idk if i did it right (when asked i booted from cd drive, and it just stopped there)

i'll try ubuntu first; then dsl then if those don't work ill try spinrite or that other program on the list. im trying to do this as cheap/free as possible because i just bought a mustang a few days ago, and i still owe about $1500. otherwise i'd just buy it as i know i'll probably be needing it soon enough anyway (3 harddrives in my car for the stereo, 3 computers and 2 laptops, random harddrives from friends that they didnt want anymore, etc.)

256mb is what it has; which one has a learning curve, ubuntu or damnsmalllinux? which is easier to get in, do the dirty work, and get done as fast as possible? sadly, this laptop is what i have my college application papers saved on; i have them backed up but the newest versions of them are on here so id like to get this laptop up and running asap since i need to start applying to colleges

it's a few years old, but not old enough to be doing this i don't believe. no signs of damage either as far as i can tell. how do i get a live disk? recommended linux os?

ok. i looked for spinrite and the only one i can find you have to pay for; is there a shareware or free version of it?

how would i go about using that, if i can't boot (even in safe mode or using the install disk)

last night when i was using my laptop it restarted out of no where; but now it can't start at all. i tried restarting it several times last night; no success so i figured id let it cool down to room temp (not operating temp) and try again in the morning; i still can't get it to boot at all, even the windows disk, and once in every 15 or 20 restarts i get it to boot a little but after a few seconds it restarts again. anyidea whats going on/what to do? am i suddenly in the market for a new laptop?

thats what the people at dell said; they sent me some disks (since they charged us 40 bucks for something that should have come with the computer the guy said hed send us a few so we have a backup) if the repair doesn't work off of the mediacenter disk that we're getting, ill copy my info to another computer and reinstall windows; but i don't want to do that as i have well over 60 gigs of stuff on that computer and that would mean id need to go buy a new drive. and none of my music is drm (atleast only a few are, and they're free anyway so i can get them again) the rest i got from cd's i own or other "sources", and i havn't had a chance to back it up for a while because i havn't had time to go buy more dvds (or a hard drive so i don't waste dvds lol) but as i said, copying (i think it's 35 gigs now but it might be more) of music and movies is pretty troublesome.

my dell computer is screwed up; it froze when i started a cd burning on itunes (the dvd burner hasn't worked for a while so i hooked up an external cd burner) and i restarted the computer; and it came up with the screen "could not find file (insert file path here)" and says to use the installation disk to repair; the catch is that i didn't receive one with the computer and my windows xp home disk doesn't work when i try it (the computer is running xp media center). i need this fixed ASAP as my, my sisters, and my parents credit information is on there and it's all saved to that computer; as well as over 30 gigs of music and movies and 5 gigs of family photos. someone help with what to do! please!

ill check; it is a standard m/b from compaq back when windows ME was in full swing (maybe a year before xp came out i think) another problem im having with this memory thing is the installation of xp; i have it set to boot from cd drive, floppy then harddrive but it skips over both cd and floppy straight to hardware; i have installed a new dvd burner into it and was planning on installing it using that, should i put the original drive back in and use that to install winxp? or is it the memory, because the memory is the original also maybe its gone bad or been shocked (its been left in during a lightning storm before; but i know the rest of the parts are ok

its not pc66; it says pc100 i believe on the memory sticker; the whole sticker says P/N 71.73323.115 S/N 1199501-00693 128mb UNB PC100 apacer i googled it and the only site i can find is in italian and its some guy selling it; he doesn't say what type it is just the numbers and brand

i know you cant tell by looking at the board; but i was wondering if maybe there was a program that would tell you what the board could handle; i guess i could use cpuz or everest and just look up the board;

it's over 10 years old; closer to 12 years actually; the chances of me finding the manuals that came with it are smaller than me winning the lottery and finding the keys to a Lamborghini on the same day

i've got my media center pc all built mostly; but i only have 128 mb of ram in it at the moment; is there a way to tell how much is the max. the mother board allows? its an older pc but runs windows xp great on 128 mb ram (its sd ram im almost certain, but i havn't checked for a while), and theres a sale on it at my local circuitcity (2x512 for $60), and thats the best i've seen it at for a while so if i can take that much ill pick up the 2; btu if not ill just live with the 1x512 ram, but i want to find out before i go pick it up