XP Question
 

I accidentally changed some option in Windows XP. So when I move windows around or scroll now, its really choppy. I have no idea how to fix. I want everything to be smooth and fluid again.

Re: XP Question
 

That's a very vague request. Any idea what it was you changed? That sounds more like a video card setting you've changed than an XP setting.

Re: XP Question
 

video card setting; something similar happened to me when I reinstalled XP once and the video card drivers weren't updated

Re: XP Question
 

Definitely a video card issue, like Renwood said. You probably defaulted to the motherboard's horrible graphics card.

Re: XP Question
 

Yep, that was exactly the problem. This is my parent's computer and I was reformatting it for them because it was so damn slow and probably infected with all sorts of shit. So I identified the graphics card and then went and downloaded the latest driver's from the manufacturer's website.

Anyway, I reinstalled with a stripped-down version of XP called TinyXP. It's streamlined with Service Pack 3 and all the latest updates. Takes out a lot of the unnecessary junk that Microsoft includes. And it's also free of Outlook, IE, and WMP.

So I have Firefox 3 installed on here now. And I burned the ISO file on a disc so it'll be very easy to reformat in the future.

So thanks for your help guys. Now I'm trying to decide whether I need to put any anti-virus on here or not. From my very limited knowledge, I hear Avira is the best free one. I guess I should also install the infamous Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware. What do you think?

Re: XP Question
 

YOU SAID ISO! PIRATE!

Re: XP Question
 

I'm actually not that fond of Spybot anymore.

For the best protection, you should get:
1. Ad-Aware. One of the best free programs on the market.

2. Windows Defender. It's from Microsoft, but it's actually very very good at keeping bad things out.

3. Spyware Blaster Probably the best preventive spyware protection there is. The free version doesn't autoupdate though, so whoever is using the computer needs to remember to do this every so often.

As for an antivirus, this depends on what they want. If they want something free, get AVG Free, which is very very good and will probably keep your computer safe in nearly all situations. If they want something better but not free, I would recommend NOD32.

Re: XP Question
 

AVG is amazing, I use it on all of mine, they do an anti-spyware now as well, which seems really good, though it doesn't have auto update or sacanning in the free version, so you have to remember and do it yourself.

Re: XP Question
 

I also prefer AVG over the other free anti-virus programs. I don't run anti-spyware unless something bad happens and then I generally run hijackme and something free. I pretty much never have an issue.

Then again, I'm on my mac 90% of the time.

Re: XP Question
 

I don't like that new function of AVG, where it scans every link in your browser... And when you disable it, it keeps showing an error icon in the system tray.

Re: XP Question
 

AVG is good, especially for something that is free (unless you're using the commercial version), and it is certainly better than Norton or McAfee, but you do get what you pay for. The free version only offers base level protection, which is fine is most cases.

Of course most people are going to say AVG is the best; it's free. But if you do want the absolute best protection available, you're going to have to pay a little, which is why I recommended NOD32. I think it's only like $40 a year to use it, which isn't bad.

I'm a cheap bum so I'm only using AVG Free too, I'm just saying it does get a lot better than what it offers, though.

EDIT: Perhaps even better than NOD32 is Kaspersky: http://www.kaspersky.com/, but it's more expensive.

Re: XP Question
 

AVG ftw.

I've grown not to use Windows Defender. We have other solutions at our school since we started using Active Directory to maintain the network, and Windows Defender would have a bitch fit with it.

wtg Microsoft for making software that doesn't work with your own network infrastructure.

Re: XP Question
 

They didn't actually "make it" per se, I think they just bought the rights to it from some other company and now maintain it.