It must be Murphy’s Law that computer issues all seem to happen at once.
I picked up a new USB cable for the iPod, now I just have to find time to take a trip to the Apple store and replace the battery. While at Best Buy I checked out the laptops. They seem to either come in very BIG sizes or very small sizes. I decided that while I did like the HPs a lot, I would try and see how much longer my current laptop would last or maybe I’d wipe the HD and start fresh soon.
Fast forward a few hours later. I tried to install something on my laptop . . . . . it took a half hour! At this point wiping the HD probably isn’t going to help as I’m pretty sure it’s the HD that is faulty. I’ll probably be putting in an email to Dell this week and see about what can be done. I will not be calling them if I can help it 
I’m also going to start shopping around for a new laptop just in case. I need to go look at the Sony Vaio’s a bit closer.
Meanwhile I was trying to update the desktop a bit and clean old programs off it, carash! Fun fun fun! I did recover it though, but it seems it will need some upgrades as well. Actually I know it does in order to run Windows Vista. Fortunately upgrading a desktop is a whole lot cheaper than a laptop, which aren’t upgrade friendly at all. Fortunately the desk top also runs fine as is, so those can just wait. I don’t actually use the desktop anymore, my BF uses it. He says it is running slow, but he hasn’t tried my laptop
Dustin