I should have mentioned that before trying to defrag I did empty my recycle bin, ran Ccleaner, and ran Error check. I did not reboot after doing these however. My computer guy put TreeSize on my computer which I just opened and can see that 31,000 MB is my iTunes Library. I have very little music there but lots of voice memos, downloaded radio programs, podcasts etc. Most of the files in iTunes are Wave Audio Files which I remember being told are large files. I was told by a tech guy at the Apple store to change my files from Wave Files to AAC files and they would take less space on my iPod. I came home and tried to do that but it didn't work and I haven't taken the time to figure out why. I assume if I can change these files to AAC files (or some other type of compressed format?) they won't take up as much space on my hard drive. I love my iPod and being able to tape radio and listen to it while gardening or walking. I know my library will always be large so I need to figure out how to make the files smaller or get a larger hard drive. Thanks again for your help!! Ginny

As it happens, things have changed. The technician Dell sent came with the replacement hard drive (with pre-installed XP and drivers). He installed it - booted - and the same hard drive warning occurred. Turns out it was my second internal hard drive (that I use for data) that was going bad. It was a good thing I already had the 2TB replacement. So he put the 2TB drive in - returned my original hard drive - and all functioned well - no hard drive error messages. Now I do have work ahead of me - but this changes the nature of it. Much better scenario - but still requires thinking through. There are probably just a few video files on the second internal hard drive that I don't have copies of. I think they're still accessible - so I will either get a docking station - or better yet an enclosure (since I will need one anyway - as I'll describe later) to put it in - and see if I can transfer those video files to my new 2TB internal drive. I think it makes sense to test that drive to see what's wrong with it - if it's repairable by Windows XP (I think if I run chkdsk there are possibilities to repair some damage?). Should I do this? Or are there other methods to safely test out the health of my hard drive? It is also a Western Digital. The timing of the hard drive failure is now making more sense. I had spent the previous weekend backing up lots of data files onto this second internal 1.5 TB hard drive. I think some of those transferred Tivo files might be problematic. (I say that for 2 reasons - when I've tried to defrag the hard drive, I recall a few files that couldn't be defragged - and while it was hard to see the path, I think they were the Tivo videos. Also, there were a few Tivo videos that failed to work properly when I tried to run VideoRedo to remove commercials. Some just seemed to be bad files - of course, I don't recall which those ones were - but it makes me wonder if it's the sources of the problem on that second hard drive.) Next step is call Dell - I bought that second hard drive from them 1 1/2 yrs ago. It has a 3 yr warranty. I'm not sure if the warranty will be honored by Dell or Western Digital (the brand of drive). So I figure I'll be getting a replacement 1.5 TB hard drive - which I can either install internally - use it as program drive or data drive. I can use the original 500GB drive externally. Or maybe I should keep it the way it is now. Original 500GB internal hard drive, second 2 TB internal hard drive - and put the replacement 1.5 TB hard drive in an enclosure and use for back-ups. One reason I'd like to use the 2TB drive as a program/boot drive (or master drive - I'm not sure of the language) is bc. it's supposed to be a faster drive - Western Digital Black Caviar 2TB drive - 7200rpm and 64MB Cache that was a bit pricier, but I thought it was worth it for quality and speed. It's this one: http://www.amazon.co...ref=oss_product (although I paid less than the price listed online) I'm new enough at all this that I don't understand everything about hard drive speed. I think that a larger drive can potentially slow things down a bit as it has to work to see date over a larger area/amount of data - but that the 7200rpm and 64MB cache will offer more speed - and the reviews suggest this thing is fast. I'd love any guidance in weighing these factors as I decide which to make the primary drive. I also want to clarify what to do with this drive. I don't know how to partition. And if I did, how large a partition should I create on this 2TB drive - if it were to hold the operating systems and programs? I don't know how much room that takes - and how to be sure to take the appropriate sections of my original drive to place into this partition. I can figure out what size each portion of my original hard drive is? I just don't know which folders go into the partition for programs/software? I don't want to leave any out - and I'm concerned I will miss some folders bc. I do not recognize what they are. If I partition the drive, I gather I don't clone it - but do it in sections. I also don't know if I should format it first. Or partition first. Disk management is fairly new to me although I did format a couple of drives. I didn't get into partitions and copying from one drive to another. Does it make sense to use this 2TB drive (which I bought for it's speed and good functioning) as the main drive? If so, I don't know the order of operations? Clone my original drive to this drive? Format and partition first (in which case I'll need to know how to get the proper system files vs. data files into the right partitions). I think I know that if I make this 2TB the master, I have to either switch the cables - but since I think they won't stretch to the second hard drive bay, I'll probably have to swap them. I am so relieved not to have lost my original drive. Although it consumed the better part of last weekend, I did learn plenty - and feel more confident cutting my "recovery" teeth on recovering data from the bad second drive which only has some video at stake. Just as a reminder my original drive has about 350GB data. Thanks everyone. Lynn. PS - I did learn a couple of important things from this technician. First, he updated the bios in my computer (which was several versions old). And he told me where to go to update the bios on my daughter's computer. That was useful. It's a question I've had for a while when I see people on this forum ask whether someone has updated their bios.

You should see these old sashes! Think trellis and picture where you can put one, or seven. Each section of sash is about 4 ft tall. I'll be putting a couple on the barn for roses to grow on. I don't have a computer in the barn, yet, so I check in when I return to the house for breaks. You guys keep me sane. Druid, you should visit if you are in the area. DH has no choice about the windows because we live in an historic district. I do all the glazing work and he chuckles that I'd rather have ladders than jewelry. We are a two heat gun family. Wooden windows are easy to restore. I'll have two more completed this week. Three more and I've met my goal for this year. There are lots of wooden windows going to the dump. If you think you are going to want them in the future, I'd give the trash haulers and the window companies a call and ask if they'd keep the sizes you need in mind. We are getting ready to build wooden storms to replace the awful aluminum ones we are slowly removing. We can double team your dear DH if you bring him down.

Yes, you are right. At least we can fix it now before the new patio goes in. The plan was to use that concrete step as a base for the bluestone step with brick risers that are going in but they needed to remove just a small piece so the brick on the risers would be flush with the house on the right side. That's how they made the discovery. Thank goodness! We would've never known otherwise. Now they've fully removed the step to see the damage. It's pretty bad. I'm a little worried about my kitchen floor. We've known that the floor wasn't put in properly for some time because some of the tiles have some give in them, and some have cracked, but that's on the other side of the room. Hoping that's just from a bad or lack of mud job under the tile and not related to this. The kitchen is only about 8 years old so it looks nice. It was just poor quality work.