>>BIOS settings can have all the difference in the>world, as can mobo drivers, etc.. etc..>>>now, now ... BIOS goes back to the age of the Dinosaurs. Any>modern OS completeley circumvents the BIOS. The only thing>that still matters somewhat is the POST (power on self test)I think the exact opposite is true. Most BIOS settings on today's motherboards allow for adjusting the performance/stability factors to suite the users needs, be they gaming or other applications. I don't know of any MS OS that allows for memory timing adjustments.

>I think that its not right when a person learns of a better>virus program, that they don't share it freely.>>We should not hold out for profit when it comes to knowing the>best virus protection possible.IMHO, Trend Micro Internet Security is the best. I'm a little surprised Dan was able to remove Norton so easily. It intertwines itself into the OS so deeply it's a major task to remove all of it.

Interesting, I had hoped that is was as easy as it was to remove Norton, via the add/remove progs, is there a simple way to check if any parts of it are left over?Dan.

Try Regseeker for Norton, or anything else's, leftovers in your registry.http://www.webattack.com/get/regseeker.shtml

I think some here have misstaken BIOS with the old autoexec.bat and config.sys files. You can

My current system was put together 2 years ago and back then it was certainly cheaper than buying a pre-built one. The two rigs before that one were also cheaper.The latest CPU's and videocards are too expensive right now, and the cheaper ones don't deliver enough of a performance jump to justify upgrading. So, right now is not a very good time to upgrade unless you're rich. I'm actually quite happy with the performance of my 2-year old system and will keep it for at least another 6 months." is the fact that YOU have control over deciding what goes in the box and HDs and no one else."...and *that* is a very big advantage. Everyone has different needs. If you build it yourself, you don't need to waste money on a huge harddrive unless you need it, and you don't need to upgrade to a better videocard within 3 months.This is why my system has lasted for over 2 years and continues to perform well. It's adapted to *me* and what *I* use the computer for. Sure, there are some parts that are a bit dated by now but nothing that matters for me and the programs/games I use.

>Yeah, I would agree with this, in the current climate, it is>not possible to buy and build for the same price as a company>like Dell.Sorry, not my experience. For the equal price I can have a better system than Dell, true gaming system with top-notch parts all upgradable, not like in a Dell. Oh, btw, I am not building it myself, I am getting it from a small but reputable place that also offers warranty, etc.Michael J.http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg

danowat, You are not the only one, My experience with FS-GS end up with the conclusion; no difference on performance. No mention of any BIOS and setting.I follow other's suggestions, by upgrading my chipset driver and disabling others stuff, the result was better go figure!I guess this service are only for those don't want to waist time by searching tips.BestEric

Hi Dan,This link may be of some help:http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/nsw.n...=&osv=&osv_lvl=Mike

>You all know that Dell computers consists of pure crap! Dell>is the last company on earth I would ever buy a computer from.>Sure it works but you can

Thanks for the honest, and well thought out review of the service. It looks like the kind of thing that would be helpful to the average PC user. Even the rather obscure kind of things like motherboard drivers are probably not going to make much difference. I am still a little shocked when people ask "I am getting poor performance, what can I do to my PC to make it better?" I mean, sure there are things that should and need to be done to keep a PC running smoothly, but bottom line the thing that affects performance most is your hardware and your slider settings. Instead why not turn autogen down a notch, or turn down AI traffic by 10%. The impact on framerates can be quite significant. Also, I don't see the point of not using programs such as Norton Antivirus. You can use a program like the great freeware FS-Autostart to selecively turn things on and off automatically, boosting up your performance quite a bit. 5 minutes of tinkering with FS-Autostart and my performance improved significantly. And did I mention, it is free?

"Also, I don't see the point of not using programs such as Norton Antivirus."Norton is not a bad package... for generic systems. Fact of the matter is it roots itself rather deeply into the OS, taking control in a way that makes me feel like it's in charge rather than myself. I shy away from software like that. Even when disabling some of its features in Task Manager there are parts of Norton that continue to take up resources.I don't miss it at all. I've been quite happy with AVG. In fact, after using Norton at my shop (on generic Dells) for many years I made the decision earlier this year stop. I have 7 systems there, and upgraded 2 of them a few months ago. Now there are 5 systems with Norton, and that number will continue to diminsh as I upgrade computers.There is plenty of free stuff available at this time that works just as well (if not better) than Norton, and has proven to be less system invasive.Regards,Greg

My problem with FSAutostart is that I dont have the foggies idea of what the various things to turn off are. I wish this thing came with a proforma set of things to turn off by default so that the selection wouldnt be so hard.Eric

Hi, Eric:If you highlight an item and then look in the right window, you should see a description of that item AND a recommendation of whether to leave it or turn it off. Is that what you are looking for?As you can imagine, it would be quite a feat to list every program or service that is out there that can be running on a computer. I think that Ken has done an great job of including descriptions and recommendations of all of those that he has.If there are a few running on your system that include no information, then just post another message here with the names. I am sure that someone here can help you determine whether to keep or not. Or, just give it a try. If something doesn't work correctly, it is no big deal. Just change the setting next time. Ken has covered the vital operations and tells you what to leave running.Wilson

>As you can imagine, it would be quite a feat to list every>program or service that is out there that can be running on a>computer. I have found it is very easy to just google with the name of a running service. There are sites that have indexes of Windows services, and there is always plenty of people asking the same question on usenet groups. For those services which don't have a description in FS-Autostart, I have been able to easily google up an answer and found recommendations on whether or not it is okay to disable.FS-Autostart is a great program.