(You don\'t want to know the routine that they put me through for running Firefox when I went to their website -- ooops!)

It\'s quite easy to circumvent that, by downloading the full multilingual redistribution version. I always keep a link to it in this FAQ (last link).

I could not find a link on that page to anything pertaining to Firefox.

Windows XP with SP2 and SP3.

So which one is it? SP2 or SP3?

Both service packs were installed, SP2 first, then SP3, but I was wrong because the BOINC message pertaining to the operating system says \"OS: Microsoft Windows XP: Home Edition, Service Pack 3, (05.01.2600.00)\" As far as I know, Service Pack 3 won\'t install if it doesn\'t find Service Pack 2.

I\'ve read that SP3 adds the \'dislike\' to the OS that programs no longer can write actively to the \\program files\\ directory. Like Vista doesn\'t like this.

My father once told me that if I believed about half of everything that I read and even less of what I hear, I will be a wise man. ;-)

I know nothing as to whether Vista allows a program to write (\"actively\" -?-) to the \\Program Files\\ directory. In my experience so far, Windows XP SP3 has not stopped any program from writing a file to C:\\Program Files\\ and I haven\'t found that any such files have been mangled. For example, I play Free Cell Pro, which records each move that I make in a text file that is stored in C:\\Program Files\\Free Cell Pro\\. The firewall program stores its log files in a subdirectory of C:\\Program Files\\Sunbelt Software\\Personal Firewall\\ and I\'ve not observed any anomalies.

If such a \"dislike\" has been implemented, then it should be documented in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article that accompanied the release of SP3. It would not surprise me if Microsoft preferred that all \"output data files\" be stored in a subdirectory of the currently logged-in user\'s \"account\" as a \"security policy\". For Windows XP that would be, for example, C:\\Documents and Settings\\Windows User\\Application Data\\. How MS would enforce such a policy, I would not know. When two or more users need access to the same document, then where would it be stored? (rhetorical question)

This could account for your sudden DLL initialization error messaging. Although this error does (in a way) replace the old message, it\'s not the only one to do so. I\'ve tried to diagnose it here, but it\'s still an ongoing investigation. One omission in there is that it also happens when the drive powers down and on laptops running on batteries.

The \"DLL initialization error\" messages began showing up immediately after I upgraded to BOINC 5.10.30 a few months ago --i.e., they are not a recent or \"sudden\" occurrence that would have anything to do with installing Windows XP SP3. One flaw in the message is that it does not disclose which .DLL file was loaded and failed to \"initialize\". If it is always the same file, then there is probably a flaw in the file, not in the operating system.

.... Only if you can find [a graphics card] that still has an AGP connector. We hunted one down lately and it\'s mainly PCIe that\'s out there. But the mainboard has an AGP 3.0 slot, so any of the latest ones should work. If your PSU can take it...

Apparently, the graphics subsystem is even more obsolete than I thought it might be. How did you find out that the mainboard has a version 3.0 AGP slot? The mainboard manual doesn\'t mention a version number for the AGP slot, but it says that the PCI slots are version 2.2 and the USB ports are version 2.0. I don\'t know anything (yet) about PCIe slots.

It\'s not the Power Supply Unit that I would worry about, it\'s the heat produced by the adapter. During frequent and rapid disk accesses by a program such as Power Disk 2008 or Norton Antivirus, heat buildup threatens the hard drive, but there doesn\'t seem to be much that I can do about it.

At least putting in an AGP card could free up the speed of your memory, depending on what speed you actually have in there. If it\'s DDR400 you have in there, it\'s running at max DDR333 due to you using the integrated video.

The memory has a speed of 333 MHz and data rate of PC2700.

CU Later.

---

|
| --- Stardance
|
| nil carborundum illegitimi

The messages produced by yesterday\'s run do not show a significant impact of the \"DLL initialization error\" event, even when it occurred twice. The only apparent loss is interruption of the computation for the current week, which was characteristic of the previously output message \"Task ... exited with zero status but no \'finished\' file\". The amount of clock time that is required to compute to the next checkpoint after a checkpoint, or after the \"DLL initialization error\" event, appears to be 27 minutes.

6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM||Starting BOINC client version 5.10.45 for windows_intelx86
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM||log flags: task, file_xfer, sched_ops, checkpoint_debug
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM||Libraries: libcurl/7.18.0 OpenSSL/0.9.8e zlib/1.2.3
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM||Data directory: C:\\Program Files\\BOINC
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM||Processor: 1 AuthenticAMD AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2400+ [x86 Family 6 Model 8 Stepping 1]
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM||Processor features: fpu tsc sse 3dnow mmx
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM||OS: Microsoft Windows XP: Home Edition, Service Pack 3, (05.01.2600.00)
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM||Memory: 1.87 GB physical, 2.23 GB virtual
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM||Disk: 57.26 GB total, 13.13 GB free
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM||Local time is UTC -4 hours
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM|climateprediction.net|URL: http://climateprediction.net/; Computer ID: 753323; location: (none); project prefs: default
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM||General prefs: from climateprediction.net (last modified 18-Sep-2007 17:32:13)
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM||Host location: none
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM||General prefs: using your defaults
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM||Reading preferences override file
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM||Preferences limit memory usage when active to 743.75MB
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM||Preferences limit memory usage when idle to 998.07MB
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM||Preferences limit disk usage to 8.48GB
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM|climateprediction.net|Task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 is 148.31 days overdue.
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM|climateprediction.net|You may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
6/19/2008 6:16:35 AM|climateprediction.net|Restarting task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 using hadcm3i version 544

6/19/2008 6:17:54 AM||Suspending computation - user request (TO BACK-UP THE FILES)
6/19/2008 6:19:14 AM||Resuming computation

6/19/2008 6:46:04 AM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed
6/19/2008 7:13:19 AM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed
6/19/2008 7:40:31 AM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed

6/19/2008 7:56:25 AM|climateprediction.net|Task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 exited with a DLL initialization error.
6/19/2008 7:56:25 AM|climateprediction.net|If this happens repeatedly you may need to reboot your computer.
6/19/2008 7:56:25 AM|climateprediction.net|Restarting task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 using hadcm3i version 544

6/19/2008 8:23:38 AM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed
6/19/2008 8:50:48 AM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed
6/19/2008 9:18:02 AM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed
6/19/2008 9:45:09 AM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed
6/19/2008 10:12:18 AM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed
6/19/2008 10:39:26 AM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed
6/19/2008 11:06:39 AM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed
6/19/2008 11:33:45 AM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed
6/19/2008 12:00:53 PM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed
6/19/2008 12:28:01 PM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed
6/19/2008 12:55:02 PM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed

6/19/2008 12:55:16 PM|climateprediction.net|Task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 exited with a DLL initialization error.
6/19/2008 12:55:16 PM|climateprediction.net|If this happens repeatedly you may need to reboot your computer.
6/19/2008 12:55:17 PM|climateprediction.net|Restarting task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 using hadcm3i version 544

6/19/2008 1:22:23 PM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed
6/19/2008 1:49:32 PM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed
6/19/2008 2:16:41 PM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed
6/19/2008 2:43:54 PM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed
6/19/2008 3:10:59 PM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed
6/19/2008 3:38:09 PM|climateprediction.net|[checkpoint_debug] result hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 checkpointed

If the consequence shown by the date and time stamps for the messages above was always the only apparent effect of the \"DLL initialization error\" event, then it would, I suppose, be tolerable. Now the question arises as to why the event apparently has such a drastic influence on the model\'s computation on some occasions and scarcely any influence on other occasions.

Does anyone know whether the \"DLL initialization error\" message is in fact output because a .DLL executable has failed initialization when it was loaded?? If it is output for any other reason, then something is seriously flawed in the software, if I may say so.

---

|
| --- Stardance
|
| nil carborundum illegitimi

It\'s quite easy to circumvent that, by downloading the full multilingual redistribution version. I always keep a link to it in this FAQ (last link).

I could not find a link on that page to anything pertaining to Firefox.

I was talking about the link to the DirectX 9.0c latest (June 2008) update.
Only giving an easy link to the download of the (full) DirectX package, which doesn\'t need genuine advantage checking and more of those difficult things. (Besides, if you really don\'t like to jump all those hoops, use IE for downloads like that and you won\'t get all the trouble)

.... Only if you can find [a graphics card] that still has an AGP connector. We hunted one down lately and it\'s mainly PCIe that\'s out there. But the mainboard has an AGP 3.0 slot, so any of the latest ones should work. If your PSU can take it...

Apparently, the graphics subsystem is even more obsolete than I thought it might be. How did you find out that the mainboard has a version 3.0 AGP slot?

Cause I know my way around the Asus site: Link to your motherboard.

It\'s not the Power Supply Unit that I would worry about, it\'s the heat produced by the adapter. During frequent and rapid disk accesses by a program such as Power Disk 2008 or Norton Antivirus, heat buildup threatens the hard drive, but there doesn\'t seem to be much that I can do about it.

Never heard of fans? Disk fans, Case fans, Table fans, Floor fans, build the motherboard inside the A/C unit? ;-)

---

Jord.

It\'s not the Power Supply Unit that I would worry about, it\'s the heat produced by the adapter. During frequent and rapid disk accesses by a program such as Power Disk 2008 or Norton Antivirus, heat buildup threatens the hard drive, but there doesn\'t seem to be much that I can do about it.

Never heard of fans? Disk fans, Case fans, Table fans, Floor fans, build the motherboard inside the A/C unit? ;-)

What is a \"disk fan\"?? The system currently has 1 PSU fan, 1 CPU fan & heat sink, and 2 \"chassis\" fans mounted on the case. There isn\'t a way to mount another fan on the case, except to take a side panel to a workshop and drill the holes for mounting one. I doubt that there is an unused power connection for such a fan, but I might be able to rig an extension from the lines that are used now by the large chassis fan, i.e., if they don\'t draw too much power together. The A/C units for my apartment are too small to contain the motherboard. :-)

Currently, I remove one side panel of the case (which allows access to the mainboard and all other components), turn it around, and prop it at an angle against the case with the 72 mm fan pointing toward the storage drive bays. So that fan blows relatively cool air from the room into the bays and into the case in general; the air can leave through the triangular opening created by propping the panel against the case. I don\'t like doing that, because it leaves an opening for insects and vermin to invade the case, but there aren\'t enough of either in this room to warrant much concern.

SO, after all that I\'ve told you, do you have an idea why the BOINC/HadCM3 \"graphics\" are displayed in the manner that I described?

By the way, while the graphics are displayed, pressing the \"8\" key has no result, but pressing \"F8\" converts the globe into a rectangular map with what is apparently a Mercator projection (the continents and islands are still outlined in white on a black background with no other colors on the map). A long horizontal temperature scale that has colors is displayed above the map. Pressing \"F8\" again returns to the globe.

---

|
| --- Stardance
|
| nil carborundum illegitimi

NOTE: THE TEXT OF EACH CHECKPOINT MESSAGE (EXCEPT THE TIME-STAMP) HAS BEEN DELETED, AND REPLACED WITH THE NUMBER OF MINUTES THAT PASSED BEFORE THE CHECKPOINT WAS REACHED SINCE THE OCCURRENCE OF EITHER THE PRECEDING CHECKPOINT, OR OF THE PRECEDING INITIALIZATION ERROR. THE SECONDS FOR EACH TIME VALUE ARE IGNORED IN CALCULATING THE NUMBER OF MINUTES.

6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM||Starting BOINC client version 5.10.45 for windows_intelx86
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM||log flags: task, file_xfer, sched_ops, checkpoint_debug
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM||Libraries: libcurl/7.18.0 OpenSSL/0.9.8e zlib/1.2.3
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM||Data directory: C:\\Program Files\\BOINC
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM||Processor: 1 AuthenticAMD AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2400+ [x86 Family 6 Model 8 Stepping 1]
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM||Processor features: fpu tsc sse 3dnow mmx
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM||OS: Microsoft Windows XP: Home Edition, Service Pack 3, (05.01.2600.00)
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM||Memory: 1.87 GB physical, 2.23 GB virtual
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM||Disk: 57.26 GB total, 12.59 GB free
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM||Local time is UTC -4 hours
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM|climateprediction.net|URL: http://climateprediction.net/; Computer ID: 753323; location: (none); project prefs: default
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM||General prefs: from climateprediction.net (last modified 18-Sep-2007 17:32:13)
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM||Host location: none
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM||General prefs: using your defaults
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM||Reading preferences override file
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM||Preferences limit memory usage when active to 743.75MB
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM||Preferences limit memory usage when idle to 998.07MB
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM||Preferences limit disk usage to 7.94GB
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM|climateprediction.net|Task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 is 149.05 days overdue.
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM|climateprediction.net|You may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it.
6/19/2008 11:55:11 PM||Running CPU benchmarks
6/19/2008 11:55:42 PM||Benchmark results:
6/19/2008 11:55:42 PM|| Number of CPUs: 1
6/19/2008 11:55:42 PM|| 1874 floating point MIPS (Whetstone) per CPU
6/19/2008 11:55:42 PM|| 3128 integer MIPS (Dhrystone) per CPU
6/19/2008 11:55:43 PM|climateprediction.net|Restarting task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 using hadcm3i version 544

6/20/2008 12:25:06 AM| 30 min.
6/20/2008 12:54:56 AM| 29 min.
6/20/2008 1:23:47 AM| 29 min.
6/20/2008 1:52:01 AM| 29 min.
6/20/2008 2:21:59 AM| 29 min.
6/20/2008 2:52:17 AM| 31 min.
6/20/2008 3:30:15 AM| 38 min.
6/20/2008 4:22:57 AM| 52 min. - initialization error occurs 5 minutes after this checkpoint

6/20/2008 4:27:54 AM|climateprediction.net|Task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 exited with a DLL initialization error.
6/20/2008 4:27:54 AM|climateprediction.net|If this happens repeatedly you may need to reboot your computer.
6/20/2008 4:27:54 AM|climateprediction.net|Restarting task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 using hadcm3i version 544

6/20/2008 5:17:34 AM| 50 min.
6/20/2008 5:45:27 AM| 28 min.
6/20/2008 6:13:25 AM| 28 min.
6/20/2008 6:40:42 AM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 7:07:59 AM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 7:35:13 AM| 28 min.
6/20/2008 8:02:25 AM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 8:29:38 AM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 8:56:46 AM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 9:23:56 AM| 27 min. - initialization error occurs 3 minutes after this checkpoint

6/20/2008 9:26:45 AM|climateprediction.net|Task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 exited with a DLL initialization error.
6/20/2008 9:26:45 AM|climateprediction.net|If this happens repeatedly you may need to reboot your computer.
6/20/2008 9:26:45 AM|climateprediction.net|Restarting task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 using hadcm3i version 544

.....................| 10 min. after initialization error, BOINC sends scheduler request

6/20/2008 9:36:53 AM|climateprediction.net|Sending scheduler request: To send trickle-up message. Requesting 0 seconds of work, reporting 0 completed tasks
6/20/2008 9:36:58 AM|climateprediction.net|Scheduler request succeeded: got 0 new tasks

6/20/2008 9:54:16 AM| 28 min. (add 10 min. after preceding initialization error)
6/20/2008 10:21:25 AM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 10:48:33 AM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 11:15:38 AM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 11:42:42 AM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 12:09:50 PM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 12:36:47 PM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 1:03:51 PM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 1:30:54 PM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 1:57:55 PM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 2:25:01 PM| 28 min. - initialization error occurs within 30 seconds after this checkpoint

6/20/2008 2:25:32 PM|climateprediction.net|Task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 exited with a DLL initialization error.
6/20/2008 2:25:32 PM|climateprediction.net|If this happens repeatedly you may need to reboot your computer.
6/20/2008 2:25:32 PM|climateprediction.net|Restarting task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 using hadcm3i version 544

6/20/2008 2:52:40 PM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 3:19:48 PM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 3:47:01 PM| 28 min.
6/20/2008 4:16:55 PM| 29 min.
6/20/2008 4:44:04 PM| 28 min.
6/20/2008 5:11:16 PM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 5:38:24 PM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 6:05:37 PM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 6:32:52 PM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 7:00:02 PM| 28 min.

6/20/2008 7:24:21 PM|climateprediction.net|Task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 exited with a DLL initialization error.
6/20/2008 7:24:21 PM|climateprediction.net|If this happens repeatedly you may need to reboot your computer.
6/20/2008 7:24:21 PM|climateprediction.net|Restarting task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 using hadcm3i version 544

6/20/2008 7:51:35 PM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 8:18:46 PM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 8:45:57 PM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 9:13:08 PM| 28 min.
6/20/2008 9:40:17 PM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 10:07:23 PM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 10:34:33 PM| 27 min.
6/20/2008 11:02:43 PM| 28 min.
6/20/2008 11:31:21 PM| 29 min.
6/20/2008 11:58:56 PM| 27 min. - initialization error occurs 25 minutes after this checkpoint

6/21/2008 12:23:08 AM|climateprediction.net|Task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 exited with a DLL initialization error.
6/21/2008 12:23:08 AM|climateprediction.net|If this happens repeatedly you may need to reboot your computer.
6/21/2008 12:23:08 AM|climateprediction.net|Restarting task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 using hadcm3i version 544

6/21/2008 12:50:59 AM| 27 min.
6/21/2008 1:19:07 AM| 29 min.
6/21/2008 1:48:07 AM| 29 min.
6/21/2008 2:17:03 AM| 29 min.
6/21/2008 2:46:15 AM| 29 min.
6/21/2008 3:16:34 AM| 30 min.
6/21/2008 3:59:50 AM| 43 min.
6/21/2008 4:49:50 AM| 50 min. - initialization error occurs 32 minutes after this checkpoint

6/21/2008 5:21:58 AM|climateprediction.net|Task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 exited with a DLL initialization error.
6/21/2008 5:21:58 AM|climateprediction.net|If this happens repeatedly you may need to reboot your computer.
6/21/2008 5:21:59 AM|climateprediction.net|Restarting task hadcm3iozn_cpm4_2000_80_45898965_7 using hadcm3i version 544

6/21/2008 5:31:41 AM||Suspending computation - user request

===================== END OF FILE ==========================

---

|
| --- Stardance
|
| nil carborundum illegitimi

What is a \"disk fan\"??

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/13 for the explanation.
http://www.xoxide.com/hardrivcool1.html for some examples.

I don\'t like doing that, because it leaves an opening for insects and vermin to invade the case, but there aren\'t enough of either in this room to warrant much concern.

Don\'t worry, they\'ll get in anyway... as does the cat hair here. Unless your PC lives in a clean room (like where they actually make the CPU wafers), there\'s not much you can do about that. Well, besides clean the inside regularly.

SO, after all that I\'ve told you, do you have an idea why the BOINC/HadCM3 \"graphics\" are displayed in the manner that I described?

I\'ve given all ideas I had; had it been an actual video card, the addition would be to reseat it. If you have an actual extra video card (AGP or PCI) and don\'t mind the testing, you could add it and see if that works better.

I\'ve never been one for on-board video. Used it, despised it, quickly got myself a new external video card that solved all of my problems.

---

Jord.

What is a \"disk fan\"??

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/13 for the explanation.
http://www.xoxide.com/hardrivcool1.html for some examples.

Thanks for the links. I don\'t have a separate video adapter to install in order to see whether the BOINC graphics will display as they should with it. BOINC is the first program with which I have encountered a display problem that I cannot resolve. Most of the games that I have played are about the same vintage as the computer. I have rarely encountered a problem with them, and none with any \"office software\". If I were to run more recent games, and/or more recent versions of the older games, then I would not be surprised if the graphics capabilities of the system would need an upgrade.

At five years of age, though, I probably should consider buying a wholly new computer instead. Whether I would buy one with integrated graphics, I don\'t know. The latest and greatest graphics adapters tend to cost as much as an entire desktop computer system bought new. If past experience is any guide, new, reasonably affordable computers are usually offered with a graphics system that is somewhere behind the bleeding edge (and soon will be even further behind, approaching obsolete). One with the most recent graphics capabilities could easily double the price of the system. Vendors also tend to offer too little DRAM and want to increase the price significantly for what I\'m likely to prefer, if not need. Dunno whether I want to go through all of the work that I would have to do in order to build a system myself. I might have a much better machine once it is done, but it would also probably be too expensive to afford.

I have decided to close this thread, because my original concern with the multiple trickles within a short time-span has been addressed. Thank-you for all the work that you do for this project.

---

|
| --- Stardance
|
| nil carborundum illegitimi