Follow the following basic tenets and most of your problems should disappear:

1. Anytime you install any piece of software, you are assuming the following:
----The software is well written.
----The software plays well with others.
----The software is from a trustworthy source.

If the software in question violates any of the above three, you increase the likelyhood of having issues.

2. Any and all hardware you use should have drivers from the Windows Hardware Compatibility List. Any name brand machine such as Dell or HP will have such hardware.

3. Keep your machines patched and up-to-date. You can do so automatically using Windows Server Update Services (www.microsoft.com/wsus) if you have a server. Otherwise, be sure to set automatic updates for all your machines to download and install updates.

4. If you are having issues with slow response time, locking, freezing, or video issues check with the manufacturer's website to see if you have the lastest drivers for the machine's hardware. For Dell, you would go to support.dell.com and type in the machines's service tag number to see the driver list.

5. Any and all software installed on your machines should be there for a reason. If you can think of no BUSINESS CASE as to why that software is there, it gets uninstalled. Period.

JamesNT

James Summerlin
My personal site: http://www.dataintegrationsolutions.net
james@dataintegrationsolutions.net