Grrr! I hate compters

[lionwing]

Glad you are back up and running!

[DCCDave]

I got the thermal compound today...£7 for a small syringe and indeed following application, the computer has returned to its normal quiet self....praise be to the suggestion from your goodself 

Excellent news - and cheaper than a new mobo.

[linuxyeti]

Hi Good news

However, you do need to get off XP as soon as possible, as Microsoft drop support for XP on April 8th, which means no more patches for any vulnerabilities that won't have been patched already by April 8th, and to make matters far worse,  each new security update that Microsoft releases for Windows Vista or later could potentially become a how-to manual for new exploits, should the same flaws exist in XP.

So, I suggest escaping the Windows XP arena as soon as possible, as you might guess my recommendation would be to move to a Linux based os, but if that's not the case, then move to at least Windows 7, I would avoid Windows 8 altogether and see what Windows 9 is going to be like, if you really must stay with a Microsoft operating system.

Cheers

Tony

[Adam1701D]

Stick with Windows 7 until a proper replacement for 8 comes along.

The current 8.1 is an improvement, with a proper start button and the ability to boot to the Desktop, but Microsoft have learned and will be doing a proper desktop friendly Windows 9 next year.