i am running windows xp home edition sp2 and every time i turn it on it boots up fine but then it randomley starts up again and it dose this about 3 to 4 times b4 it stays on. a few weeks ago a couple of my mates were recieving instant messages in there msn and they were showing up as if i,d sent them but i hadent , i tried to uninstall windows messenger but every time i tried it would get half way fru then my pc would shut down. also when i turn my pc off it goes off but then comes bk on every time.
and last of all can any1 tell me how i transfer my main hard drive(c) docs and files etc to a bigger hard drive at the moment my c drive is only a 40gb and i want to transfer most of my docs etc to a new drive wich is an 80 gb . any help at all will be most greatful thanks a million in advance

toni, May 2008

OK - First, on your computer starting and stopping all by itself, it sounds like you've picked up some virus or spyware. Before doing anything with your data you want to clean up the computer. There are many spyware/virus programs out there but I recommend AVG Free - Ver. 8 - Google it as AVG Free 8 Download and you should find it. It's a large file but worth the time. Once you've downloaded make sure you update it and then let it check your entire computer. It may take some time, but let it finish. If that doesn't find the problems you might try "Adaware" or "Spybots" (the free versions).

Once your computer is free from problems you want to move your files to your new hard drive. I would suggest cloning your 40gb to your new 80gb. That is moving your entire system from the 40 to the 80. This is NOT copying. You will need a program to do this. Search for PC Clone or other programs designed to do this. If your 80gb hard drive is new it probably came with a disk that will let you do this for you. Follow the directions carefully. Once the process is completed, make your 80gb drive the master and your 40 the slave and reboot your computer. When you're sure everything is OK you can clean your 40 and use it for additional storage as you like. You'll now have 2 hard drives but the boot drive will be your 80gb. Hope this helps.

Bruce, June 2008

You have been infected by a virus which has hi-jacked your MSN ID and is sending messages with a mal-ware payload to everyone in your contact list.

First step - install a proper (paid-for) anti-virus solution and dis-infect your PC.

Alternatively, you could kill 2 birds with 1 stone so to speak. Install your new hard drive as your 'C' drive, with your existing drive as 'D', and install XP (AND your newly-purchased anti-virus program as a clean install.

Scan the 'D' drive and clean it, then copy everything you want to 'C' and remove 'D' (format it first for security). Alternatively, you could remove all the system files from 'D' and leave it in as additional storage. Put the windows swap file on it for a significant increase in performance.

phil_saunders@bigfoot.com

Phil Saunders, May 2008