I have a fairly elderly laptop running XP Pro which I still wish to use occasionally. However it has become very unpredictable of late. One day it boots normally and Hal announces that it is on the desktop etc. But on other occasions I hear the Windows loading "music" followed by much disk activity but no speech, even after 10 minutes or more. (As I am the only user it is set not to require log on). I can get no speech even from Narrator although my wife tells me that it has arrived at the desktop but fails to respond to any key presses. In fact I have to shut it down via the power button! Then a few hours later it will boot normally. before I abandon it for good, I would be interested to hear if anyone has a possible explanation of this odd behaviour. Thanks in advance, Douglas -- Douglas Harrison ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq