SOMETHING ELSE:

When I rebooted, there was a little red shield icon in my taskbar, lower right, with an x on it. I clicked it and it's Windows Security Center - opened to the tab "Other Security Settings". The "User Account Control" is turned "OFF". Should that be "ON"?

THANKS AGAIN!

And Phil, thanks for all the advice/info/tips, but I just can't do it - I just can't uninstall Norton or turn if off. I'm too scared! LOL! I've had Norton block several things - attacks - on my computer. What would I have done w/o it? My pc might have been hacked or cracked or whatever. I don't backup anything so if something happened, I'd lose everything. I know I need to get an external hard drive thingie and back up my files once a week or whenever. Gotta get on that.

That is the cleanest computer I think I have ever seen! If you have a zip-strip you can re-attach it to something, but getting a new one would not hurt.

UAC however is something completely different. I personally keep UAC and DEP always turned off. It is one of those security things Microsoft thinks will "help you" but it creates far more troubles then it is worth. I put those settings up there with Norton.

Well thanks Scott! I try to keep things clean around here

What's DEP?

I'll keep the UAC turned off for now.

So as long as the fan blades are covering the thing behind it & it's working, then it's all good? It seems to be in the right place even though the lower part is broken.

THANKS AGAIN!

Windows DEP : http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind … -questions

I can't believe I even asked that. I usually Google stuff like that...I'm being a big airhead today.

I wouldn't be overly concerned with that broken piece. Did it look like it could have been touching the blades as the fan spun? From your pictures, no. While it wouldn't hurt to replace the fans, at this point you'd kind of be shooting in the dark with that as far as troubleshooting.

I've used CoolerMaster and ZeroTherm before with good runs on both. Here's a link to Newegg with fans sorted by user "ratings"... I'd suggest reading through the reviews within your price range and see what fits you best. Make sure you get some heat sink grease when you place your order, if it don't come with the fan. Carefully remove the heat sink and clean the old grease off (it's the white gunk that is supposed to be between the chip and the heat sink), apply a light coat evenly on either the chip or the heat sink. Not too thick, but a nice even coating, try to avoid air pockets as those can create "hot pockets" and not the tasty microwave snack

LOL. I second that.

Opinions:

Norton has had a deserved reputation for slowing computers down. At one time, removing it was the first thing I did when someone would ask for help cleaning up a sluggish machine. Although I have no experience with the most recent versions, sources for whom I have a great deal of respect report that Norton has 'cleaned up their act' in this regard. I still don't recommend it -- why pay for something when there are competent free alternatives?

I would not allow any computer under my control on the internet without security software of some type. In the past couple of years, I've switched to (evil ) Microsoft Security Essentials, which is free, uses minimal system resources, is recommended by many experts, frequently updated, very effective and provides both realtime protection and scheduled virus scans.

Like Phil, I have never had a virus...ever... I use only Gmail for my e-mail, I use Firefox for surfing the web and I don't install junk software. Follow those rules and your computer will run perfectly. The majority of all virus happen over e-mail or through Internet Explorer. Eliminate both of those potential vulnerabilities and you are all set.