Ok here I go with another one of those what am I doing sort of questions.

What I have done is get sort of a refurbished dell latitude d610 beyond that I dont know much. As for a desk top I am good and have basic understanding and loads of help from here and a few of my favorite people

Point is I want to make sure this thing is in good shape and all is fine on it. I want to make sure I am not running processes that are not needed. I want to make sure I have good set ups for the whole thing what ever that includes.
I have first thing installed zone alarm free fire wall and avast anti virus. I will be adding spybot and hjt. I like the program out there by Mike lin start up monitor so it will go on too.
What all do I need to do with this thing to keep my life simple and worry free (yeah right I know)
thanks for those of you that are willing to put out good directions on what to do. your knowledge is always helpful

DangedCoyote

Congrats on the good find first off, I'm glad to hear that it is in good physical working condition.

Secondly, Have you checked the laptop (or the documentation) for a Windows authentication code? If it's running XP it should be a sticker on the bottom side of the laptop labled "windows XP" with a 25 digit (seperated into groups of 5) alpha numeric code on it.

If you have that, then I'd suggest finding a copy of an OEM Windows XP installation disk and re-formatting it. I personally NEVER trust what software people put on their laptop, mainly due to the fact that it could either be heavily infected, or have something illegal on it that you don't want to be caught for. so at this point, if you have the "Key code" and can get a disk (some computer retailers might sell you one for 5$.) then I'd suggest a re-format.

Thanks winged
I have however taken this POS computer back to the man that sold it to me. too many little problems and not the time I used to have to work on it
lesson: Used is not the way to go (for me)

I'm sorry to hear it didn't work out for you, better luck next time though.

If you have anymore problems don't hesitate to come back and let us know.

thanks