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So how does one speed it up, it really is bad 5-7 mins to startup

Post the Hijackthis log file. That'll give us more information on startup items etc. I still think a defrag is worth a go. It might take a long time, so maybe something to let run over night. You could also run a checkdisk as part of your tune-up, which again could take some time.

Manual steps to run Chkdsk from My Computer or Windows Explorer
Double-click My Computer, and then right-click the hard disk that you want to check.
Click Properties, and then click Tools.
Under Error-checking, click Check Now. A dialog box that shows the Check disk options is displayed,
Use one of the following procedures:
To run Chkdsk in read-only mode, click Start.
To repair errors without scanning the volume for bad sectors, select the Automatically fix file system errors check box, and then click Start.
To repair errors, locate bad sectors, and recover readable information, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then click Start.
Note If one or more of the files on the hard disk are open, you will receive the following message:
The disk check could not be performed because the disk check utility needs exclusive access to some Windows files on the disk. These files can be accessed by restarting Windows. Do you want to schedule the disk check to occur the next time you restart the computer?
Click Yes to schedule the disk check, and then restart your computer to start the disk check.

I'll have to set the computer up on the modem first as the cd plan didn't work.

Ever heard of one of these?

Yes richie, the cd worked earlier.

Bloody thing won't connect to the internet at the moment.

If I can get online things could get faster.

Just going to try the remote hard drive to transfer with.

Just says the parameter is incorrect

What does?

I assume this is a removable hard drive?

Is this message on your computer or your mate's?

yes it's a removable hard drive, the message is on me mates computer

Not sounding good is it?

Does this message appear when you plug in the drive and turn it on?

Try connecting the drive and starting in Safe Mose to copy across the files.

I think instructions to boot in safe mode were posted earlier.

It keeps saying It can't find the internet connection plug the ethernet cable direct to the modem.

wondering if there could be a dodgy connection inside.

Was it connecting to the internet in the same way at your mate's house, or did he use a USB modem?

Yes same cable. I also used the cable off my computer.

Modem or router?

If modem, you need to restart it.

I'm going to try that.

Switch it off plug the cable in and re-start, so will be offline for 10mins.