Fractal fans: I have not yet found time to once again pry open the ailing computer's can and dig into its inner workings, though a heat-sensitive bad memory module or bad memory slot diagnosis seems most likely. Running the full diagnostic (if I could still find it) might help, but it is impossible. During the few minutes when the machine runs, it runs perfectly and there is nothing to diagnose; when it stops running, it doesn't even send a signal to the monitor. When I boot directly to DOS, it stops running without displaying a blue screen, leaving the monitor blank. My instinct tells me that the machine is at the end of the line. The r/w DVD drive is also kaput, and several other things are goofy. Most likely, it *HAS* been possessed by evil spirits and needs an exorcism. If discarding a bad memory module or leaving a bad slot empty doesn't fix the problem, I'll probably scrap the machine, salvage the video card that runs all the Fractint VESA modes, and install it in a replacement computer. Curiously, the 200mhz machine I'm now using for fractals is stacked with only 16mb memory and a 2gb hard drive. It's next to useless for the internet, but it has been running flawlessly for almost 14 years. I sometimes almost wonder if computers are an evil plot of the aliens from . . . I think it's Vega-4 . . . who are plotting to turn us into brain-dead but fully connected wireless zombies ready to be conquered and turned into slaves. If anyone doubts that we are well on the way to zombiehood, I suggest a few hours of watching current-day television 'entertainment' or 'news', listening to the current 'pop' music or paying attention to the ramblings of the current politicians. Until next time, take care, and what ever happened to the days when kids learned how to ride bicycles? JIM M.