Yep, I knew there was a good reason as to why I do not use Google Chrome! 

Great post Doc!

Thanks, Tom...

This post is the main reason I wrote the "Back up Or Weep" the way I did putting so much emphasis on updating software patches, drivers, OS and browsers before cloning or backing up the disk.

should I assume that those updates from automatic notifications are real?

Which "automatic notification" do you mean? Microsoft (notifying from the system tray) = OK.

Adobe, MS by email: Never OK.

Browser Updates: systray notifications =OK. By email? No.

If you are taken to a website for "Updates", check its digital certificate.

1 day after you wrote Backup or Weep my hard drive crashed  . Funally enough it was while burning disc after disc. I guess it over heated, it was very hot to the touch. Lost a lot of work.

gmc2....basically it's always best to assume anything you get via email is potentially bad or a scam. Just to be on the safe side I never download anything I get through email. If I ever get a notice of any update via email I always go to the website and check...and when in doubt...delete! And it's always best to not go to any link via email. If I'm given a link in an email I'd type it in manually...not copy and paste it but one I know is legit...and go there and check to make sure I'm at the real website.

I'm really sorry, myfist0... makes me really unhappy to hear you got screwed..."But wait!" - I think I ran across a data recovery program... I know it was within the last 10-14 days in a post of mine. I'll try to find it for you.

See, it might not have been your disk. Could have been a fan and then, maybe something on the motherboard...maybe the 'burner'.

Try to take out the disk and have a look around in there. Maybe you can still mount the disk on another machine and clone it...

No harm trying, and what do you have to lose?

Not the burner anyway. Burnt dive was E: and the main drive C: & D: are fine and can burn. The drive makes a constant spin up sound then stops, spin up and stop, over and over. Let the comp sit over nifgt off to let cool down and no go. Had a friend tell me to stick it in the freezer and try again long enough to clone data. Amidst me laughing I looked it up and apparently this might work. 

My comp was the house server and on all the time so the other 2 comps and the Xbox could connect to all the files so it was on 24/7. Never do that again, at least not until I have some extra cooling hardware.

Thank you so much for trying to find that info for me.  

EDIT: The other comps are to old. Will need an IDE to whatever that new connection is as well as power converter plug.

I didn't see Opera in there. Hmm, not being compatible with a big chunk of the internet seems to do wonders for it's security  

Kiddin', it's a lot more compatible these days, and doesn't even crash on me when I switch tabs since the last update, which was a feature that was added by the update before that one.

The rotten part about upgrading to W7, aside from hardware, is the fact that I'll have to retool everything I have. I'm not really sure the software I've been using mostly since W98 will work properly on W7. And I'm too much of a cheap bastard to upgrade to new versions. I've been using Cool Edit for a decade, and I'll still be using it even if soundcards get replaced by smellcards.

Here it is, myfist0:

http://drjbhl.joeuser.com/article/405449/Easeus_Data_Recovery_Wizard_Review_Giveaway_at_ghacksnet

thanks again Doc. 

Great comparison!  But Cisco IOS and Linux Kernel have an unfair advantage - they are not GUI.  GUI has the inevitable Buffer Over Flows that compound their problems.