klal,thanks,just found one in Google Docs

Google Docs are brilliant - simple and easy to use. I use them constantly for my business.

SC,must admit i am well pleased about finding Google Docs,the spreadsheet is as good if not better than the MS one and the bit i like the most its 'free' one thing i hate doing is spending money :o)

You tight wad -)

skinny,yep i am a tight wad

The key is the long number and letters attached to the MS disk to install it.,.

BB - I think the smiley in Mega's post speaks volumes! :-)

AH........ missed that bit..... I was sure he wasn't that thick...... but you never know ;))

Open office. It includes equivalents for word, exel, PowerPoint etc. Very reliable and free from open software foundation

Happy crimbo Hays.

After running brilliantly for about 4 years, my son's gaming PC's video card appears to have failed. Windows fails to start up and BSODs with an error message relating to nvlddmks.sys. Also, just as it is POST-ing, I can see green blocks/lines. I am quite certain it is the video card that's gone. Can anyone suggest a good replacement card?

I use a 1GB RADEON 7570 - purchased last year.

If it's for gaming, then as big a RAM you can get and as fast processor speed as you can afford.
Most graphics cards seem to offer 2gb memory now. Nvidia GTX 970 now offer 4gb memory. Not sure if £240 is too much!

Yes - the one above now does I believe - the most gaming I do is on IG after the NF payroll!

Thanks for the inputs. I'm probably gonna have to settle for something like Nvidia GTX 750 (1 GB). Son's planning to buy a Mac Pro for his animation work and I'm gonna have to budget for that too :-(

Find a CeX shop near you. They will have guaranteed pre used cards at bargain prices. I use them every time my kids want their PC updated. The Computer Exchange Web site let's you scan by outlet and by product or both. They have lots of PCi-ex cards that will suit you. I bought one three weeks ago.

Thanks Haystack! That was a brilliant suggestion! Turns out, there is one such outlet within three miles of where I live. And they do seem to have some cards I might be interested in. :-)

And....when you do take the lid off do give the innards a good jetting with some compressed air to get rid of all the dust.

:-)

Update on the graphics card situation - ordered a new Asus GTX 750 Ti after ensuring my motherboard and PSU can handle it. I gather I must uninstall the current graphics drivers and the card (Device Manager) before installing the new card. My problem is that Windows is not able to start though with some struggle I can probably get it to boot in Safe Mode. Assuming I am able to do this, I am concerned that uninstalling current drivers might land me with a black screen. I doubt if my system has onboard graphics. Any suggestions?

Here are some steps to follow:

http://www.wikihow.com/Change-a-Graphics-Card

This also advises uninstalling the old graphics driver. Then you open the case and remove the old grpahics card

I note when you switch on for the first time, there thus doesn't seem to be any graphics card driver installed at all. Thus you might not be able to see anything on the monitor.....???? :-)

Hmmm? Not so. I'm sure you will see something on the screen.

So you then duly install the new driver. Job done!

Well not quite.....

I have found that Driver Booster 2.1 (Free) is of great help keeping all of your drivers up to date and isn't at all intrusive like some of these kinds of programs can be. download it, install it and give it a whirl. This should then help you put every driver on the machine slap bang up to date.

PS. Careful as always when doing the download as to what boxes you tick.