I have had similar experiences with a Compaq Presario C700. Got it cheap. Even after a memory upgrade to 1.5G it ran erratically and the security screens and a

I have had similar experiences with a Compaq Presario C700. Got it cheap. Even after a memory upgrade to 1.5G it ran erratically and the security screens and automated updates drove me to distraction. Sometimes it would take 45 minutes after power up before I could actually get some work done. Have installed Ubuntu v9.04 over Vista and everything works fine. (The WiFi required a bit of Googling to locate the drivers) The only remaining problem is an APM issue when powering up or restarting. The BIOS goes into some strange mode. A very small price to pay for the convenience of a system that runs fast and doesn't waste my time protecting me from myself.