Comments? I'm working on salvaging an old broken Compaq PIII for a friend. After some hardware repairs (replacing the CD drive, and a true hack on the motherboard involving a Dremel tool and soldering iron) I'm now trying to get the original-equipment Windows ME running again. Spybot S&D found about 900 spyware objects and cookies, Ad-Aware subsequently found 1500, and AVG Anti-Virus is up to 125 trojans etc. and counting. I don't have the Windows restore disks (and there isn't a restore partition, either) -- or I would just wipe everything and reload. I'm thinking now -- maybe I'll just install Linux for him. My friend doesn't know anything at all about computers. He had a few photos on a CD that he wanted to view -- and I showed him how it could be done (with my Ubuntu laptop). He says he would use a computer for "research" -- but he doesn't have Internet access (yet). Games? I showed him Mahjongg on my computer & he was amazed. Tried to play Solitaire on the Compaq but Windows was too messed up. So I don't think he's going to be a hard-core gamer. He wants to get a digital camera, and he will need a computer to process his photos -- although he could just get prints directly from the memory card in the camera. On the other hand, I may get this thing limping along under Windows. It's slow, and there are error messages popping up constantly, but maybe it will work well enough to do the simple stuff we need. At this point, he doesn't know or care about pros and cons between Windows and Linux. I'm pondering which way to go. With either choice, I'll be glad to help him get started, but I don't want to hold his hand forever. Sooner or later he'll hear about some new thing he wants to try, and odds are that it will be a Windows app. I don't want to have to explain "you can't do that, because it's a Windows program, but maybe there's something like it..." Most of the "reading material" -- "___ for Dummies" and "Computers made Easy" stuff -- is geared to Windows, so it may be hard to get him off-line instruction. And, when I told him that this Compaq could be a hopeless case, he said he may just go get a new one, although I didn't like to hear that. He has a limited income and I'm trying to save him some money, by fixing this thing without putting much money into it. So -- I'm just looking for comments. What am I getting into? Anyone know of a good way to explain computers (Linux or Windows) to a complete newbie? Any words of wisdom are appreciated. Kraig