   Computer Slow-downs and benchmarking
  Hi2 sort of related issues and rather than waisting topics (and the sql server!... or is it fixed now?) I will post them both here!Through my job, someone offered me a laptop for #20, and I took it! it is a p3 900mhz, rubbish graphics, but it does what I need!Anyway, here I have dedicated machines for everything I do, a development machine, A games machine, a work machine, and I dont really know what to do!I have loaded windows xp on here, and am about to load on office, but I can not decide what else, Obviously this will not be a games machine, having a 2MB card (however I have loaded on cool pool, M:TG planeswalker, AOE 2, and some other nice games I can play when mobile :) ), but I was wondering if this could be a programming machine. I am often away on the train, or just generally not here and thought, I wish I could be doing some programming.I have got a spare copy of VS 2005 laying around that I want to use, I have not had any experiance on the latest version, however I always found that with version 6, 2003 and others, it used to slow down my machine, and I used to get unrelated problems, like some applications used to crash and try to debug... I can not really comment much on the problems.I was just wondering if anyone would know, if I installed VS 2005, would my machine slow down, or could it cause any side affects? Am I better off using the express editions, or would this do the same?--------------Second part of the question, I want to do some research as my next project in to spyware, malware, virus protections and other items, basically a lab project where I want to study how much diffrent programs can slow down machines in general performance, programs working with each other, and for a personal vendetta, copy protection!I was wondering if anyone knows any really good tools not for actual benchmarking, but for in depth system monitoring, timing tools or anything else that can help me? I have so far found Microsoft Bootvis that seems good for startup / standby timings, but I am looking for more.Thanks   
  You could get cygwin, code::blocks, bloodshed c++ if VS does not work.  I have been using those for years on slower machines.  I would just try VS.   