Around 3-4 months ago, my wifes phone (Motorola Defy) suddenly slowed to a pathetic crawl.
It would take forever to accomplish anything. She didn't know why, but I suspected some rogue app.
I forget all the steps I took to isolate the condition, but I found that the camera would store every photo in its own directory. Plus it did the same for thumbnails.
Long terrible situation > short ... her phone no longer works.
Now, at this time, she only had her phone for about 4-5 months. TOPS!!!
She used the camera regularly, nothing outrageous.
I made a backup of her 8GB microSD card.
It was filled to the max!
WTF?

I ran Microsoft Security Essentials on this backup folder.
When it finished, it reported no issues. But it DID scan 12,408 directories.
FRIGGIN' CRAZY, RIGHT??!??!
The attached screenshot is about half way through the scan.

What's REALLY odd, I was able to delete all the photos. But the empty folders are still there.

So my question: how can I delete all these folders?

 :(
I've got a hardware problem that I do not how to diagnose nor solve.

Constant freezes. Doesn't matter what application is running.

I have a custom built PC. Parts purchased & assembled April 2008. I had it built by an experienced friend of a friend, who has built several gaming rigs, and is no longer available to assist me.
Here is my parts list (quick copy/paste from NewEgg Invoice Details):

1 x Thermaltake M9 VI1000BWS Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
1 x GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard - Retail
1 x Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E6550 - Retail
1 x G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-2GBPK - Retail
1 x Thermaltake Purepower RX W0144RU 600W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
1 x XFX PVT88SFDF4 GeForce 8800 GS 384MB 192-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
1 x SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B - OEM
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
1 x Microsoft Windows XP Professional With SP2C for System Builders - OEM

I'm assuming that this is a hardware issue because I've had this problem start when I had XP, over a year ago.
At the time, I thought it was a software issue, or some other non-hardware matter. So I took the opportunity to try Kubuntu (I've used Ubuntu off and on many times since Edgy Eft.)
Problem didn't occur for a while, then suddenly happened several times per day.
My wife thought it was a bad hard-drive. This was a few months ago, when Win7 was available for download, so I downloaded and burned it.
I formatted the hard-drive using Ubuntu Live CD, and replaced it with a similar one as before (from a local store).
The problem persists. If I can figure out how, I may run both hard-drives (RAID? right?) to double my storage.

Win7 has been awesome! :)
I'm really digging it. Last night, for the first time in MONTHS, it froze again. And yet again upon reboot, and again right before this post.
I opened the case earlier. Took two aerosol air cans, and expelled most of whatever dust I found. Including the fans, power supply, around CPU heatsink, and the little heatsink on the graphics card.
I also unplugged each and every plug that I could get my hands on, and one by one, unplugged and replugged them, to ensure everything was nice and properly fastened.

I am currently not working, short term disablity. So any solution that is either free, or low-cost would be most appreciated!
:)

I know that as a general rule of Windows usage, I should not use the Administrator account for daily usage.
So I use my personal account, as well as my wife uses her own.

It would be a neat idea, say for example the following scenario:
I'm logged into my personal account. I need to download/install some application, or perform some task which is disabled in my stripped user account.
This little app would need to be installed on all accounts I suppose!?
So I launch this neat little application that posts something like a postit/stickey note to the Administrator Desktop: DON'T FORGET TO INSTALL 'XYZ'.
The next time I logon using the Admin Account, I am presented with the postit/stickey note which was posted with the other account.
It would be even better, if this same little application could send messages to other accounts. For example, to my wifes desktop/account: HUNNY, I TOOK YOUR CAR KEYS TO WASH YOUR CAR. I LEFT THE COFFEE POT ON!

:)

I know there are plenty of postit/stickey notes around, but I don't know about the above feature.