Last fall I rebuilt my home computer after Nikki and I noticed that it was starting to run a little slow.  I figured it had been about 2 years since I rebuilt it last so it was definately time to do it again.  But after rebuilding it, it was still slow.  We've just been dealing with it, but it was getting really annoying. 

Then it hit me.  The VS .Net 2005/.Net Framework 2.0 Beta.  I installed it about a month before rebuilding, and immediately after rebuilding.  “That had to be it”, I said to myself.  Then I said, “I like carp”, and “aluminum trombone pleasantry”. 

So, I uninstalled the Beta and “poof”!  In a spectacular burst of 1's and 0's the good 'ol Gateway was running like it was brand new again.  I didn't have VS .Net 2005 to play with anymore, but that's ok because I haven't really touched it for a few months anyway.  Plus, my beefy for-work-only Dell Inspiron (outfitted with a Virtual PC for Beta software) can more than handle it if I want to dig back in to operator overloading, generics, or ASP.Net membership anytime soon. 

What's the moral of the story?  1's and 0's are hard to clean up off the floor after they burst spectacularly.