Hi Graham. Good to see you around here.
"This system" is Windows 7, so it's been unpatched for about a year. Mind you, I did do a repair
install right around New Year & had to reinstall a certain amount of Microsoft system maintenance.
But I've turned off automatic updates. It's just a waste of time for the system to go looking for
updates that Microsoft stopped issuing over a year ago.
Anti-virus software indeed does get updated multiple times per day. But those are just signatures.
The engine itself is updated much less frequently. Such updates usually prompt for a reboot.
I do try not to reboot. Typically, I'll go several weeks between reboots. Reboots are usually due
to . . . well, I can't really say I've seen much of a pattern. Anti-virus engine updates are one
reason but system updates, being non-existent, are not. I am usually able to leave PBM running for
at least a few weeks at a time as well. This quirk with the attachment toolbar is something I had
not seen in the 3 years this thread lay fallow. Closing & reopening PBM did not clear the problem,
only a reboot did. I fully expect this to not recur for a comparable length of time.
My system typically runs perfectly between reboots. Reboots are usually due to either
configuration tweaks I might do (sound, video, USB drivers) or some application insisting I reboot.
I believe I went 104 days between reboots at one point last year. I rarely see a reason to cycle
PBM & it works fine. I normally don't see any problems with it that might make me think a
close/reopen would cure something. The closest I get is closing IMAP4 Preview because I want to
fiddle with some PBM setting. Preview & settings changes are mutually exclusive now, as I've been
told. I wish PBM's IMAP4 played better with GMail. But I posted about that in another thread.
I'm patiently waiting for development to resume on PBM so the GMail issues can be addressed.
I recently opened my system case. Can't remember exactly why. I put in a video card last year
some time but I opened it up just a few weeks ago for some reason. I was surprised by how little
dust was in there. But it's got plenty of cooling. There's a case fan in the front of the case, a
fan in the power supply, & a fan physically on the CPU. So cooling isn't an issue. I've set the
box away from the side of my desk so there's clear circulation around all 4 sides. The case stands
on feet so there's circulation underneath as well. The top has a couple of things on it but I
think there's more than adequate air circulation around the box.
I don't think there's anything specific about my system that is causing a problem. The attachment
bar thing is just a rare quirk somewhere in the bowels of the software outside PBM. If I start to
see it recur with any regularity, which I would be astounded to observe, you can be sure I'll post
here about it.