I was thinking of the static built up while the vacuum is running, caused by the friction of two insulators (dust and plastic hose). I have seen industrial vacuum system sparks jump over an inch every few seconds when running. Would I need to get ubuntu versions of all my XP programs then? Some I paid for and all my install CDs disappeared one cleanup day. Would I have to boot with windows to run those or buy new ones? My computer has a 'press any key to boot from CD' on a timer now, and I know how to access the BIOS to change boot order etc.