Hi folks. My turn to beg for help. I finally took the plunge and bought a new Dell Dimension 8300 with Windows XP Home Edition. I'd gotten so comfortable and complacent on my old (1999) Gateway with Windows 98, that it never occured to me that my software would not work in XP!

1. And now I can't even find the install discs for Access97 and Excel97. Is it worth me even looking? Will they work in XP? How can I migrate the s/w from one computer to another without the original discs? (Honestly, I own them).

2. My Mustek 600cp scanner does not work so far. I downloaded the XP compatible drivers (took an hour) from the Mustek site, but when I try to install them, they run at "2% complete" endlessly. Any ideas?

3. When I first boot up, rather than going to the desktop with all the icons, my computer goes to the Windows Explorer system32 folder. When I called Dell support about this, the guy wanted me to restore to several days previously, which is when I thought it wasn't happening. This would undo all the work I actually did accomplish in setting the thing up, wouldn't it? What actually gets restored? Files? Just settings? My hard drive?

4. Cool Edit won't even install on the Dell. Just flashes and goes away. The main reason I got the new computer with the upgraded sound card was to do home recording - using Cool Edit. This program was given to me by someone who now uses something else, so I don't know if I'm the legal owner of it or not, and now Adobe owns the product and calls it "Audition" for $300.

I'm so sick of spending my days fighting with computers! The new one on trying to set up what I need, the old one on trying to migrate what I need, and the REALLY old one on that my husband uses (until he gets my old one) trying to clean it up to give to my mother. (And then the hell really begins, trying to teach her how to use it...)

Mudcat has more good information and knowledgeable people than any tech support, so I'm asking for help. Then maybe I can get back to music.