I need some nerd help here, please, I'm up to over my ears in problems transferring from XP to my new PC running Win7. Not all queries are about Win7 itself, some are about getting older external devices or programs to work with it. Some of these problems are a pain in the proverbial but may well have fairly easy solutions, I'm not that technically minded. I *knew* there was a reason why I've been putting off getting a much needed new PC for ages, now I'm being thoroughly reminded what that reason is - it never runs according to plan..

My versions of Win7, Office etc 'speak' Danish, so if you offer suggestions, please indicate which no. tab etc. you're talking about together with the name of the tab, or I may not be able to locate the point referred to.

Here goes, in no specific order of priority, there may well be additional questions later:

1. I've been hunting high and low for a driver that will allow me to keep using my beloved dualphone (Philips VOIP321) under Win7, but Philips doesn't - at the present time, at any rate - offer such a driver. I've seen several questions about this same problem while hunting around the net, and I've tried out some of the suggestions (newest version of Skype, yes, newest version of driver from the Philips homepage, yes). It still won't work. The driver installed, but the icon has a 'windows problem shield' on top of it, and when I click on it the screen goes darker (new Win7 alert feature, it seems) and I get a warning box asking me if I'll 'allow this program to make alterations on my PC?' I click 'yes' and get a notice saying the USB phone is already running - but it's not. Alternatively, I get a Skype warning saying a program tried to connect, but Skype couldn't communicate with it.

2. Installation of Office2007, sigh! This PC came with a trial version of 2007, and yesterday I bought a full version of same, as I realize it's about time with an upgrade from Office2000, which I've been using for years. I never use the full package, so I left out OneNote, PowerPoint and something called Visio. I was unsure about something called 'shared functions' and 'Office tools', so I left them in. Now, after installation I opened a document in order to see how it works, an ordinary text document which doesn't even contain much in the way of formatting, as it's intended for transfer to a homepage and therefore the less formatting the better. However, Word seemed to find this file 'suspicious'. I got a message giving me a long song about 'The function you're trying to run contains macros..!! and needs support for macros in order to run. You've chosen to disable macro functions.. bla, bla, bla' and indicating I may want to check my macro settings (the only macro settings I can find have been tried in succession, to no avail, except the one that they label 'not recommended'). This notice pops up EVERY friggin' time I open the program, twice each time, just to make sure. Also if I try to start a new document, for that matter. And the same function seems to bar me from making any changes to 'normal.dot', so I can get the program to use my preferred settings as standard. It's terribly annoying.

Another thing re: Word. I'd installed my old Word2000, as I'd like to keep a tool I'm familiar with handy for work assignments where I don't have the time to fiddle with something unfamiliar, but Word2007 blithely ruined that installation. On my old XP machine I had Word97 and Word2000 living peacefully together, but it seems Office2007 won't allow that? My Word97 is a full version, Word2000 an 'upgrade', so I'd need to install 97 first, or I can't install 2000, as I was reminded when installing it on here a couple of days ago.

3. Win7 opens fast; when you start the PC, the desktop is up and running really speedily. However, *then* it gets frustrating, because seemingly the system has to perform any number of 'very important secret tasks' before it gets on to hooking up to the internet. I've counted 7 minutes and more from appearance of the desktop and until the Skype button finally turns green for ready. Obviously, no mail or homepages can be accessed in this period, either. It takes so long, that the first couple of times I actually thought my internet connection must be down. Is there a way of speeding up this process? It feels a bit like waiting for my elderly dog while he spends ages investigating some interesting smell when I take him walking outside..

4. I've got a small program which runs a calendar showing dates far back in time, very useful and handy for a genealogy nerd like me. I've used this programs under Windows98 and XP and I *know* this program is harmless. Harumph!! Win7 won't even let me move the exe file from the transfer harddisk to the harddisk of the new PC. I get a message saying 'Windows has decided this file may be harmful to your PC'. My only 'choice' is a button saying 'OK', and when clicked, the file is banned from the PC. NO override feature of any kind. I'd really love a button here telling Windows to go do something physically impossible to itself, but the option's not there.. Any suggestions?

5. Is there a way to select smaller program icons for the desktop? The standard ones may be more visible, but they take up much desktop space that I'd like to use for 'storage' of works in progress. I know, I'm not a tidy person..

6. And is there a way to get the system to stop moving files 'parked' on the desktop around when they're saved again? That's one annoying habit, I think. I place a file on the desktop, open it to work on it, hit save, and the little beggar jumps to the next available slot down the screen. If you then leave it there and hit save again after further work on it, it jumps back where it was before..

I'm sure there'll be more questions as I go along, any help with any query would be greatly appreciated. Please bear in mind I have a dual handicap consisting of lack of knowledge and the fact that English is not my first language - be patient :o))

Best wishes,

Bente