If you are going to attempt a Windows upgrade on your own, I wish you the best of luck. Though I know a little about computers, I found it hard to do this on my own. We went from 98 to XP by buying an upgrade package.

What I didn’t know was that what they consider easy at Microsoft is not necessarily easy for the average person. I had a lot of problems with my Windows upgrade, and that was because it is not always as easy as you might think, especially if you have older programs that you don’t want to give up or upgrade.

When I did our Windows upgrade it scanned our computer to see what I had on my system. It warned me that some of my software was not compatible, and that I would have to delete it in order for the Windows upgrade to work. I did everything it said, but I soon found out that something else was wrong.

After I had installed XP I could not get onto my computer. It would load to the sign-on screen, but it would then shut off and restart. It did this over and over again. I thought I was going to go mad. I had to revert back to 98 and start all over again.

The problem with my Windows upgrade is still a mystery to me. We started all over again, but this time it worked. I don’t know what happened the first time, but I do know that I was even more frustrated when it went off without a hitch the second time.

There were still problems with my Windows upgrade, however, because one of my most important pieces of software no longer worked. This left me more frustrated than ever. I loved the software as it was and I saw no reason to spend hundreds to upgrade something that already worked perfectly for me as it was.

I went to download a patch that was supposed to make the software compatible with my Windows upgrade. It worked half of the time and the rest of the time I could not get it to open. I was very aggravated with this, and I asked my husband if he could do something about it.

In the end he found a free upgrade online, and even though I do not have the latest version of the software, I at least have a version that is compatible with my XP Windows upgrade. I’m happy. However, the Vista upgrade is due any day now, and I don’t know if I want to go through that again. Perhaps I will just wait and see if I think I really need it right away. For the sake of my sanity, I might just wait.