Well, I finally decided that my faithful old pc needed to be replaced. Although very reliable it was very slow. For my birthday I bought all the bits and pieces to build a quad core pc with Windows 7 and have just been putting finishing touches to it. What a difference
It now takes only a couple of minutes to boot up and I was able to install Microsoft office professional which I bought for £9 through a deal that I received from my work. According to Amazon it would have cost me £323 if I had bought it from them
I also transferred my TV card from my old pc and it now works without stuttering when trying to browse the Internet
I was even able to install some of my old software which seems to be working fine. Although I don't play games very much, I do like Need for Speed. One of my kids bought me Hot Pursuit last year and I haven't been able to play it as it needed a least a dual core processor. However, I've now finally been able to install it.