I am now back onto XP Home Edition, after trying Vista for a year. I pressed the allow update a bit too quickly for SP2 and regretted that immediately.
After download and install SP2 and restart it wanted to update my ASDL modem driver, which it could not find on the web, it left the driver corrupted. Install disk INF file not found when I tried that.
I decided to uninstall SP2 without the chance of even seeing how good it was, as I really need an Internet connection. At the same time I decided to go back to XP which recognized the modem and set up all the items needed in a few minutes.