Mango3,
I hope that you enjoy XP, I have, its a nice interface.
But like you, I have ran into driver problems with a cheap webcam, CD writer and Norton Anti-Virus.
The Norton problem is the only one which I have really solved so far, I purchased Anti Virus 2002.
The CD writer is annoying me, the required/desired software is available for a 90 trial, but carries a $99 purchase price. This leads me towards the idea of buying a NEW CD writer which will have the software bundled in.
I'm going shopping over the weekend in the Dubai Duty Free for a Nikon Coolpix 990, which will be used on a new Dell Laptop with XP. (Not for me) It will be interesting to see if this top of the range camera comes with the proper drivers!!!!
Good Luck.
Mutt. (Dreaming of the Guinness tent at the DXB airshow...)