Today, I upgraded the laptop to Windows XP Pro (why the pro version, you ask? Because it was going on over Windows 2000 Pro, an it was the only choice). The installation went fairly well, although it didn’t recognize the synaptics touchpad on the laptop here; the big problem is that it didn’t keep my profile, but instead sent all my data into hiding.
 
Now, I’m not one for tech support; I figure if I got into trouble I can get out myself, but I had just spent $200 on this at CompUSA, so I called tech support. The fellows at Microsoft (Ford and Bruce) were knowledgeable and helpful, and I have recovered my Outlook info, which really was all I was worried about. Losing my preferences isn’t any big deal, and my last IE favorites backup (about 1 month old) was found and imported. So, no cookies (no big deal), but I’ve lost my wife’s e-mail address book, which I cannot recover until I get back home.
The touchpad is fixed and working fine, thanks.
