johnnydnh, I'm so glad that you were able to do the XP install so easily. I forgot one very important piece of advice: You always want to go to Windows Update immediately after installing your new operating system. I've installed a few new operating systems in the past 3 years, and all of them had Windows Updates waiting when I looked. I'm sorry I can't advise on MSN Messenger. It does seem that has been integrated more into Windows XP. It is now Windows Messenger. I recently worked for MSN, and all my coworkers used MSN Messenger. My friends still do. Ron