Just one more question before I reformat.
I'm going to have to start with Win2K Pro, since my version of WinXP is an upgrade. Wipe and reinstall should take all day, but it's better than time lost trying to fix all these problems.
When you install WinXP and Office 2003, M$ forces you to register the product and won't activate an installation on more than one PC. If I do a wipe, how is M$ going to know this is a reinstall? I paid a lot of money for these programs.
I don't think you have to install Win2K Pro first. Start with installing XP; since it is an upgrade, you will get a screen asking to verify that you have a copy of a previous OS. You will then need to put the Win 2K disc in; once it's verified, you can resume installing XP. As for the MS Office issue, I'm not sure about that...
Freepmail me your address. I may have a few things for you to help you out.