Have been hitting problems all week with this stuff and to help others that have to have Windows on their OS's, I though maybe I can start a little post here and maybe people can get great advice off of it and the more experienced can add to it.
XP Users a very important issue for large hard drives. Now if you are going to load an XP system make sure you do not try to use the entire disk and if is partitioned do not make the larger usable. Recommended partition size should be no larger than 50gb.
Known issue with Avast Anti-Virus and Avira. These 2 tested and very difficult to remove from the system. I had to surgically remove Avast from Windows 7 last night through the registry of the ole lady's computer. Avast did the same to my XP version and had to be surgically removed from the registry. I do not recommend those pieces of software for those 2 systems.
Ad-Aware, nice piece of software 3 years ago, upon removal in XP it wipes your Add/Remove programs out. Not so friendly those folks anymore as they try to be more like the larger companies offering complete service. The one in all protector, yeah great!
Zone Alarm, maybe on Win 7 is alright but upon removal in XP it totally wipes out your internet connection if you are on wireless as I am! I guess, if you do not want to buy their products that is price you pay! Of course, thanks to them and oh so kindly, I have to re-install! So I figured this was my very important warning to avoid Zone Alarm on XP as it is just not working correctly. Upon download takes forever to install, not fun at all!
Now remember people none of this is meant to bash any company, I simply want to warn you about issues and save some time. These issues cost me a full day of working on the computers. So if I can help you avoid this, I will! Also all software tested was free versions. I have no results for paid versions of this products. So this is to help all those out here that are broke or just can not afford software at the moment. More to come as have to have this computer loaded correctly and the ole lady's running tip top real soon too!