Rick,

"1) Trash the old computer and replace it with a new computer that I saw which has Windows XP, a Pentium IV chip, DVD Player, Writable CD rom drive, 56k modem."

There is no sense throwing good money after bad on a 5 year old computer. I also think you would really get tired of using the library computer for all the reasons you gave.

As for......

"3)Again, replace the hard drive and instead of keeping it, give it for free to or sell it really really cheap to a friend of relative if they aren't picky about or don't care what kind of computer it is."

You can always give it to a local charity in your area & even get some kind of tax write off. Andy - Las Vegas