Hi,
Just a note that the key issue in the printer backlog is memory. After I went to max XP memory the ink-jet printer can run separate from my normal stuff quite well, without holding me back.
I haven't been able to tell about the email download, but the fact that I haven't been able to tell is an indication that the problem is also largely resolved by the memory. Perhaps not as fully, I think there may be a CPU component there as well, but enough to make XP-life much easier and end any major concern.
I had gone up from 1 Gig to 5 Gigs, with XP using what it can (3.5 or 4). Putting it in was a little squirrelly, but not too bad. (The key thing was changing the seats so that the 2-gig sticks are in the primary #1 and #2 position, the white tags on the Dell, where the 512s were b4, and then putting the 512s -- largely superfluous but better in the puter than out -- in what were originally the empty slots. Ok, a bit off-topic.
Kudos to Dell for making the side-panel absurdly easy to take off (no screws at all). And giving help on the expired machine and having the memory at the best price.
Shalom,
Steven