A frugal life is an easy life!

I am used to different windows operating systems taking away user options, the newer they get, but are microsoft in cahoots with other corporate businesses where there is a mutual benefit?

Options disappearing from windows operating system:

When I upgraded from windows xp to windows 7, one feature I used a lot, was the option to drag mp3 files into a folder on my desktop and burn to disc from there, nothing else was needed.
There were even options to format the disc (cd and dvd) and delete files from disc if it was a rewriteable.

After upgrading to windows 7, this option vanished.

It wouldn't have been so bad, but nero also would not work on windows 7 operating platform.
(Handy for upcoming pay to use systems and their co-corporate friends that were lobbying to bring in DRM (digital rights management) in various industries.)

So not to be out done, on our old PC I installed windows xp and on the newer PC I upgraded to windows 7... best of both worlds I thought.

All was well, until I attempted to burn a disc for my own use, in our in car dvd player, a JVC head unit.

I used windows options to burn a dvd of my own mp3 and mp4 files, which play without issue on my JVC head unit in the car. Happy days I thought. I was wrong.

I burned the dvd, nipped out to the car, "disc error"
I loaded it up on my PC, there all the tracks were?
I could play them on PC but not on the JVC?
Three further discs were burned and finalised, I tried rewriteable discs, permanent discs, fast and slow burning speed discs, nothing. Each time all I got was "disc error"?
Out of sheer frustration, I fired up the old PC with windows xp on it, burned the disc, put it in the JVC and hey presto... it worked like a charm!
Now imagine if this was orchestrated by microsoft, so that windows 7 discs were prevented from running on older in car audio equipment?
That would be a nice little earner, especially if it involved many other corporates that made in car head units, like JVC, Sony, Blaupunkt, alpine and the like.
We [microsoft] stop millions of users burning discs that can be used with their older head units and in return they get to shift a whole pile of newer head units that work with windows 7 burning disc feature/software, good for both parties!

So back to today's events.
Thanks to sprog2 wanting to play roblox, within an hour she got a virus on the old PC running windows XP, so much so, that it was on a continuous shutdown and restart loop.
A full reformat and reinstallation of windows xp followed.
Installed the wireless key no problem, off online I go to grab google chrome or a higher version of IE, so I can find all the drivers I need...

...Not happening.
Google website wouldn't open, checked all the settings, still nothing.
I'll update windows then to service pack 3... Not happening!
Microsoft websites were all failing to load up.
Hmmm time to check other websites then.
Youtube (google owned)... not happening!
Microsoft... not happening!

I tried non microsoft and google websites... BBC, bookface and my own website, all opened without issue. They looked a bit out of sync as I was using IE6 but they still worked fine.

So now I'm left to update the old PC to windows 7, which leaves me without access to any disc burning software that works with older head units in the car, which means I'll now have to change this as well, yet more expense.

Anyone would think microsoft were operating a cartel with their corporate friends... I wouldn't mind but it's costing me MONEY!