ah, but software installs/uninstalls leaving stuff behind is a fault with the software not windows. Windows just breaking 15 times without warning is very unusual. We have had that occur 3 times that I can remember on a network of 200 machines.

As for expensive software, adaware, spybot and ccleaner are all free to use and will do wonders for cleaning up installs and other nasties. (www.filehippo.com)