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Thank you for that. I will definitely give it a try. I currently have a separate partition for a reasonably large swap, imitating the Linux style, but (coincidentally because of this BSOD) I discovered that’s not always a good thing: if you don’t have one on C, you won’t get error mini dumps. Now that I have recovered a lot of space on C that is not a problem.
Hmmm I am leaning more and more towards the dark side of Mac. Apparently everything just works on Mac. I’m not sure I like Mac (and its culture), I’m just fed up of Windows. The problem is my most crucial program (an IDE) is Windows-only and I’m not sure I can rely on a windows emulator, api, or whatever else they are called. I should be moving over to Linux, I just don’t have the time to learn (and again same issue with the IDE).
One thing is certain: I need hardware upgrades. My XP box is 2004 and laptop circum 2006. I’m not keen on upgrades for the sake of upgrades, but I am keen on the idea of programs (and OS) loading in light speed off a SSD 
Thanks again for all your help!