I closed a question

If you desire to award the point to the peer who helped you, just start a new question.
Title the question Points For (peer name)

In the body of the question, provide a brief explanation of the original question, and thank the peer.

When theyrespond, award the points.

If this was about your question on reformat and re-install, when you closed the question, the points were awarded.

I was going to e-mail a comment to you, but will place it here.

To build up your confidence, I suggest that you check out computer surplus stores, swap meets, or Goodwill stores in your area.
Buy a $30 - $50 PC, and practice on it.
That way, you learn how to install Windows without risking any problems on your primary PC.

Depending on the specific problems that you are having, you may be able to improve the porformance with a few tricks.
For W98 and Me, run sfc (system file checker) from the run box on the start menu.
This will replace any corrupt or out of date files.

Buy a copy of Norton System Works, or V-COM Fix-It Suite.
Both have a good registry cleanup tool that can fix a lot of little problems.

Chas