one thing to remember since that pc had xp sp2 on it prior to going to the shop and he put sp3 on it if a system restore was done to a date prior to install of sp3 it can cause major issues, you will end up with a mish mash of both. Back when everyone was doing sp3 installs it was highly recommended not to do a system restore because of that, instead the recommended method was to go to add remove programs and remove it from there. However since you already have sp3 on the pc and the tech did this and you had asked him not to and now you have problems the best and logical thing to do is bring it right back to him and tell him it needs to be fixed, He apparently did not check to make sure everything was working properly. You paid for it to be working he should make it good. If you can have it with sp3 you definitely should have it with sp3 so you can continue to get your windows updates on it. Thats my thought anyway.

I've sold Kolbe sash kits for decades in our area. I think we probably sell them more than the average window dealer. It is more of a task than on would think for a DIYer. Like mentioned already the only issue is when the window is out of square, but it's still able to be done. I'd say maybe one or two in every other job we do the sash needs to be planed a little bit to ensure it closes perfectly. The price for Kolbe is reasonable when you do a simple primed sash (close to price of an average vinyl). If you do the prefinish KKRON it can get expensive but there's certainly benefits to that prefinish. I would not go with clad for sash kits since it can be a problem fitting them in an opening that is not square. Sash kits look much better than insert windows, they look more historically accurate than vinyl and the price if you get it done by a reasonable dealer is decent. The problem is most dealers have little experience with them, they over price them because there's not much to be made on them. The money you make from sash packs is on the instillation and many don't want to do that so they avoid them.

If you are installing insert replacement windows this link might help. Here is a link that might be useful: Quick Wood Replacement Windows

+1. 1) That lintel was not part of the window installation, so don't use that as any indication of installation quality. 2) very hard to tell installation quality based on those two pics. Kind of looks like they used the window caulk and extended between the lintel and brick which is weird, but that might be mortar? 3) As MwM said, Jeldwen is generally used as a cost effective product option by builders. These appear to be single hung units which follow along that same line. Would new, high quality, high performance windows be an improvement in energy efficiency and sound attenuation? Almost certainly. Would the difference be enough to justify the price tag? Much harder to say. If these aren't that old and were installed at least reasonably well, that would be very hard to do (present value). If OTOH they are 15+ years old, drafty, have some seal failures, some operational issues etc, it may be about time to replace them anyway. Either way, as MwM also mentioned, you should consider glass units designed for sound mitigation if that is a primary goal, and an airtight unit will help in that regard as well.