Hi and welcome to techzonez!

I got a pc for my mother (age 77) so I know whereof you speak.

as to problem-solving: It depends what KIND of problems. Posting here works very well.
http://www.aumha.org/ for startup/shutdown problems and registry patches.
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/ for xp-specific issues
http://mvps.org/ for MS MVP's
...and there's always the KB and google searches.