Upgrades can go bad in any OS. They may seem more frequent in Ubuntu
because it comes out every six months so there are more of them. That
being said, I hate upgrades and always opt for a clean installation.
There is lots of cruft that can get left behind and make life
miserable even if things upgrade properly. However, the biggest reason
that I hate upgrades is that I do not stick with a stock Ubuntu
release. I have everything posible installed and use lots of outside
sources (PPAs). In my case, the chances of a successful upgrade are
almost nil.

My comment about comparing OSes is important. You are in a new
environment and need to respect the OS if you are to get help and not
rankle cranky old users like me. Linux is nearly as old as Windows and
is older if you look at Unix at its roots. It has maintained a
separate path since day one and has never sought to be LIKE Windows.
It has its own file system and way of doing things. Implicit in saying
it worked in Windows is to cast blame. It does not work therefore is a
Linux problem. In fact, the problem goes much deeper. The hardware was
made to work on Windows. Microsoft did not have to do anything to get
it to work. In the case of Linux, developers had to work hard to
backwards engineer almost everything. The fact that it works at all
should be surprising. You cannot run Mac OS easily on a PC either.
That is a testimony to the Linux community. To make comparisons when
unmerited and unwanted is not the way to integrate into the community.
If I moved to the US and went around saying that it was better in ___
(another country) or it is not the way it is done in ___, then I would
quickly be told to go back to where I came from. Windows is Windows
and Linux is Linux.Whether one is better or not depends on which side
of the fence you are. I prefer to keep them separate because making
comparisons frequently leads to fruitless discussions, flame wars and
bashing which is why I mentioned it.

If something works in Widows there is a reason. It was made to work in
it. If it does not work in Linux, there is a reason. It was not made
to work in Linux.However, most hardware can be made to work in Linux,
which is where the community comes in handy.

Now that you have shared a bit more, people can now start
contributing. They have information and that is key to resolving any
problem. Otherwise we are shooting in the dark and it can lead you
down many paths and waste your time and ours before you hit on a
solution.

I am outspoken and do not mean to offend. I could just stick to giving
answers, but think that we have a larger responsibility to the
community to educate new users to the Linux way. So I tend to be picky
and you will learn this about me in time