Is there some other version I can go back to to avoid this problem?

Not really. Synching has never been easy, although 9b was really bad.
Went over my notes again, but cannot find any pattern that predicts synch errors. I may be kidding myself, but I have a gut feel that seperating playlist maintenance from file uploads may avoid errors. I filled up my last 0.5Gb disk space by

1) setting up new playlists first
2) doing a synch
3) uploading the MP3s, making sure W98 isn't going to sleep (gently moving the mouse cursur around every few minutes)
4) staying out of any other W98 activity / resisting to log onto this BBS, reviewing 0x800703e4 error despairs.

BTW. I no longer delete playlists and create new ones in the same synch, and keep uploads limited to 3-4 CDs

Don't know if this avoids the errors, or just minimizes the risks.
My Empeg's 6Gb is full now . Maybe that the problems have been resolved once I have found the extra disk

Henno
# 00120

NB: My errors are not in stage 3, but in stage 5!
Mike, can you let us know what the various stages do?
And, may be, provide info on the synch process? A log report that summarizes what changes have been applied will make controlling the errors a lot easier. Things like: playlists added/changed/deleted and a summary of the MP3s uploaded/deleted (title, album), with time stamp?