a skype xp problem

[Snozzz]

having had numerous pc catastrophies in recent months i have 'sortof' resurrected an old xp pc . i know it will not take Vista, from the old test as was, and am reluctant to break into my still virginal cd of win7 on a likely fruitless cause just to see if im lucky (an immediate non-starter). so figuring out this problem would be a fantastic (benefit to mankind loll) help.

i had Skype working fine (back in the day when a twin core @2g was an interesting machine, to non gamers) but now after an update or so it just dies as soon as i try to run it. reformatting and reinstalling etc is not an option for me as i lack the OS disc (and i dont want a dodgy copy).. ive tried downloading various old versions of Skype but to no result.

?