Is it worth the ag to upgrade Kontakt or jump ship?

I am engaged in a new install of XP pro sp3, new hard drives and reinstalls of all software on my audio-dedicated (offline) PC. I have successive versions of Kontakt registered but I am already feeling the pain of trying to reinstall them in order to ultimately execute the kontakt 3 upgrade which I have just ordered.

I am feeling today, based on my current and past experiences with NI and their "Service centre" (a misnoma), that it might be cheaper to bypass the whole reinstall fiasco and just buy Kontakt 3 as a new product. The time it is going to take to re-register each successive upgrade all over again cannot be justified even if I halved my hourly rate.

Can anyone recommend a soft sampler that is as good as Kontakt 'baked' by a company that does not insist on wasting my time for the privilege of being loyal?

btw I tried v-sampler (my goodness, I tried), so please don't suggest that freebie. It turned me into a disturbing amalgam of Catherine Tate's cockney old lady and Victor Meldrew.

Love and peace to you all,

Harry
aka moniker

www.harryfulcher.co.uk