I feel so bad for you!
I figured that newer is better, which, apparently, is not true
, at least not in your case. I am not an expert at this kind of thing, so I can't really help. You might want to post your problem at the Bugs and Troubleshooting forum (
http://www.alice.org/community/forumdisplay.php?f=18), where somebody who knows something might be able to help you.