It's not uncommon if a shop is involved, for them to underestimate the damage to get the work then push the estimate up over afterwards. If it's your insurance company on their own, I'd question them on the repairs and see what their explanation is.
I do have federal clearances, and yes the FFL can affect them. A simple background check to purchase can affect it hence why i'm not running out to buy.
I haven't found a reliable FFL here for under $50 and even those few are sketchy at best. I'm not in Cbus so my options here are limited.
I have considered the C&R honestly. Just not sure how it might affect my clearances at work.
I've been keeping my eye out for a cheap carbine, haven't been having much luck. I want a beat up shooter (aka CHEAP) more than a looker so that's my main hangup so far.
I do it all the time, never had an issue. If you are having issues, you are doing something wrong which is likely using the wrong media to attempt installation.
mail her an install disc and she can use the number located on the systems COA to reinstall
you need to find out what version she had installed, ie home/business/32 bit/64 bit, etc.
you can also try the freezer trick for the old drive
https://www.google.com/search?q=freezer+trick+hard+drive&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
120w Pico PSU with Dell DA2 power brick - $15
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/28/jjux.jpg/
64GB (8x8GB) Geil Black Dragon DDR3-1333 - $85 per 16GB (2x8GB) Kit
http://www.geil.com.tw/products/showSpec/id/202
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144563
32GB (4x8GB) A-Data DDR3-1600 -$90 per 16GB (2x8GB) Kit
http://imageshack.us/a/img706/1228/dp6m.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img832/7616/7qa5.jpg
COMBO DEALS!
$300 for the whole Geil 8x8GB set
$150 for the whole A-Data 4x8GB set
I AM NOT IN COLUMBUS