Unfortunately ALL manufacturers occasionally make a lemon. I had one Pfaff for 12 years, loved it dearly and used it a lot, until the mother board went out. I bought another Pfaff and have been using the heck out of it for 4 years and it works great. There are a myriad of things that could be wrong with your mother's machine relating to the electronics, without any being related to the software. If the machine is still in warranty return it to the dealer and demand a new one at no cost to you. If it is out of warranty return it to the dealer and demand a new machine at minimal cost to you.