i'm not sure if its possible, but i've had issues with upgrades in general (even from 10.5 to 10.6), so i'd suggest a clean install of SL.
back up her drive, fresh install of SL, then migrate.
my magsafe adapter doesn't necessarily get hot. i just checked and i wouldn't be able to tell its charging right now (amber light)
i'm guessing you tried another outlet? maybe take a closer look at the connection between the mbp and charger.
using your phone as a WAP is better than cutting up your sim and putting it into the ipad. if you go that route, you cant receive calls when you put your sim in the ipad.
my IT job on campus gives us a copy of win 7. the catch is you have to be on the schools network within a certain timeframe (i believe its 7 days) for it to remain activated.
anyways, i was wondering if there was any way for me to vpn onto the schools network so i could keep the copy of win 7...