Too many "duplicate" catalogs - how to clean them up

Question

I have PSE5 operating in Windows XP. For the reasons I will try to explain below, I am awash with numerous copys, versions, etc of catalogs. What I want to do is to safely get rid of those catalogs I don't need/want and end up with only one catalog, which I want to call My Catalog. Obviously I want this catalog to be for the right images and all the up-to-date info about tags, tag palettes, for these images. Once this is done I want to do a backup.
I am almost clueless about PSE5's catalog functionality, e.g. are Save As catalogs linked, will deleting one catalog corrupt the one I want to keep, etc.?. Therefore, I'm very concerned that I will lose all or some of the info, that I have created in PSE5 over the years, when I try to clean up the mess I have made.
Since Adobe tech. support won't help - Adobe no longer supports PSE5, the manuls treat catalogs superficially, and I couldn't find any relative info. in the PSE forum, I am apealing to forum members for any assistance and guidance they can give.
Here's a reasonably complete explanation how I got where I am.
In anticipation of downloading the trial version of PSE8, I created what I thought was a backup of the catalog in PSE5 (I don't remember how I did this). I named this new creation My CatalogBU. But, now think that I only duplicated the original catalog.
I installed PSE8, and I assume it converted the catalog from PSE5. I did not uninstall PSE5.
I gave PSE8 a try, adding a number of images, which I tagged using the tag palette that came over from PSE5. At that point, I had to deal with a project of a large old collection of slides. So, I reverted to using PSE5- familiarity with PSE5 and uncertainty about what was to be gained with PSE8. I did not uninstall PSE8, so now I had two versions of PSE and a number of catalogs, with different info and locations.
I decided against upgrading, so I uninstalled PSE8 - since it was the trial version, tech. support could not give me assistance with managing the catalogs that were created.
I had the idea I would clean up the mess on my own, but before doing so I copied catalogs from the C:\ drive to my external F:\ drive. I also did a backup of one of the catalogs to the F;\ drive. I later realized that I had the older version of the catalog opened in the Organizer, so this backup is of dubious value.
When I thought about moving, renaming and deleting catalogs, I felt uncertain that I was up to the task. So, that is why I have appealed to the forum members for help.
Don

Answer 1

Thanks for your comment. Since I posted my problem, I have spent considerable time learning how Adobe's Catalog function works. I found good advice and information at the forum elementsvillage.com.
The principal insight I have gained is that each Catalog is a separate entity. For whatever reason, I was concerned that deleting one Catalog would impact another catalog. With this matter cleared up, I worked out a strategy to cleanup and reorganize my catalogs. Hopefully others will benefit from my hardwon knowledge and will not be so intimidated, as I was. I feared that I would destroy all my efforts to tag photos, etc. because of doing something wrong working with catalogs.
What follows is the method I used:
01. Use MS's search function to identify all catalogs, what they cover and where they are located.
In my case, only one catalog was current and up-to-date. The others could be safely deleted.
02. Open PSE5 with the correct catalog.
03. In the Organizer, right click in the tree window, and click on Show All Files.
04. Highlight all images.
05. Click on File>Write Tags and Properties Info., to insert their tags to each image. These steps (03-05) protect against loss of this data, by imbedding it with the image's metadata.
06. Using a third party software burning program, create backup files to disks, for ALL catalogs found (as a temporary precaution).
07. Using a third party software burning program backup the photos, preferably to an external hard drive (EHD).
08. Create a Restore Point using MS operating system (another temporary precaution).
09. Run an Adobe backup: File>Backup Catalog to the EHD, for just the good catalog.
10. At the locations found from Step 01, delete each of the unwanted catalogs, but do not delete any of their path structures.
11. If the good catalog is not in the location you want it to be, use drag & drop to relocate it to the desired location (most likely to Adobe's default location: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Catalogs.)
12. Double click on the catalog icon. This opens Adobe with this catalog in the Organizer. Verify that everything is OK.
13. If you want to change the catalog's name, have it open in the Organizer.
14. File>Catalog>Save As.Browse to the location selected in Step 11. Enter the new name in the File Name field.
15. Now there will be two catalogs at the location, one with the original name, and one with the new name. Before deleting the original catalog, open Adobe with the new catalog and verify everything is OK. If it is, delete the original catalog.
16. Create a new folder on the EHD for Adobe catalog backups. Backup the new catalog to this folder, using Adobe's backup function.
17. When you are comfortable that the cleanup is sound, delete the temporary backups done at Step 06. and Step 09. I suggest running PSE5 for several weeks before doing the deletes.
I Hope this works for whoever is facing the same catalog issues I faced.
As an aside based on the many questions, doubts, and fears people have about destroying their catalog(s), I think it would be a real service if Adobe would research forums, theirs, elementsvillage, etc. and prepare an in-depth tech. support document addressing the many issues about catalogs, beginning with a thorough expalanation about how they function and do not function, etc.