I really wanted to get Bitcoin-QT 0.8.1 working to be part of the Bitcoin network (I think that's important).
Anyway, think I solved it, found all my coins now.
This is what I did...
I copied over the complete .bitcoin old directory (not just the wallet.dat I suspected it needs the old database)
I plugged in a wired network cable instead of wifi (I suspected network corruption = DB corruption).
Run it from the Command Line (Ctrl+Atl+T) with ./usr/bin/Bitcoin-QT -upgradewallet
Let it complete the sync from scratch, stopping it and making backups every so often, so you don't have to start over.
You need at least 40GB of hard drive space to do this.
Amazingly it all worked. Success in finding both my old and new coins!
You're welcome to donate to 1LUF4Jp8PprpHcQVwXyLjCrdbSjFuaycUs if this helped you avoid pulling your hair out in anger. Thanks.
I'm putting it back on Wifi, I'll post here if I have any more problems with it, so bookmark this thread, if you're wondering about upgrading to 0.8.1.