Hello.  I had an older version of QT I believe from 2017 that stopped being functional due to Windows Defender issue.  This wallet did have a balance and I have the wallet backed up. 
I upgraded to Core v. 22 and my wallet now has a zero balance.  Does anybody have any advice for me? 

I would very much appreciate some help with a transaction. 

I made a btc transaction on QT that did not go through and is frozen.  This was to a company I have successfully used before, but it has been a few years. 
The receiver sent me a link that supposedly confirms that the payment was not made (https://blockstream.info/address/37ua6XDW8wyAMnM8rBgsKRTEECQayhmGC2).

Here are my transaction details:

Status: 0/unconfirmed
Date: 2021-01-08 11:44
To: 37ua6XDW8wyAMnM8rBgsKRTEECQayhmGC2
Debit: -0.01000946 BTC
To: Network Fee Donation 19yFRV1tSgJE2p3gQmeufntAsufatUvCs4
Debit: -0.0001 BTC
Transaction fee: -0.0001 BTC
Net amount: -0.01020946 BTC
Transaction ID: 020d601b2908df3af33a288f37965a6dceb3542173a11528b6906b1643c0d642

I'm using the older QT wallet which I am learning is upgradable to Core, I believe?  If I were to upgrade would this help my situation, and if I did the upgrade would I still be able to recover the unconfirmed transaction in the new wallet as well as my balance? 

Could the problem be that my QT network is unsynchronized?
The last time I used it it was out of synch as well, but the transaction still went through.

I'm 223 weeks behind so it looks like a QT synch would take forever.  Is there another way?

I’m also reading that a low transaction fee can cause this?     

What exactly is a miner, what would one cost, and is this a better way to go for me?   

Any help that I can get with this would be very much appreciated.