Hilary

In SC's case he, appeared to have a fairly clean laptop so it is a safe bet that the software disks are obtainable. Also, most computers are sold with the setup files already on the hard drive so there is a chance that they may still be there.

In your case, you have some software that you installed so it is unlikely to have the full setup files. However, sometimes there is a setup program in the Program Files directory for a program.

If use of the program is controlled by a security key, then Belarc Advisor should give you the key so all you have to do is beg or borrow a copy of the setup disk.

I always copy setup CD's to a setup directory on my computer and install them from there. It is quicker to install that way and the are there when I need them.

If your disk is as bad as you say, you should stop using it NOW, remove it from the laptop and use another computer to copy it. There is a risk to the disk on startup but Windows is always using the disk so it is better to leave it switched off untill you can copy on another machine.

Post again if you need help removing / copying it.

Laptop cost 400+ , HDD 60 - no contest.

Thanks Opti. That's pretty much what I thought you'd say, but I did want to check. I've already checked and can't see any installation files, but I wondered if they might be hidden in a secret location somewhere. It seems not.

I've already backed up everything of importance from the bad disk drive to another PC (I did that some time ago), but I've been holding off from doing anything about replacing the drive yet in the hope that I might just accidentally trip over the missing installation CD for my bit of software. I've got an XP Pro installation CD and all of the other program CD's that I need - it's just this one that I can't find.

Optimist.
Thx for that. It was set to 'automatically' (which I thought was correct anyway). I've set it to 'every time I visit the webpage' & I'll see how I go.
Cheers

Hilary

If your system (as opposed to the disk) is working OK then there is very little point in going through all of the hassle in re-installing on to a new disk. Just use Paragon to clone it to a new drive.

Opti,

If I don't trip over my lost CD, then that's obviously an option that I've presumably got. Otherwise I quite like the idea of a clean install as an opportunity to get rid of some of the junk that's accumulated over time and hopefully give it a bit more va va voom.

Hilary

You are of course correct. A clean installation always works nicely but it's a lot of work and you always end up missing that useful utility that you forget about most of the time.

You're bigger faster hard drive will give you more va va voom. but if you want to go mad then treat it to an extra 2GB RAM.

Guys,

Presumably if hilary copied on to an external hard drive using Acronis she'd have something she could re-instal without all the keys intact?

TP

TP

Yes.

I suggested using Paragon because it is free and I use it myself. I understand that Acronis has similar capabilities although it seems to concentrate more on backup than disk management. The latest products of both are probably very similar.

I've got a persistent problem with Kasperky Internet Security 2009 repeatedly needing to either repair itself or saying that its database is damaged and needs to be rebuilt (ie re-downloaded). Completely uninstalling it and reinstalling will cure it for a couple of days, then it starts up again. Really, really annoying.

Any bright ideas? I'm not sure if this is a problem with KIS itself, or a more serious issues with the underlying machine, which has sporadically been a bit flaky recently, as well.

zz

I don't use Kasperky so can only guess, but a disk problem is the easiest to check for then look for something overheating inside.

Can anyone direct me to a free registry cleaner please as i have just got my 1st ever problem with a infection and the Virgin free package sees them but unable to delete them.Thanks

CrapCleaner does registries - and is free.

Lots of people advocate leaving registries alone - but I'm the new guy on the block in this thread.

TP

I used CrapCleaner and it utterly bolloxed up the install history of MS Office, so that I wasn't able to repair or update any of them. I had a hell of a job undoing the mess it had made, so that I could reinstall Office.

http://www.iobit.com/advancedwindowscareper.html

This comes with lots of utilities now, but also includes a registry cleaner.
I use it with XP & recommend it & it's free.

I'd like to watch the BBC2 trading show that everyone's talking about - but I can't get it on iPlayer coz I live outside the UK :-(

I seem to remember someone saying that there's a way round this. Was it a proxy server? How do you do it? Is it something you set up in Internet Explorer or your router?

Peter

Go to the site at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00gthhq and click on the link to download the BBC iPlayer onto your computer.

Having done the download and you then go in future to the web site, you should find that the page will automatically show the programme is ready to play in the 'screen' part of the page. All of this depends on your download speed of course. So long as it is broadband speed of some sort, then you should be OK.

There will be a 'Start' button in the middle of the screen so just click on it to start the show.

Ok, thanks. I'll try it later. I did think, though, that it somehow blocks people who are located outside the UK?

Peter

I think you are right, You will be blocked from overseas.

You will need to connect via a UK based proxy server which should get round it. I suggest a Google search, but post the answer when you get it sorted.

I suspect that such a proxy server would be at best a grey area legally so be careful both from a legal perspective and the possibility of attacks on your computer.

Ooops, I forgot about the legal aspect.... I posted here because I think someone mentioned this very topic on this thread and posted the details for a proxy. Trouble is, I can't find it...

Peter
I work in Brussels but live in UK so download programs to my PC while in the UK. Its a pain that you cant download them outside of the UK.

I was wondering if when you download to a PC it must create a file somewhere (as you do not need to connect to internet to watch it) Therefore in theory maybe someone can download in UK and send you the file to copy to the appropriate folder. Just an idea, not sure if it works.