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View Full Version : How to install DOWNLADED programs in a new computer? They have no disk of course.


Prevost
10-27-2003, 04:05 PM
Will it work if I make a backup disk or a zip disk of them?

I'm affraid of losing some good money in downladed software when I need to buy a new desktop unit... :roll:

Steven Cedrone
10-27-2003, 04:26 PM
Will it work if I make a backup disk or a zip disk of them?

I'm affraid of losing some good money in downladed software when I need to buy a new desktop unit... :roll:

Most companies allow you to redownload the software you purchased...

Steve

ironguy
10-27-2003, 05:46 PM
I keep all my downloaded programs in a 'Download' folder on my PC. Every couple of weeks I burn a CD that has my downloaded programs, ebooks, skins, and whatever else I feel like. Yes, they will work fine from a CD. If you don't have a CD burner I would highly suggest getting one. They are very inexpensive and easy to use.

Prevost
10-27-2003, 10:41 PM
Most companies allow you to redownload the software you purchased...

Steve
Right! I probably need only to redownload demos and, since I have the installation code, I can give them another life.
I keep all my downloaded programs in a 'Download' folder on my PC. Every couple of weeks I burn a CD that has my downloaded programs, ebooks, skins, and whatever else I feel like. Yes, they will work fine from a CD. If you don't have a CD burner I would highly suggest getting one. They are very inexpensive and easy to use.
Yes, but...my computer is 2 years old and I'll feel somewhat silly buying something new for it like a CD burner...What about an external USB memory device? Could I install a program from it???

DrtyBlvd
10-28-2003, 01:02 AM
Yes, but...my computer is 2 years old and I'll feel somewhat silly buying something new for it like a CD burner...What about an external USB memory device? Could I install a program from it???

Strange thing to say :!: (Kinda :wink: )

My PC is at least 8 years old in total - but things get upgraded as we go - So, individually the oldest thing in there is err...err... one of the hard drives, the motherboard and one of the DVD drives...

Your comment suggests you are about to 'buy a new PC' rather than consider upgrading?

Certainly if that's the call, then fine - but you have considered the benefits of selective upgrading if applicable haven't you?

Mind you, maybe I 'shot myself' in the foot in the previous paragraph... gotta love it when you do that to yourself!

I might be alone on this one - anyone else share my view :!: :?:

Forgot to say - sure the USB would work fine - so would an external back up FW drive for example. (Even an iPod! :wink: )

maximus
10-28-2003, 02:16 AM
I might be alone on this one - anyone else share my view :!: :?:

I second that. I still have two pentium 2/400 mhz at home, one as a dedicated internet/email/cable modem PC, and one as a dedicated multimedia storage/CD-DVD burner PC. The motherboards (ASUS P3BF rocks !!!) and processors are untouched, but everything else have been upgraded several times. Currently it contains around 80 gigs of mp3s, jpegs and divxs. Everytime I have excess SDRAM, it goes directly into these PCs. The latest upgrade installed on the PC was a firewire PCI card ...

Continuous upgrading is the fate of technophiles :)

PetiteFlower
10-28-2003, 05:17 AM
The advice I've heard is that if all you need is more Ram or a bigger hard drive, or more current sound/video cards, then upgrade; if you want or need a new processor, you're better off buying new.

Of course that has limits....if you want more ram but your motherboard won't support any of the ram that's being sold currently, then you'll need to buy new also.

Basically unless you really know what you're doing, don't mess with the motherboard or the processor; that's basically like building a new computer from scratch, and while many people here may be comfortable with that, most people in "the real world" are not :)

JustinGTP
10-28-2003, 06:49 AM
Yes, and its also a lot cheaper to do it yourself, providing you know how to aswell. All of our pcs are home built :D

-Justin.

chunkymonkey75
10-28-2003, 02:02 PM
CD burners are cheap (I just bought a 52x writer for $15 after rebate), media is cheap (often free after rebate). And there is no reason that a 2 year old computer couldn't handle a CD-Writer. A CD-Writer is definatly your best option.

My $.02

Prevost
10-29-2003, 07:32 AM
CD burners are cheap (I just bought a 52x writer for $15 after rebate), media is cheap (often free after rebate). And there is no reason that a 2 year old computer couldn't handle a CD-Writer. A CD-Writer is definatly your best option.

My $.02
How can I actually learn if my PC can handle a CD burner or any other hardware?

ironguy
10-29-2003, 05:04 PM
If your PC is only 2 years old, it can almost certainly handle a CD burner. What are the specs? My PC is two years old, is a 1 Ghz Dell Dimension, 512MB ram, 120 G hd, 6G hd, WinXP Pro, DVD player, CD burner, Zip drive, and it burns just fine.

Sven Johannsen
10-29-2003, 11:49 PM
I think you are going to find that a USB drive that has the capacity to hold the downloaded programs, registration files etc, is going to cost you at least half as much as a CD burner and some media. I hate rebates but you can get a pack of 50 CDs for free, or under $10, after rebate almost every week somewhere, Office Depot, Best Buy, etc.

It is kind of a waste of the USB drive too. They are really read/write transfer files back and forth sorts of devices, not archive media.

I agree that a two year old PC should certainly be able to handle a burner. Is there a CD drive in it already? It be surprised if not. You can just do a one for one swap, or if there is an available bay, keep the reader and add a burner and you can copy easier.

The only conceivable reason you may not be able to put one in is if you have used up the (typically) 4 IDE controller ports. The hard drive uses one, the current (if there is one) CD uses one. Beyond that it is normally added things like an internal Zip drive, a second hard drive, a DVD, etc.

Personal opinion on upgrading.. I get a new system. Not always brand new but complete CPU (box, MB, CPU, drives, memory, etc.) If you just need more storage that's one thing. While memory is cheap, the cheap memory is often not the type that goes into an older machine. If you get a new MB and CPU, certainly you will need memory additionally. New basic hardware and you'll want new software that tends to drive new hardware, video card, bigger hard drive, new monitor. While some get away with incremental upgrades, I think many will snowball their short term upgrade purchases such that they wind up spending enough piecemealing, that they could have bought a 'system'. If you shop places like TigerDirect, TechForLess, eCost, OverStock, you can get a pretty good deal on a whole system most any time. Of course if you just like to build and tinker, that's a different thing altogether.

Prevost
10-30-2003, 04:20 PM
If your PC is only 2 years old, it can almost certainly handle a CD burner. What are the specs? My PC is two years old, is a 1 Ghz Dell Dimension, 512MB ram, 120 G hd, 6G hd, WinXP Pro, DVD player, CD burner, Zip drive, and it burns just fine.
Your 2 older one and mine are quite different...tropical country you know :wink:
700mhz Celeron, not sure how much ram (but for sure less than 512MB), 16GB hd, win98SE, CD-ROM, small case with no available spaces for hardware.

Guys, I guess you should know this by now: (although I am one of those who knew what to fiddle with command.com and autoexec.bat felt like...) I am just a typical average user, not someone prone to experiment or dig into computer's inner nature beyond my keyboard.

So, Where in my Windows system do I find if I can handle a CD Burner? Or, if I have available IDE slots?

Thinkingmandavid
10-30-2003, 05:17 PM
HOwdy :D
If your computer cannot handle a cd burner I will really be suprised. YOu have hard drive space, speed, you may need more memory which isnt a big deal.
If you are an average user, whateve that is :wink: then buy the cd burner. EVeryone on here is correct that it is the way to go. All of your software can be backed up on it, files, mp3s, you get the picture.

Prevost
10-31-2003, 01:48 PM
What if I want to go beyond (DVD)??? :mrgreen:
Well, no matter I view myself as an "average user", at least I've got the mentality...

JustinGTP
10-31-2003, 08:18 PM
Then you get a DVD Burner. We have one, very very cool :D

Prevost
10-31-2003, 09:45 PM
And, how do I get to know if I have enough graphics resources to play a movie in DVD? I guess this is a way to use a DVD Player in a computer.

KidKomputer
11-01-2003, 12:26 AM
If you are getting a new PC, I imagine it will have win XP on it. Instead of spending money on a burner, why don't you just hook up the old 98 drive to the new computer. XP should be able to copy the files off the old drive.
Physcial setup is no more complicated than adding a CD burner. XP should see the win98 fat 32 file structure just fine. The only thing you might need to do is set it up in xp's Logical Disk Manager

DrtyBlvd
11-01-2003, 03:26 AM
And, how do I get to know if I have enough graphics resources to play a movie in DVD? I guess this is a way to use a DVD Player in a computer.

Right click the 'My Computer' Icon;
Choose 'Properties' / 'Hardware' / 'Device Manager'
Look under 'display adapters'

Tell us what it says;)

Prevost
11-01-2003, 10:06 PM
"Intel(R) 82810E Graphincs Controller
Hardware Version: 003"

Is any further info needed?

DrtyBlvd
11-01-2003, 10:44 PM
Hmm. From my limited experience I think that that means you have a very 'basic' style of graphics card; even if you're quoting the driver being used, it would have said something about a manufacturer I think? (IE Radeon or ATI or Voodoo or 3dfx or something)

This suggests to me that your card may not be up to scratch when it comes to playing DVDs' - although I would await a second opinion!

Prevost
11-02-2003, 07:52 AM
It is manufactured by Intel.

DrtyBlvd
11-03-2003, 10:41 PM
Hmm. Not exactly noted for their graphics card abilities!

I would respectfully suggest that it may not be up to the job - and a new one might be required..

Anyone support this view ?

KidKomputer
11-04-2003, 12:34 AM
From the intel site http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/Chipset_help.htm

If "Intel® 82810 Graphics Controller", "Intel® 82810-DC100 Graphics Controller", or "Intel® 82810E Graphics Controller" are listed, then this is an Intel® 810 chipset family-based system.

From Intervideo's Windvd site 810 chipsets should be fine

http://www.intervideo.com/jsp/Support.jsp

And requirements for Windvd are 350Mhz and MMX

http://www.intervideo.com/jsp/WinDVDPlatinum.jsp?mode=Requirements#graphics

So it looks like you can play movies