What to do if I choose a low level reformat of the desktop??

[MTHall47]

I don't know if I should try to save all my downloaded PPC apps to a CD first, or if I should not even worry about it. Is it possible, usually, to contact a vendor you have purchased an app from and say you need to download it all over again (worst case scenario)??

[PDANEWBIE]

Personally I keep all my PDA sofware on a CD-RW and I just add the new stuff to it as I buy it. I also put all keys into txt files on the same CD this way I don't have to remember all of my software codes, who I bought it from, having to verify whan I bought it and things like that.

[applejosh]

Agreed. I backup my "download" folder on my PC on a regular basis to CD. I also keep my keys/unlock codes in various databases (SpashID, FlexWallet, plain text files, emails) so I can (somewhat) easily recover if I need to reformat my PC or hard reset my PPC. Sometimes vendors/software makers are slower to respond than I want them to be. Plus, I've run across some that are flat out of business (although this mostly happened to me on the Palm side of things).

[Sven Johannsen]

I don't just keep the keys, I also export the e-mails that are associated with a purchase to the folder the download is in. I use Adobe, but you can use Repligo to save the confirmation screen if you purchase from Handango or Pocketgear. It has helped to have the date, purchase # and sometimes even the e-mail address used when purchasing something when you need to contact the developer. Stick it on a CD for safekeeping. Even more than for re-building the PC, you never know when that hard drive is going to crash.

[applejosh]

...you never know when that hard drive is going to crash.

Or when that Windows XP re-install will leave your computer in a state of perpetual reboot. (That was my last foray into the reformatting/etc. of my system.)