More than one way to skin a cat, or an O/S....

I solved the problem of the corrupted registry files, and avoided buying a new slice of Vista, (not having anything but what's on the PC) by having a nice long chat with a very helpful young gentleman at the nearby London Drugs computers department. He explained what I could and couldn't do, and then what I should do instead of buying a DVD of Vista which will be obsolete in a couple of months anyway.

His advice: Use the built-in Acer eRecovery system to restore the computer to its factory settings and programs. It means re-installing all my own files, but it puts the computer back to mint condition, with no altered files, and no tweaks or twitches, hitches or glitches. He said near the end of our chat: " I'd be happy to sell you a $269.00 Vista DVD that will install over whatever you have on there now, but I wouldn't be doing you any favours, so try the other way first." I thanked him profusely, and promised to come and see him when Windows 7 hits the shelves on October 22nd, for a 64-bit slice of that to replace this Vasta Vista on here. There really is more than one way to skin a cat - or an operating system.

While we were chatting, I asked him if I'd made a mistake getting a 64-bit system instead of another 32-bit to match my other one. He said that lately, the majority of computers they've been selling have been of the 64-bit variety, and that the 32-bit which has up to now been so popular is definitely on the way out - maybe not immediately, but within a couple or three years. He said my year-old 32-bit will probably do fine for Windows 7, but most computers these days can only be expected to last for 2 to 3 years before technology passes them by, so after that, I should plan on replacing it probably. Although he also said it all depends on what a person wants to do with it - and he knows of people who are still using Windows 98!
I didn't laugh, because I know someone who has been using Millennium Edition until just lately taking the plunge into the 21st century with the rest of us. So anyway, 64-bit really is the wave of the future, just like my local computer fixer-upper told me. A second opinion never hurts, though.