


	Actually, no I don't have a tape drive.  In the event of a total
hard disk failure, I reinstall the apps from originals, and restore the data
from the backups I keep of that.  With upwards of 100Mb of stuff on my hard
disk, there is no way I'm going to try and back it all up without a tape
drive. :)  Would be nice to have one though!


	Maybe, maybe not.  Today it doesn't happen as often (I would hope),
but then if a BIOS is buggy and the user gets an upgrade, the BIOS
information is going to change, at least the date anyway.  Tagging the BIOS
manufacturer is still going to falsely tag those users who upgrade the
motherboard.  This type of upgrade doesn't require a hard disk
backup/restore.


	As long as it wasn't done too terribly often.  Otherwise I think it
would get annoying and the user would go looking for other software.



	Of course not.  If something gets corrupted and my app needs to be
reinstalled, the *worst* thing I want that software telling me is "this
software has already been registered to <blank> and it is against the law to
install it on other machines."  Or something similar; Access for Windows
does this and it only requires a click on "OK" to go away.  Pretty
non-intrusive, but it gets the point across.


	This is a great idea.  I like the key system that some shareware
products use.  The only problem is that it will be difficult for big
software companies to implement this without it getting very
cost-ineffective for them and more of a burden than a benefit to the users.

--
Steve Madsen
sjmadsen@nextsrv.cas.muohio.edu