What is a reliable safe way to download a "Bradley Hand ITC" font for Home student office 2010?

The "recovery disk" it is suggesting you create are for even worse windows problems, when the computer won't boot.

If you go into the "advanced" boot options by pressing <F5> or <F8> )it varies by computer, there should be a prompt) the is very likely something along lines of  "recover HD" that uses a hidden "recovery partition" to restore the windows installation to "factory fresh". It is a little easier and faster than using the DVDs.

After you reset the machine, do create the boot disks, they make troubleshooting really bad problems a little easier.

Here are a couple of links with suggestions of things to do after a fresh windows install:

http://dailycupoftech.com/2008/05/10/windows-reinstall-simple-easy-and-quick/

10 things you should do before, during, and after reinstalling Windowshttp://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=794

http://www.sans.org/reading\_room/whitepapers/windows/windows-vista-first-steps\_1298 - this is for Vista, but mostly applicable to Win7 too

http://www.howtogeek.com/56368/what-you-said-the-first-things-to-do-after-installing-a-new-os/?utm\_source=newsletter&utm\_medium=email&utm\_campaign=200311

Seven simple steps for setting up Win 7 http://windowssecrets.com/2011/01/27/01

10 great ‘Do these first’ tweaks for Windows 7 http://beta.windowssecrets.com/top-story/10-great-do-these-first-tweaks-for-windows-7/

http://www.techrepublic.com/downloads/10-things-you-should-do-to-improve-every-new-windows-pc/173252/post?tag=mantle\_skin;content

I did a total disc wipe a few years back on still another machine. On that start up disc Windows and everything else that was originally loaded by the manufacturer was included. I have a such a disc for the Vista machine and I suppose I'll just wipe it clean and start fresh. As to start up discs. my new machine came with one but my screen prompts me at startup to prepare a backup copy of windows on a disc or discs. Should I do this or do you think the startup disc that came with the computer will already include a version of Windows 7 as it was setup by the manufacturer on the machine (as was the case with my previous 2 machines)?

Funny thing, after discussing the "missing" functionality, later I came across this addon that will return it: http://www.askvg.com/how-to-disable-full-row-select-feature-enable-column-header-in-all-views-and-enable-icon-reordering-in-windows-7-explorer/

You are right, many of the "registry fix" tools are crapware. But there are some reputable tools that really do help fix registry problems. Your best bet is to look for reviews of these tools in reputable magazines to find one that works reasonably well.

However, I suspect that you'll find the registry so messed up with intersecting problems that no tool will be able to fix it.

Wait on buying the DVD drive until after you re-install Windows. As you suspect the problem may be with the driver or registry rather than the DVD Hardware.

Yes, having to re-install windoze is rather severe, but it has been a reality for the last 20 years. There have been people who advocate re-installing windows every 6-12 months, "whether it needs it or not". They tend to be techno-geeks who install and uninstall a lot of software. However, every Windows user has to be ready at any point in time to re-install windows.

But, then again, simply re-installing Windows is a lot less drastic than going out and buying a new computer and stuffing the possibly repairable one in the closet.

Possible fix for updates.

First thing to do is make an image copy backup of the current situation.  I assume you no longer need the data files, that they were all transferred to your new computer.

If you want, try the registry fix tools, run a diskchk scan.

Your best, only bet, is to go into Windows Update and look at the Update history. Go back to the oldest failed update and double click on it. There is often an error code you can google for and often a hyperlink to possible fixes.  You can also post the details of the failure to this site under Windows category to get help. After you apply the fix do a Windows Update scan and try to apply only the one patch that you tried to fix. If it installs, pick a few more of the oldest patches and select them to apply. Continue applying the patches in small batches, rebooting periodically whether it needs to or not.

At 3 years old you are in the leading edge of possible disk failure. Disks either fail almost immediately after first running or will run for several years before dying.

My husband recently had similar problems and ended up deciding it was imminent HD failure that was causing the problems. At any rate, if you can get it to boot at all, you can retrieve files, including any fonts you may have installed that did not come with Office.