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

I kept the other three year old Vista machine thinking I might be able to sort out the problem and use it as a backup. On that machine, as I related, something prevented important updates from configuring during the restart process which eventually resulted in a years worth of failed updates. I concede that I should have tracked down a forum like this one and addressed  the problem before it gestated. I began to get an error message, "Host services for windows is not working properly and has shut down". I would then be kicked offline and I would have to restart the machine in order to get a connection window. Then it would happen again, sometimes within ten minutes, other times in an hour or so. I figured there were registry issues, the DVD drive didn't work anymore, so I decided to throw down on a new machine. But I still have the old one in the closet, and the IT guy told me that a three year old dual core machine is worth saving.I asked him if there was a safe reliable "free fix" utility  for registry repair. There are many on the web but I suspect most are bogus and/or come with spy/spamware. He said my best bet would be to buy a cheap DVD drive and then have the machine wiped clean by a tech. I suppose that would fix the problem but its kind of like a dentist telling you to have all your teeth pulled rather than deal with a couple of bad grinders. Do you have any thoughts on how to get those updates to configure properly so the updates can take hold and perhaps prevent the error message?

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.

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.

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/

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)?