[GoneForNow]

I don't know if this has been posted before, if it has sue me.

Whenever I download a program and subsequently store it (I have a second hard drive which I use for that purpose, this tip will also work with a CD burner, Zip disk or whatever) I create a readme.txt file which I place with the program.
By way of example, if I download Zip8.0 I will create a folder on my second hard drive and store the program there. I open Wordpad and create a readme.txt which I also place in the folder.
The readme file contains information such as the date I downloaded it. The URL where I downloaded it from. The version number. Any special instructions that I might have read at the download site. Any problems or special instructions that popped up when I installed it. The readme text can contain anything you want.

Now if I reformat my drive (or any other number of problems which can and will creep up) and have to reload the program I can refer to my readme text to remind me of any special problems. I can also visit the software site directly from the text file to see if there is an upgraded version.

Essentially, this tip is for people like me who have minds like a steel trap thats just a little rusty.