Jeez, what a royal PIA this whole exercise is turning into! Everybody wants passwords I've long forgotten, all of which I thought I'd written down somewhere but apparently there are some I didn't.
 
Adobe tells me I can't run Audition without authorizing it but they don't authorize EOL'd software. They'll give me a version that doesn't require authorization but they want a password, too. That I never wrote down. They sent me an email but I can't get email on this computer yet because I forgot my stinkin' email password! And apparently didn't write that one down, either.
 
Superior Drummer wouldn't work because the install disks installed the 32-bit version and hid the 64-bit version in an obscure place - never asked where I wanted it to go. D16 Group wants a long-forgotten password. Basically every plugin vendor I ever bought stuff from wants a frickin' password. 
 
What's embarrassing about all this is that I thought I had been taking diligent notes all these years, writing everything down in one file and putting all the disks in a shoebox. 
 
I did get Omnisphere running, though.

U need iLok :). - Diablo advocatus

Ok - time to REALLY REALY REALLY admit it. You don't own anything - you just pay for it, as if you do - Nice job SillyCloned Valley.

Acronis, etc for the future?  Might save your behind should your new DAW take a "vacation" as well.

backwoods
U need iLok :). - Diablo advocatus

Clearly the solution ...

I finally wound up using iLok though I'd been avoiding it. It's doesn't appear to be as bad as it has as reputations for, I've had no problems other than the $40 'tax' for the key itself.

On passwords - I've filled out so many 'lost' password forms that I broke down and downloaded a password manager. I'm using KeePass, which is available on SourceForge. It's quite a nice place to store all your password and associated web data.

SuperG
On passwords - I've filled out so many 'lost' password forms that I broke down and downloaded a password manager. I'm using KeePass, which is available on SourceForge. It's quite a nice place to store all your password and associated web data.

Ditto on KeePass. Mine's on a NAS so all the computers in the house can use it. There's a portable version that can run on a thumb drive to accomplish the same thing.

But you still have to remember to update the database, whatever form it may be in. 
 
I have a Word document (encrypted - and password-protected, of course) that I keep everything in: passwords, auth codes, account numbers. I started this file in the 70's on an Apple ][ and have been carrying it forward all these years. I routinely replicate it to every computer in the office and house.
 
But if I neglect to put something in it, the scheme fails.
 
Today I have a new problem...I cannot get into the BIOS on this new computer. It boots so fast that even holding down or rapidly pressing the Del key doesn't get me in. Windows 8.1 has a way to force booting into the BIOS on a restart, but my BIOS doesn't support it. My next step is to unplug the boot drive and thus force it to open the BIOS.
 
It's been just one damn thing after another...
 
On the positive side, Omnisphere works really well with the extra RAM and faster CPU. As does Superior Drummer and Kontakt. I can finally use the OTS Rickenbacker library as it was intended, with all 24 round-robins enabled. I can now have multiple sampled instruments loaded at once without freezing each one individually. I could even run Diva now, if I could afford it.

I have found a good way of storing installation DVD is in a ring binder using plastic A4 pouches that hold 6 DVDs. I also print any relevant emails and receipts a place them next to the right pouch.

A lot of stuff is also on an external hard drive for fast re installation but I like to burn downloads to DVD as well.

I think I'm going to do just that, GB. Plus I've offered a paying job to my budding computer guru grandson to catalog all the disks and put them into a spreadsheet for me. I'll show him just how tedious computers can be, and maybe he'll re-think his career objectives. He's 13, so there's still time for him to become a brain surgeon instead.