Inherited Laptop with Autocad 2005 - Reinstall ?

[m-w-d]

I have an odd situation and probably some odd questions. I inherited my best friends laptop & plotter after he passed away in 2005. On his laptop is Autocad 2004 and 2005 and blueprint drawings of handmade guitars he designed and built. I have a huge box of Autocad manuals and his receipts for these purchases.

The hard drive on his laptop is failing however I did a drive image shortly after getting it. I put a new drive in and restored this image. It works OK but it has issues. I would like to do a fresh install of XP pro for stability.

I don't know how to create anything with Autocad 2005 but I do feel I could pull up one of his guitar drawings and print it out. I don't want to lose this capability.

If I were to reinstall Autocad 2005 on the fresh install will I have any issues rendering it not usable?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

The biggest problem you're going to have is reauthorizing AutoCAD after
reinstalling. If you have all the paperwork, etc., I'd suggest giving
Autodesk a call, explaining your situation, and I think it's likely they'd
be helpful.

John

wrote in message news:5537455@discussion.autodesk.com...
I have an odd situation and probably some odd questions. I inherited my best
friends laptop & plotter after he passed away in 2005. On his laptop is
Autocad 2004 and 2005 and blueprint drawings of handmade guitars he designed
and built. I have a huge box of Autocad manuals and his receipts for these
purchases.

The hard drive on his laptop is failing however I did a drive image shortly
after getting it. I put a new drive in and restored this image. It works OK
but it has issues. I would like to do a fresh install of XP pro for
stability.

I don't know how to create anything with Autocad 2005 but I do feel I could
pull up one of his guitar drawings and print it out. I don't want to lose
this capability.

If I were to reinstall Autocad 2005 on the fresh install will I have any
issues rendering it not usable?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[fotheringaygardens]

If you are not looking to create/modify Autodesk content then try the free viewer, it allows you to print dwg files with the same level of control that the full version gives you.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=6703438&siteID=123112

Foth

[m-w-d]

An update to this post. Thanks much for the replies. I'm not sure how the CAD install is supposed to go but I used the PLU utility to move the license temporarily to a desktop.

I reinstalled XP and then Autocad. I entered the original info and serial number and it seemed to go to the internet and pull the license to the laptop. Everything is... as it was... without having to import the license back from the desktop.

I appreciate the info, especially about the free viewer. That may be easier for me to use anyway.