Save Your Installers

Archiving your software installers keeps them at-hand. A software installer collection provides many benefits:

1. It’s easy to re-load software whenever you switch machines, upgrade hardware or, as it more often happens with me, regularly wipe a disk and re-install Windows on a reviewing platform.
2. It simplifies downgrading back to an earlier and more stable version. So when some iTunes 5 pops along, I can switch back to an iTunes 4 until a stable version gets released.
3. It avoids the whole “We’ve been acquired and now you must pay for your formerly freeware software” issue. I can’t tell you the number of times that a great freeware program officially “disappears” from a site after a buy-out.

When possible, make a special point of tracking down standalone installers that don’t require interaction with a corporate website. (The QuickTime standalone installer is a case in point.) It takes a bit of searching in some cases, but when installer are complete, your backups are more reliable.

When freeware goes pro [DollarHacker]

Die Dulci Fruere