Patience will pay off in the long run, most times.
I had a copy of AutoCAD, Ver 2005, for years. Whenever the drive crashed, I would just reload it and copy my version of the *.mnu file back in. This last time the disk (CD/DVD) had a bad sector(?) and wouldn't reload. I thrashed around for a while and then set the thought aside. Downloaded versions of current CAD are available from Amazon. But no hard copy versions and nothing as old as what I have.
Then too, I was using WinDoze XP and that will no longer function on line. All the newer machines come set up with WinDoze 10 and my older version of CAD is incompatable with with anything newer than XP. Quite a dilemma~~~
The biggest problems? I'm self taught and after a half dozen strokes, my mind isn't as good as it used to be. I'm too old and too busy to relearn a newer version. Maybe not so busy as too slow now. Not that long a learning curve, but my mind isn't good for it any more. There are a few downsides to retirement.
Anyway, I found a hard copy of AutoCAD, through Amazon though they weren't the seller. ACAD 2006, it can use the older command structure and *.mnu file. So no relearning, just the miscellaneous set-ups that I use. It wasn't cheap cheap, but inexpensive enough that I jumped on it. With both feet~~~ Best of all, the program is native to XP but will run on newer versions of WinDoze. So I can use it on my older Toshibas AND the newer Dell 64 bit machine. Better there than my ACAD 2005. I like~~~ Now if I can just get the mapping extensions back up~~~
I don't use 3D all that much, doing mostly electrical drafting and sketches that I can have the program do fairly exact measurments from. But as a non-commercial user, it means a lot to me to be able to accurately sketch up ideas and save a copy to my hard drive. And print. And read copies of *.dwg files that come my way.
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