Software

Brett's friend has a laptop running Windows 7 that he upgraded to Windows 10. But it keeps crashing. If he resets it, would it lose the Windows 7 installation key? What she can do is authorize it for that computer. Then reinstall. It'll fix the problem. Hit the Windows key and type system. If it says Windows is activated, then she can wipe the drive and start over with no worries about losing that activation. Also make sure she gets all the drivers for that model (Dell). 

Suzie uninstalled Microsoft Works from her old laptop recently and wants to know if she can reinstall it. Leo says that Microsoft stopped making Works in 2009. Without the installer, you're kind of out of luck. But there are other tools you can use in its place: ZoHo Office, LibreOffice, Microsoft Office on the web, Google Docs, all free. Suzie only really needs a Calendar. Leo says that Google Calendar is a good free option. There is also a calendar built into Windows 10.

Neil has a Sony Vaio laptop running Windows XP and knows he should upgrade to Windows 10. Can he and still run 32 bit? Leo says that 32 bit won't be a problem with Windows 10, but the machine may be too old and not have enough RAM to run it. It's worth a try though, and you can roll it back if it doesn't work well. What you could try is to download the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool, burn it to a DVD and then boot to that DVD to see if it'll run. If it does, however, it'll likely be really slow. Leo advises using Linux on it.

Joe upgraded to macOS Catalina and has now lost his ability to use Adobe Photoshop CS5. Leo says that's because CS5 was a 32-bit app, and macOS doesn't support 32-bit apps anymore. You can subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud, but that's really your only option. You can subscribe to Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom for $9.99 a month. If you need other apps, then you're looking at the $52.99 a month full option. One thing to consider is buying Adobe Photoshop Elements. That's about $89.