you can always just save the pdf file to your pc then open it with xchange.

Nope, I don't , have most of them in my head, as I use very few, mostly crochet things, and have used the same ones for years. I rather enjoyed getting rid of so many favs the last computer change I had, didn't use them anyway, and seemed to be like ivy climbing on a house, useless, and not needed. So, I started fresh again, and have never looked back. It is not the end of the world, at least for me, and further, what fun snooping around trying to find again. What I really don't want to lose, in patterns, etc., I already have hard copies of them. I sure do thank you for your nudge and helping me, hotlinks in a pdf, perhaps won't even be in existence anymore by the time I get around to using them, seems to be a lot of dead ends for lots of links.

My warranty was still good so I called MS and they walked me through a very long procedure. She said the "addins" were corrupted and she walked me through removing them. Thanks anyway.

It may be too late to do anything about the year old glasses, but before you give up, contact your state consumer affairs board AND the board in your state that licenses opticians (assuming your state does, not all states have that requirement) and see if you have any recourse. As to getting reliable cheap glasses? DD is an optician. She's worked in a dept. store, in a discount chain and now works in a dr's office. There's a WORLD of difference in the quality, according to her. You DO get what you pay for. Discount chains use very inexpensive (read easily broken) frames, many use lenses that are manufactured in 3rd world countries that are of questionable quality at best and often the workmanship is also sub-par. However, I do have a suggestion for you. IF your state licenses opticians, find out where they train (a community college, perhaps) and see if they have a dispensary. I always got to the college for my glasses. Where I go, they sell high end frames, brand name lenses--at cost! The point of the dispensary is to give the students practice writing up orders and fitting the glasses when they're done. The professor checks everything and makes the glasses up herself. Last go-round? I got a pair of progressive regular glasses with the highest priced glare coating, a pair of progressive sunglasses, my husband got a pair of progressives and our bill was $450. Oh, they all were designer frames (not that I care, but they were). DD said my 'regular' glasses, in her shop, with the family discount would have cost $800 alone! Often, too, colleges have the very latest in lab equipment, because the manufacturers donate those gizmos for free, so that the students will 'learn to love them' so to speak.