Lost software haunts hard drive upgrade

Q The photo program on my PC worked OK until I had a friend replace my 30-gigabyte hard disk with a 90-gigabyte disk. My friend partitioned the disk into two parts, which show up separately on the PC as the C and D disks, then reloaded my programs, some on each.

But when I click on the old icon for my photo program, I get an error message that says "the specified path does not exist." I moved the photo program files from D to C, but got the same error message. What can I do?

TU TRAN, NEW BRIGHTON

A Your PC shortcut to the photo program is the problem.

The shortcut is still looking for the program on the C portion of the disk, even though your friend apparently reinstalled the program on the D portion, which gives the program a different "address" than it had before. There are two possible solutions.

You can reinstall the photo program on the C portion of the hard disk, using your original disk or download file. (Just copying the program files from the D to C segments of the disk won't work because there are hidden parts of the program that aren't copied.)

Or you can create a new shortcut icon that will redirect the PC to the photo program's new address on the D portion of the drive. Find your D drive in Windows Explorer, click on the icon to display the contents, then click on the folder marked "program files."

Q The battery for my five-year-old HP Pavilion dv4000 laptop wasn't holding a charge, so I purchased a new one. But the PC won't charge the new battery. HP suggested a list of options -- from battery conditioning (fully charging the battery, then fully discharging it) to upgrading the BIOS (basic input-output system software located on the main circuit board, or motherboard) -- but nothing worked. A PC repair firm said the motherboard may be bad. What should I do?

DAVID REYNOLDS, NEW HOPE

A The problem might not be the battery or the motherboard, but rather the power cord (the wall outlet cord plus its transformer.)

Ask a repair shop to test your power cord, or borrow a cord from a friend with a similar HP laptop and see if that solves your problem. A power cord costs about $10 online. See tinyurl.com/27k53fu.

If the PC's motherboard is bad, you can replace it for about $60. See tinyurl.com/2b2ra3r. But consider buying a new PC before replacing a five-year-old motherboard.