Nero 9 reloaded (Download version)
Total cost: £38.48 which included £3.77 for the extended download facility and £6.14 Tax. (19%) Note: this was a special offer for 48hrs only. Currently advertised at £41.99 + tax (27/03/10)
Verdict: Don't buy
Too many problems installing, uninstalling. Program failed after installing NeroBackItUp. Not worth the money.
Install problems
A week or so ago I bought some Datawrite blank CD-Rs for a project and had some problems burning anything on them. I was then using Sonic Record Now to burn CDs and I thought the problem may be down to trying to burn them at too fast a speed. Unfortunately Sonic Record Now (at least the free version that originally came with my PC) didn't have the facility to lower the burn speed so it was time to look for something new. I'd thought about using Nero 6 (which I still had the original disks from my previous PC) but I wasn't all that impressed by the quirky interface (more of that later) and decided to look online to see if there was any 'free' software out there that would do the trick.
CD Burner XP from http://cdburnerxp.se/download.php looked quite good but after downloading and attempting to install I got the error message 'this program needs Microsoft .NET framework version 2.0 or higher to run'. A quick look at add/remove programs showed that .NET framework version 2.0 was already loaded on my PC ?? (I normally keep Windows automatic update turned on.)
Whilst I was doing this an email from Nero arrived offering Nero 9 reloaded for 50% off for a special 48hr period. This looked a good offer so off I went to download the on-line version. The first thing I noticed when ordering on-line was that UK buyers are being charged 19% VAT when ordering on-line. (Must remember to email Nero on this.) After a very lengthy download (Nero 9 is 360 Mb and Nero Backitup is 350 Mb) I was ready to install.
Lo and behold - partway through the install procedure I'm told I need .NET framework version 3.0 (amongst others) and to click next to install these items. You guessed it! - loading .NET 3.0 failed with an incomprehensible error and the installation failed.
OK back to Windows update and try to update the .NET framework to the latest version. According to Microsoft, if you have .NET version 2.0 it should be possible to update to .NET version 3.5 in one go without going through all the intermediate steps. You guessed it again! - the installation failed again with a different incomprehensible error. OK then lets do it a step at the time - First .NET version 2.0 service pack 1 - that ran OK, then .NET version 3.0 - that appeared to run OK. By now it was getting late - time to shut down and get ready for bed. Start the normal shutdown procedure and I get update 1 of 1 in progress... do not turn off your computer... - An hour later it's still running with the PC's fan running at top speed. I pull the plug and decide to sort it out tomorrow.
Day 2
PC Starts up OK but I notice 'updates are available'. OK we'll apply the update and see what happens - Yes it fails again, this time with 'Windows Installer error code 1603'
Now there's a very useful article on the Microsoft support website (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923100) which guides you through fixing the problem. Basically you need to fully uninstall the .NET framework altogether and then reinstall all versions starting at version 1.0 (Yes - I groaned too). OK - uninstall all .NET stuff using add/remove programs. Appeared to work OK. Start reinstalling first V1.0, then V1.0 Service pack 3, then V1.1, then V1.1 Service pack 1, then V2.0 -- Hello I seem to have another automatic update! --- it's a security update to V1.1 Service pack 1 - better apply that before going any further. You guessed again - it failed. (Note that this update isn't listed in the article kb923100). Not only did it fail - it was still in the Windows automatic update queue so was always going to fail unless I turned automatic updates off (not a good idea).
Day 3
Now I'm not sure whether the V1.1 Service pack 1 security update failed because I'd already applied version 2.0 or for some other reason - but by now I was getting tired of this so I decided to uninstall everything again, apply the .NET framework automatic cleanup tool and run the Windows installer Cleanup Utility as suggested in kb923100. Again I fell at the first hurdle - I couldn't uninstall anything using add/remove programs because another instance of the windows installer was already running (presumably the failed security update). The windows installer continued to run even after a reboot. The only solution I could think of was to use windows restore to go back to an earlier date. (Other than poking around in the windows registry to try and stop the installer restarting on reboot - not recommended).
To cut a very long story short - restoring to an earlier date, uninstalling all the .NET stuff, running the Installer cleanup package, running the .NET auto cleanup tool and re-installing .NET from scratch including the V1.1 SP 1 security patch this time worked and at last I could install Nero 9
Nero 9
The bad news is I don't think Nero 9 is much better than Nero 6. OK, visually it looks cleaner than Nero 6, but it's still slow to load and it still looks to me like a bundle of utilities from different sources held together by a rather confusing front end. Other things I don't particularly like are -
During the installation process you are asked to enter your License key for the TRIAL version. (Hang on a minute - I thought I'd bought the full version!) However it seems to detect the License key is for the full version.
Nero Backitup, during installation, pre-populates the license key field with a key. Don't assume, like I did, that it is your purchased key - it isn't - it's a temporary key for the trial version. And you can't simply re-register it after installing - you have to un-install and re-install to enter the correct license key for the full version. Right click is disabled too during the installation process - so you can't cut and paste the license key from your confirmation email.
Now I consider myself as fairly computer savvy and I found the process of installing Nero 9 extremely painful - heaven knows how the average user would have dealt with these problems. Would Nero have refunded the money? Would your average helpdesk been able to sort this out over the phone? Who knows?
...... I think I'll have a another look at CD Burner XP now that the .NET framework is fixed before I pass any further judgment. More later .....
By the way - It didn't make any difference to the Datawrite CD-Rs. Out of the first 10 that I've tried, 8 were not even recognised by the CD drive, 1 seems to have burned OK (but for how long?) and 1 failed part way through the burning process. Admittedly, these were cheap, unbranded CD-Rs but I won't be buying any more. I'll stick to RiDisc in the future they're just as cheap and I've not had any failures yet.
Update
I thought I'd try out the Slide Show application.... Double click on the Nero Icon and get an error message saying a component of Nero Back up cannot be found - Groan! OK, ignore error message and click on the slide show application, program crashes with an error message saying some components cannot be loaded - bigger groan!! OK I'll give it one more try - uninstall Nero Backitup (didn't even have a chance to look at it), uninstall Nero 9 reloaded, both using the uninstall facility from Control Panel. A quick check on the Nero support website also recommends using their Nero clean up utility to completely remove all Nero products. This I do. Reboot PC and turn off Kaspesky antivirus (just in case it causes problems with the installation). Double click on Nero SetupX.exe to begin new install --- after several minutes the install procedure crashes with -
SetupX.exe: Critical error in installation of Nero Please contact support..
Message: SetupX.exe: there was an error while extracting the UI images. Exiting deployment process. Error: This action is only valid for products that are currently installed.
So much for the clean up utility. Enough is enough - I compose an email to Nero explaining the problems I've been having, stating their product is rubbish and that I want my money back.
My request for a refund has fallen on deaf ears - however Nero admit there are problems installing the downloaded version and offer a link to a utility that should overcome the installation problem. Can I be bothered? Will I still have problems if I re-install NeroBackItUp again? I think I'll call it a day - just one more email to Nero stating that I don't want fixes, I want to buy software that isn't broken in the first place and If they can't provide it they should not be selling it and refund the full purchase price. We'll see what happens....
Oh and the 19% VAT issue - I see in Nero's Terms and Conditions that all downloaded versions will be charged 19% VAT irrespective of the country you live in or you are downloading to.
Update April
Today I received an email from Nero with an apology stating they will refund the full amount to my bank account within the next few days. Result!! I still wouldn't recommend Nero but at least they apologised and promise to refund me.