The mystery of software

What is fascinating during crash crises like this is that not all software has to be reinstalled. For example, some programs I regularly use -- Alley Code, Xenu, PDF-Edit, Contacts Plus, The Brain, even Band In A Box -- work fine after Recovery. Others -- Premiere Elements, Photoshop, Finale, Word -- have to be re-installed. The major times consumer is downloading all the updates for AVG, my virus program -- huge files, and here I am in the office still on dial up (well, I have the T1 line at the office but it doesn't help me here). I just did a 2 hr download and now I've started a 3 hr download. Mercy. Why don't all programs make reinstallation unnecessary? I didn't have to reinstall Final Draft or Celtx, but I did have to reinstall Sophocles. Fortunately, since the company disappeared, I still had the installation file and the key for the 2003 version, and now it's up and running fine. I can still use Sophocles! But I have a ton of installations to do, though first I need to get my virus program running, and looks like that will take all morning. Ah, life in cyberspace.