will not download

[lonepilgrim]

Can I get some help please..I`ve been using Audacity for almost a year..no real problems until now..all of the sudden it doesn't work..I can`t get it to load on my computer..I cannot access any of my files...all the music I`ve ever recorded has disappeared...it`s as tho I`ve never had it and it`s never existed..I have no idea why..I am not particularly computer literate but I`ve never really had a problem like this I couldn`t fix..I have no idea what happened or what to do.
Eventually I did the only thing I could think of which was to try to reinstall it...I tried to uninstall it 1st but since it seems to have just disappeared off my computer for no reason there was really nothing I could do..I suspect its still there somewhere...I`ve gone to the website and tried to download it again..when I click the link nothing happens...I can`t get the download to open..I cannot even get the download button to respond...it`s as though anything related to this program has been disabled on my computer...I`ve lost my entire catalog of music...I don`t have a problem with starting over but I`ve never had a problem with this computer before and everything else is working fine...its the current version on Windows 7
Again I`m not a technician I`m a musician but I could really use some help here..does anyone have any idea what I should do? Thanks

[kozikowski]

Sudden, unexplained, massive failures like this can sometimes be traced to your hard drive filling up.

Start > My Computer > right-click C: > Properties.

This may be different on your machine.

Pay particular attention to the suffix on the numbers quoted. I once sailed into repair mode confident that I had 128GB of space left when in fact I only had 128Mb and had achieved machine failure. This may be more fun than you think, because if you jam the machine too much, it may not let you delete things to fix it.

Koz

[lonepilgrim]

makes sense but I just don't think that's what`s happening...I really haven`t downloaded too much on to this machine and the hard drive is only about 1/4 occupied if that...im basically only using about 50 GB of 250 GB as far as I know..I monitor my usage pretty frequently and unless there is something very strange going on which is possible I just don`t think that's the problem..the really strange part to me is that when I go to the website to re download the program when I click the link absolutely nothing happens which shouldn`t have anything to do with what`s already installed on my computer..I`ve been in situations before where something like this happens and I go back online the next day and it works which means there might be something going on with the webpage but I`ve tried some alternative servers and pretty much the same thing happens..I've found a few of my lost music folders in different places on the computer but they won`t open..I am not a computer person at all..I really need someone to walk me thru this as I simply cannot afford to buy another computer to record with..if it comes to that I`m just going to buy some studio time but I need to figure out whats going on..is there anything I can do? thanks...doug

[steve]

Please use paragraphs in your posts. One solid block of text is not very inviting to read and many people will be put off from reading it at all.

[lonepilgrim]

Do you have any suggestions what I can do to fix this problem? Thanks

[steve]

Which version of Windows are you using?
Is there more than one user account on the computer? If there is, ensure that you are logged in with your usual user name.
Have you tried rebooting the computer?

[lonepilgrim]

I am using Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit on an ASUS laptop computer..the Audacity program was up to date.

I am the only person that uses this computer. There is one account.

I have restarted the computer several times since this problem started.

Thanks

[steve]

Is your antivirus program up to date?
When was the last time that you did a full, in depth, antivirus scan?

[kozikowski]

Most virus scanners have a "thorough mode" where you can't use the computer for a while. It runs in the foreground and digs deep instead of trying to stay out of the way in the background.

And yes, occasional paragraph breaks are good for readability.

Koz

[lonepilgrim]

I am using Microsoft Security Essentials on this computer..I ran a full scan last night and there were no issues detected.