Had to reformat the hard drive and now trying to reinstall...

Question

I have my original CD for PSE 4.0 and installed it. That worked fine. I printed out the info from when I upgraded to PSE 5.0 because I upgraded online at Adobe.com. But when I went to my Order History, the download wasn't there. When I called support they said they could no longer support this "old" version of PSE and that I had to come here for help. Which is frustrating because it says right there on the upgrade info:
Sign in to Your Account at the Adobe Store at any time to re-download your purchased software.
Anyway, I've got the serial number for my upgrade to 5.0. Can anyone tell me how to re-download it?  Thanks!!

Answer 1

It's absolutely stunning what is out there on the nooks and crannies of the Internet.  So I'd recommend that you search there for the upgrade.  After all, the upgrade file is useless without the serial number you have, so Adobe wouldn't object to someone posting it on a web site.
Google is the perfect place to start your search.  Try to think of terms you'd find on the web site you want - but would not appear on the average web page.  That way Google won’t offer to show you 100,001 hits - which can be depressing.   Here I'd use "Adobe Photoshop Elements", and "upgrade", and "version 5.0". 
Keep Google in mind whenever you are searching for something unusual.  People are putting more and more information onto the Internet.  That can help you.
In 2001, I typed the name “Monte Payne” into Google.  We both were point men in the same Infantry platoon in Vietnam.  He triggered a boobytrap and died while walking point. 
To my surprise, Google found a plea from his family.  32 years later, they still were trying to find someone who could tell them how and where Monte died.
I wrote them a long letter explaining what happened and how he had died. I also included the address of a U.S. Geologic Service web site that shows a detailed map of the area where he died.  (The U.S. Geologic Service hosts hundreds of web pages that show small-scale maps of what was South Vietnam.) 
I also gave them the grid coordinates of the location where he probably died.  I didn't know the precise location because I was in the hospital when it happened.  But because we both had been point men, I found out everything about his death once I got back.
I’ve often thought that if there ever was a contest on the most unusual uses of Google, I’d enter that incident with Monte’s family.  I’m one of fewer than 30 people on the planet who could tell his family how Monte died.  Without Google, we never could have found one another.