There's quite a long but buried thread here about a way to get around the demise of the on-line software registration. It appears that it's as straightforward (to the user - the guy who figured it out apparently worked pretty darn hard on it, so thanks). It looks like all that's required, after installing the 5.1 software, is to replace one file with the same-named file in the "crack" and use the serial numbers in the table provided.
I'd like to give it a try as long as I'm still in the "messing around" stage.
The console that I have here has the old motherboard (166 MHz Pentium) and what looks like 2 MB of RAM. I have a 30 GB hard drive in it, so there's plenty of room for the larger program. Anything I need to be wary about.when installing the newer OS? I remember seeing an article on tips for moving to 5.1, but I haven't been able to locate it. I'll probably hook up a new drive to do the 5.1 installation so I don't mess up what seems to be working in 3. And maybe, my two missing tape return channels will come back to life. \