I found free versions of Bryce 5.5:

MAC http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/06/16/download-bryce-5-5-for-free/
PC  http://www.download.com/Bryce/3000-6677_4-10696717.html

and will get these on the header soon, but I need to know , can I just install this over my free 5.0? I have the 5.5 ser.# if necessary .. ...

Shouldn't be a problem if you have the serial number

Yup, what Sandy said.

I think when I installed 6.1 it told me, during the installation, that it was uninstalling the old version for me.  anyway..it shouldn't be a problem.

The blurb on the cnet? site said:

"You'll have to register your copy of Bryce on the publishers web-site to gain access to your free Bryce serial number."  

Don't know how that works let me know how it goes. I thought I'd dl it on this computer (took a whole15 minutes) rather than go into the cold dark room with all the other computers in it . . . besides they're all named Hal and one or two of them has started refering to me as 'Dave' .

i think daz still has the free version of 5.5. and yupi did try installing itand it did not uninstall bryce 5. i had both versions on at once....

In addition I do have also the 5.5 update...that might be the best route to go, I'll save my pre sets and try that Sunday.. ...

all my self installed presets stayed in the version i installed them in .. they did not appear in both versions.

Well the old Guina-mouse did it again - 
started the install - 
it gave reference to the site to get the key from - 
copied that and exited install 
went to said site I was asked for logon and password
did that 
got sent to page with key on it. 
copied key (Ctrl C) 
got off internet 
installed b55 
when asked for the key I pasted it in place. 
Installed well. 

First render using B55 uploaded to SOW thread. so It works.   

Yup I know it'll install as I have it in this tiny e machine here but it would[and does] take 4 evah t'do anything on this 512MB RAM machine  which is why I want to install it on my nearly filled up workstation 'cross the room....when I installed it I didn't even stop the install it started...just mimimized it...and did what you did BM...There seems to be a different way to get proc. textures in 5.5 with that drop down box on the left of the main texture dialogue....opens showing Architexture with an arrow bedide it which I eventually pressed and got access to the rest...friggin easter egg type stuff makes me nutz..LOL... Am going to, later on today, try first the BR5.5 update and cross my fingies and hope for the best, heh heh heh, and if that screws everything up I shall curse Bryce roundly, beg it's forgivness, and uninstall what happened and install the complete 5.5 and just update my saved presets...hopefully it 5.5 update will work.. ...

Jeez You just scared the crap outa me!   I started reading this thread and thought,  "My God! I hope he's saved his presets!!!!!!"

:b_overwhelmed:

ROFL at TheBryster

Yes, save presets, save presets - always save presets!

Oh and the download site for 5.5 will tell you to go back to Daz for the serial number, which will then go into your new 5.5 - unless you're going the update patch route, which it sounds like you are...

But save presets - always - and preferably in a different house.
(and if you make models in wings (or anything else) save those too)

Bin there, done that, cried a lot...

Well I tried the update patch but as I installed Bryce5Free to E:Program files, I couldn't update it cuz it couldn't find th exe...friggin idiots...why do thy do that...I've barely any room left on C as I use it mainly for system stuff and keep apps and other stuff on D & E...sigh..will try the 5.5 and hope I have room for it on C..thanx all for the input.. ...

couldn't you find it and point the way to the exe??

It only lets you select the C Drive....go figger...no way I could trick it, would only browse to the C Drive as well.. ...

I seem to remember writing Corel back in the old days when i bought bryce 5. I bought an update to update my free version of Bryce 3D (Which came with 3D World issue 01 if im not mistaken) and i believe they did supply me with the neccesary serial key to get version 5 up and running... that was a long time ago though and back in the corel days.. Still, i dont think DAZ will be very difficult about it as they're really not askin very high prices for their software anyways.

Quote - Well I tried the update patch but as I installed Bryce5Free to E:Program files, I couldn't update it cuz it couldn't find th exe...friggin idiots...why do thy do that...I've barely any room left on C as I use it mainly for system stuff and keep apps and other stuff on D & E...sigh..will try the 5.5 and hope I have room for it on C..thanx all for the input.. ...

You could probaly scale up your C drive using partition magic. Or, if you have XP pro, i think theres a tool in there also... somewhere in MMC maybe?

Though i agree its good practice to leave your C disk as system disk, its risky to make it too small. Almost any piece of software you install will still put files on the system drive, even if the main installation directory of the software is on another disk.
Furthermore many software applications use the C drive for temporary file storage, and your swapfile is located on C by default as well.
It's not good for system stability to have less then 200mb free on your C drive, but when running heavy applications having at least 2GB free might be a good idea.

I remember having a debate about this with the helpdesk of my old laptop. I needed it re-installed but they didnt give me a recovery disk. Instead i had to bring it to their helpdesk, where they'd install the recovery disk for me. However, after recovery there was literally only 250mb free on the C drive, which left me unable to install any extra software! rendering my installation pretty much useless. I spent 2 weeks bitching at them before they finally budged and installed me a full version of partition magic, and resized the disks for me.