I bought a DVD from an on-line (non-ebay) source. My particular DVD covers virtually every Ford 2006 model at that particular point in time. There is some sort of "tech manual mini-application" that comes on the disk and if you install it completely - it runs very quickly and very smoothly.

It makes sense that Ford "disables" the DVD after 3 months [edit: it is 2 months actually] of the issue date - sort of a fail-safe to remind the dealer technicians, when they grab a DVD and try and boot up, that they may not have the latest version. (And to go and get the latest version). For us do-it-yourself-ers we just temporarily change the date on our PC, so we don't have to buy an update every 3 months. [I don't think Helms is sending updates/corrections every 3 months - even for $300]

So, the DVD is just like having a (single) version of the factory shop manual. GaryG is right, they are a huge help. The section on hybrid systems design and the automated diagnosis process (PCED) is impressive in its size and scope.

My cost was $80 including shipping........I would have purchased it from Ford - but they didn't offer.

Greenhybrider - I believe the reference you saw to "repair DVD software" is the shop manual that comes on DVD - not something that actually interacts with operating software.