Tutorial Tuesday (Potpourri)

Let’s Talk About New Computers

or… How NOT to Set One Up.

First, I want to thank all of you who reached out with good thoughts for my Dad. He’s not quite 100%, but he’s a ton better than he was. He’s had two minor procedures, and will have some more imaging done at the end of this week but it looks like they’ve solved his most recent problem. I know our days with him are numbered, but I’d really like as many of those days as possible to be comfortable ones.

Okay, so on to letting me be a shining example of what NOT to do when setting up a new computer… I’m working on the crumbling one right now, praying that the screen doesn’t fall completely off before I’ve sorted out the new one. Wish me luck!

First things first. Set up the basics. Get your email manager working. Import your address book. Send a test message. Then move on to the browser. If you have a Google account, your favorites and passwords can be automatically added. You’ll need the browser to get new downloads of your apps. Next you’ll want to install the software applications you use all the time to make sure you have space for them on your drive. A little caveat here: Some of the software you use may be quite out-of-date and might not run on your new machine. I ran into this with Photoshop Elements 2019. I had no trouble downloading the software, since Adobe knows me. ( 😉 ) But the operating system on my new laptop is the most recent update of Windows 10 and something in it isn’t compatible with a new install of PSE 2019. I couldn’t install it. I wasn’t all that anxious to change the compatibility setting for it so I could run it, although I know how to. It felt like a slippery slope to me. So. I upgraded to PSE 2021 and will be sharing the things I discover within it with all of you! (That meant I also had to upgrade my Elements+ to the 2021 version. And while I was at it I updated my Main Type font manager to a paid version so I’ll have the capacity for more fonts – and to force myself to classify them all. It was an expensive weekend.)

The biggest part of setting up a new system is copying all the important files from the old one and moving them into their new home. The easiest way is to copy the files onto a removeable storage device, such as a CD or DVD (for those who still have a drive for those!), a thumb drive or an external hard drive and then pasting them into the new device. I can’t stress enough the value of using a clean, empty device for this step. I used an EHD that I’d already used to back up a bunch of files. But I wasn’t thinking about how the EHD has no ability to think for itself and I ended up with literally thousands of duplicate files. The EHD didn’t know I only need one copy of everything. I discovered my screw-up when I sent my digikits and digiscrapping folders to my new 1TB laptop and was told I didn’t have enough space for them! So I looked at the Properties of each folder and found out the folders on the EHD were more than twice the size of those on Crumbling Laptop. If I’d started with an empty drive, I could have avoided all that wasted time. Oh, and before I forget: If the new system asks you if you want to Compress your files to save disc space DON’T DO IT! Before I figured out that my EHD backups were duplicating everything, I made that mistake and now I’m trying to figure out how to UNDO it before I add anything else to the chaos.

Another option for transferring files is to use an application, either purchased or free, that will do most of the work for you. Windows 10 has an option for Nearby Sharing over Bluetooth and/or WiFi. Cloud-sharing is possible through Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive if you’re so equipped. I tried it with one set of files and couldn’t make it work for me. So I did the EHD route.

That leads into setting yourself up for success. Take the opportunity to clean up EVERYTHING before you do any copying! Find and eliminate as many duplicate files as you can. If you routinely rename files for ease of retrieval, make sure all like files have been appropriately renamed. For example, I have a large library of styles. The designer of the brush names the file according to what they prefer. I like to give them names that tell me what type of style – glitter, gloss, wood, shadow, water and such, who the designer is and what kit or other information I may have for it. A sample would look like this: Glitter Just So Scrappy Let Freedom Ring. I also changed the file names on my brushes to something that actually tells me about the brush set, like ADS Feb 21 Challenge heart. I went through my GingerScraps digikit folder and removed all the kits from designers no longer with the site, putting them into a new folder so I’ll still have them but won’t be tempted to use them for challenges. I went through all my photo folders and eliminated as many duplicates as possible. And I went through all my digiscrapping folders and deleted all the copies of templates and such to bring the size of each folder down to something reasonable. [I use a folder system for everything and copy the items I plan to use into them so it’s all together. And I save the finished layout as a PSD file in case I need to make changes. Those folders can be pretty hefty!]

Transferring files from one device to another takes time. A lot of time. Even if there are no hiccups. So plan ahead if you can. [Obviously, if your system fails altogether, that’s not an option, but maybe having a clean backup of all the good stuff isn’t a bad idea.] Make sure you have a protected spot where both old and new are close together just to reduce the amount of up-and-down-back-and-forth you have to do. You’re also going to need some time to learn how the new system does things. I’m moving from an HP Windows 10 system to a Dell Windows 10 system, and there are a few things that don’t seem to work the same way even though the operating system is unchanged. [One interesting difference is that I can pair my phone to send and receive texts through my laptop!] So if you have an option, don’t start the process if you have any kind of deadline looming. Just to be on the safe side!

Is it smoky where you are? We’re surrounded by wildfires and have been stuck in a dense layer of smoke and ash for more than a week. Our airport had to close, no flights in or out, because the smoke was interfering with both ground-based and aerial instruments. Today it’s finally starting to dissipate – we can see the sky again, although it’s still pretty thick closer to the ground. And it’s hot. Not as hot as it was during the Heat Dome, but hot nonetheless. We finally has a bit of rain on Sunday. For the month of July this area received 0.3 mm of rain – essentially none; July was the 7th month in a row with substantially less precipitation than is our norm. Climate change is scary.

Okay, cross your fingers and toes! I’m jumping back into file transfers… as soon as I figure out how to decompress the files I’ve already moved!

PDF Version: https://bit.ly/37iTJsb