I bought a USB apparatus that I hoped would allow me to transfer files directly from the laptop to the tower (the old tower is toast- nothing usable there), but it didn't work. So I had to rely on the flash drive, which took awhile (it will surprise no one that I have over 8,000 paper doll scans in my files- do you know how looooong it takes for 8,000 jpgs to copy to a flash drive, and then over to the new hard drive?). I was able to download iTunes, Google Chrome (which eliminates not only a new and annoying weirdness on Facebook, and it allows me to leave comments on friends' blogs again), anti-virus software (some came with the tower, but it's not the brand we use on the other computers, so I switched over), and the Nikon Transfer program for my camera.
All of that went slowly, but smoothly. It got a bit rougher when I tried to hook my printer up. Turns out that my printer (a Dell all in one) is not compatible with Windows 7. And it's never going to be. Unfortunately, I recently spent $100 on ink for the beast. I can use the printer with both the laptop and the mini, but that sort of defeats the purpose of working on the tower (especially since my new WORD will be the latest version, and those DOCs may not even open on the other computers...). So, I'll need a new printer/scanner, but not before I use up the ink on hand (I doubt I can even give the printer away, and no one is going to buy the ink from me).
And my first computer game obsession, and old MahJongg program, one I've installed on every computer since Windows 3.1, no longer functions. The graphics are primitive, and I know that there are much prettier MahJongg versions out there, but I'm still sad to let this one go. Even worse, the Counted Cross Stitch Design program that I've used for every one of my charted designs won't work. Neither will an old photo-manipulation program that was a freebie but it still did everything I wanted it to. These programs pleased me, and I knew my way around them inside and out. Now I not only have to relearn all of those skills on newer, and surely much more complex, interfaces, but I'm going to have to PAY for the privilege. (And yes, all of those programs are still on the laptop and the mini, but once again, that snarls the whole New Computer scenario).
I also have to call the Adobe people so they can give me the key to install CS3 on this computer. You can only install it on two computers at a time, so you're supposed to de-register and uninstall it on one machine before you install the program on another. Unfortunately, the old computer did not give me sufficient warning before it crashed and burned. It's not a difficult process, but it's going to take an hour on the phone, talking with assorted young men who say their name is Steve, before I can get anyone to understand that I cannot uninstall the program on a non-functioning hard drive.
But outside of that, and the fact that I am out of *running up and down stairs 40 times a day* shape, it went pretty well. I am really happy to be back in my office, and for at least a day or so, my desk is relatively clean. My brain was scrambled by the time I let all things computer go for the evening, but I did get some sproingy off-white wool of uncertain provenance plied.
I have no idea where this came from, but I have a good 5ozs left to spin. This is 1.7ozs, 117 yds, spindle spun and plied, a fairly nice fingering weight. I'm getting better at the whole spindle thing. Practice, y'all. It works.
8 comments:
At least you won't have to call Peggy!! Enjoy your new desktop. Love your spindle spun yarn.
I recently had to go through Adobe for cs5 because my computer crashed and I could not uninstall. It went very smoothly and I was on the phone with them less than 5 minutes. Sending karma your way!
a trick i just learned for Windows 7. is with some games you can go to the start menu and right click on the game then go down to run as administer and follow instructions. i know it works for some games that will only work on Windows XP. i will admit it wont work for all games. i hope this may help so you can play some games again.
Andrea
oh if a screen comes up with a yellow box just say yes to allow
sproingy
perfect
Chery: heh
Maxine: I hope it works that quickly for me
Anon: thanks for the tip. I tried it and it didn't work for my programs, but it was definitely worth a shot.
Anne: yep, describes that wool exactly
You won't need this, but if you have to send a Word file with the new "docx" extension to somebody who doesn't have an up-to-date version of Word -- like me -- tell them to download and install a tiny bit of software that you can get from Microsoft's website that will let them open, read, and edit these files. It's quicker than your remembering to save them as "docs" for we Luddites who prefer Word 2003 to any later iteration.
Even though you have a humongous hard drive (I wish somebody would say that to me occasionally) it'll soon fill up. Consider getting an external hard drive for back-up. You don't need to keep all the program files, just the documents, pictures, videos, music, etc. "GoodSync" is a really good backup program, easy to set up and use. It may be too late, but it also makes copying from computer to computer really easy. Just plug in the hard drive and the new computer should read it. I have three, which duplicate each other. I my pictures and music on my computer's hard drive as well, but I keep my videos only on the external drives, to reduce the storage on the computer and keep it running more quickly. (There's a fourth, portable hard drive in my safety deposit box at the Bank, with family photos and documents. And my novels are also on a flash drive that I keep in my pocket at all times.)
A***-retentive, moi? You have to be -- I've had the hard-drive death experience twice.
By the way, why did you get a new tower and not take the leap to laptop-only computing? Is it for the art/design stuff? (I'm like you -- my desktop model is five years old, two years past the usual replacement date and going strong, but I'll get another when the time comes. The latest Consumer Reports has them below $1,000.)
But enough of my yakking . . .
Ah, Alan- thanks for the docX advice. I would have stuck with my old MS Office but it was the 2000 version, and I figured it was time to upgrade. I'll need the patch for the laptop and mini (which still run the old version).
I like a large screen for writing and for graphic work, and I'm generally more comfortable with the bigger keyboard, so that's mostly why I got another tower. That and I am a creature of habit, and the new tower cost less than $500. Of course, with the new printer and the Office Suite, I've negated any savings, but still...
oh, and I'm totally anal about backups- I e-mail book files to myself (so I can access them from any computer), I e-mail them to other people (so they can access them if needed), I save them on all of my computers, and I put them on a flash drive that I keep with me. I hope that all of those places will not be hit by meteors at the same moment, but I guess if that happens, my files will be the least of my worries.
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