Computer Setup Lessons Learned

Photo by Michelle Goodrum

Last summer my laptop suddenly began having significant issues, so I decided to make the switch to a different laptop while I still could - before mine totally crashed. As always, one learns a few things when setting up a new computer and transfering data. Today I would like to share with you, what worked, some challenges encountered, and a couple of discoveries. Hopefully this will help you out when you have to set up a new computer.

What Worked

Dropbox: After installing Dropbox on the new computer, all of my files were just "there." No transferring necessary. The files were right where they had been. Since I keep most of my genealogy files in Dropbox, this was a huge time saver. I didn't even miss a step as far as research. It was business as usual.

Evernote: Ditto Dropbox. What more can I say? Whatever was in Evernote, still was in Evernote when installed on the new computer.

Having a current backup:  You knew this was going to come up didn't you? I have an online backup and also backup periodically to DVD. It was time for a new set of DVD backups so I went ahead and made one and used it to transfer the majority of files that weren't on Dropbox or in Evernote. A few items it was easier to retrieve from the online backup. So this part of the setup process while time consuming was relatively easy.

Challenges

Outlook files: Oh where, oh where, does Outlook save those files? This was the biggest challenge and I finally solved it in my post, "Solve a Problem - Outlook 2007."

Photoshop Elements: I hadn't given a thought as to where Elements Organizer was saving the catalog of photos brought into Organizer. I had been using Organizer just long enough to be worried when I discovered this little issue. So after some searching, I was able to find the file and transfer it. Now it's stored in my Pictures folder.

The real point here is that we all probably have some files that we don't know where they are saved and thus will have a difficult time transferring them to a new computer. Do you know where all of your files are saved?

Discoveries:

Saving as much as possible in as few main folders as practical was a time saver. My main folders:

• Dropbox
• My Document
• My Pictures
• My Videos
• My Music

I try and discover where a program is set to "save" and if it's not to one of the above, change it (well maybe not Outlook that seems to cause a lot of problems for me). This is especially true for the various genealogy programs. Having them save to Dropbox or at least My Documents is helpful when the time comes to change computers.

I hope this helps you prepare for the time when you switch to a new computer. Or at least that I have given you some things to think about. What have some of your experiences been?

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

The Day After Data Backup Day

Amy's Genealogy, etc. Blog has a recent post titled, Digital Youth and Digital Preservation that caused me to look at Data Backup Day a little differently this month. It discussed an interesting film at the Library of Congress about youth and digital preservation and got me to thinking about the importance of digitally preserving information belonging to the young adults in our household.

The films refers to youth today as Digital Natives, having grown up in a digital world. Well, the Digital Natives in my household really haven't put much thought into how to digitally preserve and protect their own digital information.

Due to recent circumstances the time is right to approach the Natives about a solution. Younger Child is going to have to send the laptop in for repair. When I asked what information on the computer, if lost, would be devastating, the response was, "My pictures. I like to look back on my pictures." I then asked if there was a copy of those pictures anyplace else. Of course the answer was no. So we set Younger Child upwith an online backup service in the cloud. Younger Child was very open to this, so now it's a done deal.

Older Child recently experienced a broken pipe in her building after the recent freeze, which caused significant flooding. Older Child suddenly has a new appreciation for concepts like insurance and hopefully data backup, which we will be discussing in a few days.

I hope you, and your family, have backed up your data recently!


© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

KISS - Keep It Short Silly on Sorting Saturday

Photo adapted from original by ImageLink

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum. Part of my monthly backup plan includes automating the backup process on MyBookWorld. Previously I've been doing it manually which works fine as long as you remember to do it. After doing my first automatic backup, I reviewed the error report. Most of the errors had to do with the file or the pathnames being too long. It looks like I've been busted by the filename police.

Out of curiosity, I checked Backblaze, the online backup service I use, and noticed that those same files are not backed up there. I don't seem to be able to find any kind of an error report on that however. So I’m not sure how I would ever discover a problem if I don’t go looking for one. Now I'm going through the process of shortening the problematic filenames and paths.

However, another challenge has arisen. While Backblaze is picking up these new filenames, MyBookWorld backup is not. Once I get these names corrected, I may just end up redoing the MyBookWorld backup.

There is a lesson learned in this: Keep It Short Silly. I knew that. But somewhere along the way, I fell off the wagon. Now I'm wondering what other files have fallen off the wagon along the trail because their names were too long.

Oh yeah, there’s the other lesson here too. Don’t just assume because you’ve “automatically” backed up “everything” that it’s being done properly the way you want. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't.

Data Backup Day Or...When You Know Just Enough To Be Dangerous-Part 2

We all know the importance of backing up our data. These days I am both thrilled that I have been doing that, for a number of years and scratching my head and asking myself "What happened?"

It all started when I went to write the post for the September 11th anniversary. I was looking through this notebook where I have written notes about various events and experiences from my life, when I noticed a nice printout from Word with some stories on it, the name of the file at the bottom of the page and the date it was printed. I decided since I was typing up and editing my previously handwritten notes about September 11, 2001, I could just add it to this file. Only I couldn't find the file on my laptop. Sigh...Or on my other laptop, or the external hard drive.

I've been through more than one computer and hard drive reorganization since creating this file and thought I had been careful about transferring and backing up everything. I guess I had been sort of careful - I found the file on a CD backup from 2004. Makes one wonder what else has been "misplaced" along the way.

The moral of the story, backup your files in numerous ways. Contrary to most of the advice I've received to toss old backups that are on CD or DVD, I don't recommend doing that. However, I have to clarify that I only backup all of my files to DVD about once or twice a year, so the pile isn't all that big. Just backup your files! Someday you will be glad you did!

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum