Thanks for all of the help! I'm having some success and now that I finally can "move" many pics and then have them deleted...I might actually be able to use my right hand tomorrow! Gonna stop for the night...you folks are the best!!!!!
1) As others already noted, do NOT pay for any driver updates. Unneeded and a bogus claim.
That said, i find it very unusual that Dell would make that offer. Be sure, and be careful, you aren't actually clicking on some advertising link on a web page that's trying to convince you need a "driver update" product.
2) Remember, any hardware (even the most reliable brands) are subject to failure over time (and on occasion, even after a short time!). You need two copies of files on separate media to protect your important data. (If one media fails, you still have a 2nd copy) So, in addition to your new external drive, consider other storage media or cloud storage as well. (like google drive or microsoft sky drive)
Computer Geek, No, I didn't go for it (driver updates). There was a "microsoft" trusted partner emblem and it wanted my Key Code (which I would have to hunt down).
As an non-computer initiate...the "important data" you refer to is probably what the computer needs to run correctly, no? To me, it was my pictures, but I do realize why that protection of data is crucial.
As for the cloud and sky, I guess I haven't reached a point of trust with google nor microsoft.
I was wondering just a bit ago, if I could download my 64G memory stick onto the portable HD? I just can't figure out what would power it.
I'll keep moving and deleting pics to the portable HD next week. Thanks for the suggestions.
I think what Computer Geek meant by "important data" is that you should have at least 2 copies of any personal stuff that is important to you--such as pictures.
The stuff needed to run the PC itself is typically found on a Windows installation disc and on your C drive, separate from your personal stuff. But maybe you don't have a Windows installation disc?
Not sure if I'm following you about the memory stick, but you can certainly plug it into a port on your computer and copy anything from it to your internal or external hard drives.
Hi Ignatzatsonic, I do have the 7 disc.
Re: copying mem stick info to port HD: I plug the portable into the tower. I would also plug the memory stick (which has the backup files of the pics, but is only 64 GB so is full) into the tower. I thought about my question and perhaps this is the answer: I would plug both into the tower, open up the pictures and pick the files on the mem stick and "send/copy" them to the drive the portable HD is plugged into?
It's taking me forever to download the pics to the port HD (took the weekend off) and I know there must be an easier way. I did try to just download the 8k pics from the internal HD to the port HD and it didn't work (I don't remember at this moment why, it was on Friday).
Thank you for the answer and I do now understand that having the 7 disc would reinstall the OS if I need it.
With no Windows Office (the orig. computer set up included it) all of my saved docs are in limbo unless I purcha$e the program. :-(
Have a great Monday!
Freddi
Moving files directly from a USB device to another USB device does take a long time, you'd be better off copying the files from the flash drive to the PC itself, then from the PC to the external HDD. It will be much quicker. Not sure why the transfer from the PC to external HDD failed first time round.
Do you have the product key from the copy of Office you had installed?
I'd think you should establish in your mind a sense of "original" and "backup" and not inter-mingle them.
I'd put "originals" on a hard drive of some type, ideally an internal if you have space or an external if that is your only hard drive choice. I don't know if you have space issues on your internal. External drives react much more slowly because they have to navigate through that plug and cable connection.
Then put "copies" on some other location--ideally another hard drive. Perhaps a USB stick if you have no other choice.
Two hard drives is far and away the best way to do it. Sticks just aren't highly reliable and they are quite slow compared to hard drives. Their only advantage is portability and I have no idea how important that is to you.
Establish some sort of regular routine that you can understand and live by. All "new" pictures go to the "originals" drive and are then copied periodically to a "backup" location of some type. Don't wonder where the primary version of a given picture is---it should always be in the "originals" location. Use a series of folders that are named in a useful way.
Yeah, you can move or copy in either direction from any drive to any other using send/copy. My personal habit is to just use the mouse and drag and drop, but one method is as good as the other.
Booz: The PC has the saved mem stick stuff (pictures mostly) downloaded on it. I need to delete stuff as the internal HD is almost full. That is why I am downloading pics to the portable HD. Then I have to find out the best/safest way to totally remove the deleted pics from hard drive to free up space. I have used disk clean up and disk defrag programs.
I do have the product key somewhere. Would have to find it. Why would I need it?
I'll be back online later on today. :)
Freddi
You would need the Product Key to activate any new Windows installation if you ever have to do that. It's 25 characters long in this format: xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx. Five groups of five characters, mixing numbers and letters. Without the Product Key and activation, a new installation will only work for 30 days.
If your PC is a major brand like Dell, HP, etc, the Product Key should be on a sticker placed there by the manufacturer.
When you ran Disk Cleanup, did you choose to clean up system files?? Maybe you won't have to delete pictures from that drive---it's the best place to keep your stuff if at all possible.
Try OpenOffice (It's free and will work with your office docs - Word, Excel, PowerPoint. If it meets your needs, you can save the money :)
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