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my crappy computer only has about 120GB of harddrive,
now I'm fighting with 20-30GB left, I keep adding stuff and deleting,
I don't have an external harddrive at the moment, but I have about 100 DVDs that carry 4.7GBs each,
Can I rely on this plethora stack of CDs to store files?
only downside I noticed so far is the time it takes to write my stuff onto it:(
It's always a good idea to back up your files to something other than your harddrive. Dvd's work just fine for me. And the reason it takes so log sometimes to do this burning is, your laptop drive isn't as fast as a desktop drive. DVD burning is slower than cd burning also.
And I hope you mean uninstalling, not deleting. Check your harddrive for uninstalled programs folders. Some get left behind when an uninstall is done. Remove programs you rarely or never use. Clean out temporary internet files folder, temporary/temp folders. Delete all cookies. Remove your stored system restore points, and set to use a lower amount of disk space. You'll be amazed how much space you can get back after doing those few things.
You should really invest in an external. If you make changes to files, then you'll have to burn a new disc. It's such a hassle and waste.
I have over 500 data DVDs of stuff stocked away.
Yes, it takes time to make them, but it sure beats losing stuff.
Options to add.
Set up a file server and network your computers.
Add hdds
USB external hdds
All kinds of options available for backing up data.
We just need to figure out what works best for us.
Or upgrade.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e=&srchInDesc=
Not that spendy.
Good ideas, I'll try thoses once I get the files I'm not using backed up.Quote:
Originally Posted by photolady
Also I got 2 questions,
1) I just compressed about 4.8GBs down to 4.19GBs into a zip folder, is it even worth compressing them? Didn't seem like it did much, and it took a while to compress,
2)If there's a program I want to save, and it was downloaded off the net, how can I copy the program so that I have the install version?
Train:Quote:
Options to add.
Set up a file server and network your computers.
Add hdds
USB external hdds
Nah an upgrade to me isn't worth it on this machine.
Also what do you mean by setting up a file server, and what are HDDs? harddrives? Is any money involved? sorry for my lack of knowledge btw :p
Mike:Quote:
You should really invest in an external. If you make changes to files, then you'll have to burn a new disc. It's such a hassle and waste.
I wish I could invest in an external harddrive, but I'm broke, and the next thing I'm going to buy are some accessories for my nikon D60 (:
so right now I think my stack of DVDs next to me will do just fine.
Nikon D60 tells me most of you files are pictures. D40 here.
No Zipping them does not really help. They are pretty well compressed already.
My file server is a old Socket A computer with XP installed.
I added a ATA100 card and 4 hdds [yes harddrives] to the card.
OS is on a 40 GB hdd and the others are 300 GB drives which are shared.
C:| is not shared.
I used a router and networked my computers.
Like you found out a laptop is nice to have, but limiting when dealing with graphics.
EXAMPLES of prices:
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCateg...al-Hard-Drives
Well I'm sort of new to photography, but yes I do have a lot of photos. Actually most of my files are music. I have 12.9GBs of that, and only about 5GBs of photos, though I deleted a lot.
Hmm, well about the HDDs, witch is the best one you'd recommend that's cheap but holds a lot?
I prefer my Maxtor One Touch, 750 GB over WD [Wester Digital] MY BOOK 640 GB. But that is just me.
Note please, they both have a power supply that plugs into the wall receptical. A plus as it saves on the laptop battery.
I picked both up a sales prices. Less that $100 for each.
Music depending on the format, is fairly compressed also.
Yeah I noticed the HDDs with a lot of GBs use power cords. I actually am interested in the WD elements 1TB. I like the style on that one compared to the Maxtor, although shape shouldn't matter because what inside matters. But is this one good too?
Western Digital Element 1TB 3.5" Black External Hard Drive - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136321
Looks good to me. Not a bad price either in my book.
It also has some very good reviews. I looked it up on amazon and it was 4.5 with a lot of 5 stars in there.
Also I have a question concerning some programs on my laptop. I have a compaq(aka hp)
and it has a lot of these HP stuff loaded on it that I never use, (I'm to lazy to type them so I'll show you an image)
https://discussions.virtualdr.com/im...2009/04/23.jpg]
witch of these can I uninstall?
I would not uninstall them , but would stop them from automatically starting in msconfig.
Here is how to check msconfig
Start/Run and type in
msconfig
OK
Startup Tab
Keep the page open then go to link below. It will tell you what all the entries are and whether you can disable them or not. It will also identify any malware. Disable everything which is not needed to run at start up
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/
Read the Key at top of page. Use the Search box at the top to check all your entries
When you reboot you will get a message saying you have started in "Selective Startup" Click "Don`t show this message again" then OK
What program do you use with you pictures?
Thanks for showing this to me, I'll get a jump on that in a few.
For pictures, I'm using Capture NX2(downloading that now)/photoshop/or light room.
Oh and real quick, I'm installing NX2 right now, and my self I never read those read me stuff, and I happen to scroll down, and it mentions I need .NET Framework 2.0, I have 1.1
It's ok to update to 2.0?
.NET 2.0 is backwards compatible.
Is that bad or good?Quote:
Originally Posted by Midknyte
That means it supports older versions, so it's good. :p
ohhhh ok, lol.
I use FastStone Image Viewer. It will even deal with .RAW files.
http://www.faststone.org/
>Net frame work is a bunch of libraries that tell things what to do basically.
Sure beats the bad drivers problems I well remember.
hmm, that's a neat program. I would test it out but I got too much on my laptop already.
Ok, back on the org. topic. I did some cleaning out today. I had about 24GBs at the beg. of the day, I now have 32GBs. A good amount of that were files I wasn't using so I backed them up to DVDs.
My computer also is running less hard, I had about 10 tabs open in firefox/light room open/ and itunes, and some folders to top it off, and on the bright side it was relatively more quiet than usual.I also took off about 5 programs, and let CCleaner get rid of the extra junk.
I thank you all for the information, I am not yet ready to mark this thread resolved as it's late at night and I'm bound to have a question in the morning while I continue cleaning up my computer.
The more stuff we have on hdds , the longer it takes for it to be found.
Now just so you know, most laptops have slower turning hdds, mine turns at 4200 RPM, than desktops, that is to help cut the load so the battery lasts longer.
And YES, 7200 RPM laptop hdds are available.
Steps to maximize the life of your battery
http://h20239.www2.hp.com/techcenter...attery_max.htm
Believe me, that worked wonders on my Toshiba.
No sence in buying a battery any earlier than actually needed.
more useful information, thank you :)
I just checked my laptop box and my turns at 5400RPM, hmm didn't know that.
About the battery website, looks like I have another project after lunch, thanks again!!! And yeah I agree, best to make the best of the battery that came with our computer than wasting some green on another one.
Also I did some itunes/music cleaning. I was dumbfounded when I saw that the podcast I was downloading that I don't even use, were taking up more than 5GBs, and some videos I downloaded I don't watch anymore were taking up some more. So really I less than 3GBs in music. Also I went threw music I don't want and backed it up to a DVD and deleted it from my harddrive (:
dang, about the battery, that's for XP, I was trying to calibrate mine and tried to work around the XP way and figure it out on vista, but I can't.
Humm, my rig has Vista Ultimate and I adjusted it in power options.
Star > Control Panel > Power options
I set it to high Power
Is that where you are having problems?
um, no,
in that website, it mentioned about calibrating the battery, and I tried to follow along the steps,
and the first step is were I figured it was XP not vista
"In Windows, right-click the Desktop and select Properties in the menu list. "
if I right click on the desktop I don't have properties, I have personalize though.
Personalize, screen saver and at the bottom left click Change Power settings.
Now you can make the power setting changes.
Vista is a bit different, in that some names were changed.
Basically things are in the same place.
But as normal with Windows, there are several ways to get to the same place.
ahh ok, I see, thanks,
hmm also, I noticed I have quite a few programs on my computer I really don't need, at the same time I don't know how they got there, of course these programs were downloaded 2007/2008, I wouldn't remember.
there's a group of this one program;
Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Microsoft SQL Server Native Client
Microsoft SQL Server Setup Support files
Microsoft SQL Server VSS writer
Does that have to do with HTML stuff?
Also another program I'm curious about is Microsoft works, I have Office 2007, do I really need to keep works on there?
Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Microsoft SQL Server Native Client
Microsoft SQL Server Setup Support files
Microsoft SQL Server VSS writer
As stated, those can be set up to turn part of/ alll of your comuter into a server.
I would uninstall them myself.. But I sure would back up what I would hate to lose first! Just in case.
hmm, yeah, I'll back it up, idk how but I'll figure it out.
Also!! I have a question,
I've been ignoring Microsoft updates since about 2007 when I got my laptop, actually I turned it off, so right now I have no idea if I need updates, nor do I know what updates to get. Can you help me with this?
I turned it off also, BUT, once a month, about the 15th if no one has complained about a given update, I go up and get the critical updates.
If we do not, then we leave our computers open for invasion and take over.
Leave the hardware updates alone!
I use the Custom so I can select just the critical updates. I would say you are probably 80 updates behind, right now.
I just went and checked my updates, and there's 23 updates, witch should I install, the ones that were automatically selected? You said you install the critical ones, I'm assuming most the ones pre-selected in this SS are the ones I should download?
http://i43.tinypic.com/2uondeh.jpg
None of those are critical.
But, I did install the recommended and important ones on that list.
ok, I'll install them now.
ok and, I'm going to back up some programs now to clean up more, I'm curious as to when I uninstall it, do I copy the install file alone to re download it if it's needed?
Quote:
I'm curious as to when I uninstall it, do I copy the install file alone to re download it if it's needed?
That will be a waste of time.
If I find a particular program I like, I then download the install file(s) and burn them to cd.
I have a couple that have disappeared from the internet, one of which I bought years ago, that still works just fine and is better than what they sell today in my book.
Yes, stuff does disappear from the internet no matter what other folks tell you.
Ahhh ok, good idea. I'll do that once I find some programs to get rid of.
Btw, I got another question, I was going threw m temp folder, thinking it would be stuffed, but it was clean, i then go back to the appdata folder, and there I see
local
locallow
roaming
temp
as I go threw these folders, I notice folders of programs I don't even OWN anymore? And half of these folders contained stuff about the program? I don't have the program, why is it still there? Theres a good 500MGs of junk I don't even need. It's ok to get rid of this stuff right?
Username> AppData> Local> temp can be emptied out.
Any Temp folder can be emptied in fact.
I did not find anything else in mine.
I guess if you have uninstalled it properly, it can be removed.
But be darn sure it has been removed as I can see possible problems if you goof.
Ok,
but hmmm, I'm sure I uninstalled them. I don't see any of them still on my computer. I also noticed a bunch of empty folders. Deleted the ones that were programs I don't have anymore. I'll back it all up just to make sure I didn't make a mistake.
Smart move!