Starting over with a new computer

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Starting over with a new computer

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Started 1 year ago by Another Deb
Latest reply from Kamakazi
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Another Deb
Member

I am finally caving under the stress of dealing with this 2002 era computer and have purchased a new one with moderate bells and whistles. Here's the question: how do I organize my pure-as-the-driven-snow HD so that it will serve me best?

My intentions are to use the computer for internet, and for the following uses:

I teach, so I have 7-8 flash drives that filled up with overlapping information as I tried to save and back up everything I ever created for my classes. I want to get to the point that ALL the unit plans have scans/digital copies of ALL the materials in one place. I need to figure out how to synch it all.

I have a portable HD that may or may not have any viruses, based on the number of years this old machine ran and how sporatically I was able to remove viruses. It still has a lot of space on it and I intend to use it to transfer the old files to the new machine.

I intend to use the new computer to scan and organize the masses of slides and pictures from many generations in my family tree hobby. I'll be storing genealogy info as well.

Also, I want to make MP3 files of many old LP records and to rip my CD's to be loaded onto an iPod eventually.

My Win-XP laptop was wiped a few months ago after a virus issue so it has nothing on it but the things it originally came with. Should I do them both at the same time?

I only have one monitor, so I am wondering about how to transfer everything and not leave things in files I have forgotten about. (The old computer itself has a partition I never did use after Millenium Windows didn't work on it.) I keep finding things in files on the XP side that are in odd places. It's just a mess and a huge drain on my time to work with. I've been waiting for the holidays to have some time for the upgrade.

Do I organize the old files and then send them to the new machine? WOuld it be better to load everything from the thumb drives and old HD to the new machine and then use it's speed and features to organize?

How would you start over on a blank page like this? Thanks for your input!

Posted 1 year ago #
ninakk
Member

For a couple of years now I've worked with my own version of GTD filing on my mac. I couldn't find a thing when it was organized traditionally according to file type, so now it's a mix of both (my original photos still go in the Pictures folder, music in Music, video stuff in Movies).

Main thing is that everything with the exceptions above is organized first GTD (Project, Tickler and Archive) under Documents, then according to context (Project - School - "current semester", Tickler - Home - Interior decoration, Archive - Bureaucratic crap). I've also created an "Inbox", labelled yellow (sunny and positive plus it was the nicest colour left after I had used the other three below), where everything from Desktop and Downloads goes before being sorted from stuff to something actionable. Project folders are red (hot, active), Ticklers green (something might grow like grass out of them) and Archives blue (cool, inactive). Currently, there are about 50 folders of these kinds. I now have many subfolders too, but try not to go down the tree but rather horizontally.

A revelation to me was that I'd create more clutter than less for me personally if I would have started trying out and then maybe using or not using some real GTD program (I tried one shortly, then didn't like it). It works for me to work with folders and not so much with yet another software than later gets discarded.

If you feel like using the new computer immediately, I would do it. You can simply label your current folders in some way that makes them easy to recognize as being from the old one. This way you'll get yourself acquainted to the new a lot faster too. Also, you might notice some changes in internal file structure, meaning it makes more sense to make organizational evolution on the new one and you won't spend time adjusting afterwards but have seen its strengths and weaknesses already from the start. I would copy files to your laptop only once you consider yourself very well on your way already, because otherwise it might confuse and slow you down, become a burden rather than an asset.

It's exciting to be able to start afresh, I think. Good luck!

Posted 1 year ago #
ninakk
Member

I reread your post and think I thought you have a whole new computer, not a harddrive (external?). Doesn't matter, I'd still say use the new one.

Posted 1 year ago #
Another Deb
Member

ninakk, it is a whole new computer. I just didn't buy a new monitor, since mine is pretty new. I just have all these other files spread around everywhere (including an external that was used as a backup) that need to get integrated, sorted, purged, renamed and re-discovered!

I like your color coding ideas, and would never have thought of that, as my current programs do not do colors as I think you mean. I hadn't thought of using a Tickler category either, but may want to do that as well.

Thank you!

Posted 1 year ago #
vjb
Member

Another Deb, if I was you I'd reformat your external HDD so it's clean and virus-free, dump the contents of the flash drives into it and start from there. Perhaps even remove the lower-level folders and just have big folders ("pictures", "music" etc, or for your teaching material, perhaps by subject?). That way it will be easy to see the duplicated files and which is the latest copy of something.

If you're anything like me, you'll also find that it means you can see fairly easily if there are any 'extra' files that need to be transferred from your old machine. Last time I did this I just deleted each folder on the old computer as I looked through it and confirmed I had all the files. It took a lot less time than I thought, in the end!

Once you have *everything* on the external, and no duplicates, you can transfer it all to your new machine and organise it as you please. :)

Posted 1 year ago #
Mimi
Member

i´d recommend to organize all your files first, and afterwards transfer all your files to the old machine or the external HD.
i use http://www.dropbox.com to sync my files. that´s like a miracle- it syncs your files and saves them online. you can connect from different devices and use your synced files everywhere, no more comparing of different versions. i work on several computers (at home, at the office, at university) and it´s wonderful to just leave the office, knowing that the new file will be availiable at home without doing anything. plus, i have backups on every computer that is connected to dropbox. i can´t imagine anything that works better :)

Posted 1 year ago #
startsmart
Member

I'm going through this problem now as my desktop is 5 years old and will now randomly shut off when I'm in the middle of work!

First thing would be to create a backup system on the new computer, I use Carbonite and LOVE it. Never have to remember to do a backup and every time I update a file it's saved. It's about $5 a month BUT I don't have to maintain a backup drive and I never run out of space.

Then slowly transfer in the new files. Instead of dumping them all move one folder/file at a time, rename when something is unclear and organize as you go. You will probably find a good bunch of stuff is useless and can be deleted. Delete! Then when the USB drives are empty set them aside for backup.

Posted 1 year ago #
Another Deb
Member

Thank you for all the great suggestions. I can see some strategies that I had not considered before, and will look into the Dropbox site (thanks, Mimi) as well as check what's on the external HD and use that as vjb suggested. I have wondered about online backup, so startsmart has been a great help pointing me to Carbonite. I wonder, can I use it for the transition time and then choose to drop it or is it a year-to-year cost?

Posted 1 year ago #
Zora
Member

Belt and suspenders. Backup drive AND Carbonite. If one is corrupted, the other will work.

Made the switch to a new computer recently, from WinXp to Win7 64-bit. Had to repurchase software, as my old programs wouldn't run on the new OS. But transferring my files was a matter of minutes, as they were meticulously organized on the old computer.

When I do have a lot of miscellaneous junk, I'll move it to a folder called SORT -- kinda like cleaning a room and dumping everything that doesn't belong there in a basket, and THEN going round the house to put things in place. I find it easiest to set up the new file structure and then move stuff into it.

Posted 1 year ago #
vjb
Member

I agree with Zora: a combination of backup drive AND online backup is safest. I use Mozy, not Carbonite, but same difference. Dropbox is a terrific alternative if you need your files synced across multiple computers, as Mimi says – not so useful if you mainly use one machine though. (Mozy will only back up one computer, not sure about Carbonite.)

I *think* you can use Mozy for just a month or so during your transition – it looks like you can choose a monthly subscription and terminate it whenever you like. Carbonite's minimum period seems to be a year. (Correct me if I'm wrong, people.) Both Carbonite and Mozy also offer a free trial, which may interest you - Mozy's trial has a limit of 2 GB; Carbonite's trial is for a month only.

I second Zora's suggestion of a SORT folder for files you can't immediately find a home for, too.

Good luck with it all!

Posted 1 year ago #
smartakus
Member

I'm a Mac person so can't speak to specific PC issues, but I second the vote for DropBox - it's fantastic.

Also, I have been reading a lot about organizing digital files, and a lot of people are saying that the search function on new computers is so powerful that it's really not as important what folder hierarchy you use as how you label your digital files. I am still a little old-school so I use a folder hierarchy that I'm comfortable with, but more and more I am using the search function to find things, so I started labeling my files more consistently. For instance, recurring bills are labeled with the year, month and company name; i.e. 201012StandardUtilities. This keeps them in chronological order within the folder. Similarly, in my master iPhoto library, I label photo "events" with the year, month, date (if I know it) and maybe a tag referring to the event, if it's specific. For instance: 20101223ChristmasLights. If it's a folder of general photos from 1994, the label would be 1994photos.

I've been slowly re-labeling things and so far I'm happy with the system; it's easy and it makes it much easier to find things.

Posted 1 year ago #
Another Deb
Member

Thanks for seconding the Dropbox recommendation. I need to synch my home computer and laptop, the portable HD, several flashdrives, as well as my things at school, so I think I might invest in their service, if anything, for the month or two I need to get organized on this project. I am going from an XP system to the Win 7. I hope the searching is a lot easier. I have not been very good at finding things through Search in the past.

The suggestions are really helpful! Keep them coming. I hope Santa is bringing me an iTouch and this could complicate things further.

Posted 1 year ago #
needtocleanhouse
Member

I'm technologically challenged and expect to get a new computer and/or laptop soon. What are you guys talking about? I have photoshop on one computer - should I transfer the program and how to do it? What's a file and how do you go through it and how do you put it in "sort" and why would you do that? :{

Posted 1 year ago #
Zora
Member

Needtocleanhouse, it would take too long to explain all that here. It probably wouldn't make sense, either, without screenshots. You need a computer course, or a simple book with screenshots, or a geeky friend to walk you through organizing files.

But perhaps I should say that Photoshop is software; it is installed on your computer, on top of your OS (operating system). You install either from a DVD you put in the computer's DVD drive, or by downloading the file from the maker and then installing the file. If you don't have a DVD or a serial number and an account with the manufacturer, you won't be able to reinstall. Also, old software, from an old computer, might not work on a newer computer. When I went from an WinXP 32-bit computer to a Win7 64-bit computer, I had to replace several programs. At great expense.

You need a geek to sort this out for you :/

Posted 1 year ago #
needtocleanhouse
Member

Wanted: Geeks of all sorts to help technically challenged person . . .

Found this website launched by Google to teach computer basics =)

TeachParentsTech.org

Posted 1 year ago #
Kamakazi
Member

needtocleanhouse: That is a pretty nice site and I have used it before, although I find their topics of limited use because the questions I usually get from my parents/other-sets-of-people-who-use-me-as-tech-support are generally a bit more specific to a certain program or situation.

I 100% agree with smartakus. I basically stopped obsessing about filing systems when I installed Vista (now on Win 7). Basically the always present search function makes it so that I use it more than trying to navigate down my rather complicated file tree. Just make sure all your files (or their containing folders) have a coherent, sensible, name and you should be good to go. In terms of straight up storage solutions, I would never recommend a system that involves multiple flash drives (ICK!) either get a nice big one (32gb+) or just get a nice big 2.5" external hard drive which can run off of USB. All through college I just had a 250GB 2.5" external hard drive that I used as my super-flash drive that had everything I needed (and most of what I wanted) on it.

My current storage/back up stuff is:

-640GB main hard drive (Windows+Programs+Games)
-1.5TB Media drive (Movies+Music)
-1.0TB Video drive (Currently has my Family video project, trying to get all my parent's old VHS tapes onto edited DVDs, almost complete)
-16GB Flash Drive (Currently has my Family photos project, trying to get all my parent's physical family photos digitized and tagged in Picasa, long way to go with over 3000 photos remaining)
-2.0TB External Backup drive (Contains a bunch of different stuff dating back years, recently upgraded from a 500GB drive. This is what I mostly just search as it is just kind of a crap collector that I put my User directory on from time to time as it is the only place on my computer that I keep non-replaceable things)

And yes, they all need decluttered, but I am just to the point where I feel like I have decluttered to an acceptable level for all of my physical things and digital has always been a secondary concern for me when it comes to crap collection.

Posted 1 year ago #

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