Brian

How much RAM do you have now? I really need to know all the specs of your computer.

@Damien Symonds: Exactly. Money well spent. She has someone to call.

I use the latest version of Firefox and NEVER use Safari. Download & Install Firefox and try pasting here.

Sorry. Bridge is Damien’s thing. It could be a screwed up mouse driver or mouse setting. Head to the control panel and poke around. Maybe something is turned on that’s not supposed to. This is a mouse right? Not a stupid track pad?

Right Click Paste doesn’t always work. All I did was create a snip if the PS tools via the command + shift + control + 4, drew a box around the tools and let go. You will hear a snap sound. Then type something in the comment box, press the Command Key (next to the space bar) and hit v. Then it should put the file in the upload section below the active comment box, the “Insert other Media” Section. Then click upload.

Oh, make sure your right-click (Secondary click) is turned on in your System Preferences:

Command + V to paste. Easy Peasy.

Yes. Add the "Control" key to the mix. Shift + Command + Control + 4 will allow you to automatically save it to the Clipboard and skip saving the file to the desktop. Then just paste the screen shot in the comment box for Damien. For example, just like this:

Buy it Right. Buy it Once. Save up and get the Dell U2415. If you were willing to spend $299 on two low-end displays, then I would save up just a little more and get the Dell. It’s $50 more.

Does Costco by you sell the Dell 2414H? Here it is on Amazon.

Both are "Meh." I would probably get the Dell out of the two. The problem with dual-monitor setups, is that you will need to get a fancy calibration tool in order to get both displays to match each other and that adds to the cost. Plus, having two monitors for $299 when a typical good single display is about $249-ish, does not scream quality. Especially if one is editing photos. Looks like you will need a HDMI cable if you don't have one laying around. Head to Monoprice.com for one of those. Should be about $8-$10 for a good cable.

Unless you are doing video, or 3D Rendering, for today's computing 16GB is "Fine" and 32GB is "Preferred." Heck, even getting a 16GB kit to take you to 24GB will work quite well. Of course, if you are doing 100 photo Panoramas, then by all means get 64GB. If you are using a Nikon D850 or the Canon 5DS R and want to edit bunches of photos at once, like batching wedding images taken with those cameras, then get 64GB. Personally, since you are interested in getting 64GB, I would purchase a single 32GB Kit from Crucial (Two 16GB Sticks) and take your computer to 40GB. I would install the Crucial RAM in the slots taken up by the existing Apple RAM, and move those existing chips to the empty slots. This way, you are already halfway to 32GB, and you get to keep the existing Apple RAM to get you to 40GB. Then decide if you want to go to 64GB by purchasing another 32GB kit. Personally, I will be taking my new iMac, purchased in Jan 2019, to 40GB at first. Forking out an additional $600-$700 on top of the already-expensive iMac, to get it to 64GB, is a tough pill to swallow. Plus, RAM prices fluctuate throughout the year. The month May seems to be the time that I often see rebates / sales / discounts on RAM, but this is my from own personal experience and could be completely different this year.

Sure you can!! Believe it or not, it's even easier to do on a Mac. Printscreen: Command + Shift + 3 "Snipping Tool" Equivalent: Command + Shift + 4, the mouse icon will turn into cross-hairs and then you click and drag the box on what you want to capture. The screen captured files will automatically appear on the desktop. Speaking of the Mac Desktop, I know coming from Windows it's very tempting to have a bunch of recently used files / photo-sessions stored on the desktop...but the reality is the more crap you have stored on the Mac Desktop, the SLOWER it runs. The MacOS treats every file on the desktop as "Open Windows," even if you aren't doing anything with them. Got 1000 .psd files in the Smith-Jones Wedding folder? That's 1001 "Open Windows" (the files plus the folder) that kills performance. Here is a list of Short Cut Keys from Apple. More Shortcuts: https://www.danrodney.com/mac/ Even more shortcuts: https://www.techradar.com/how-to/computing/25-time-saving-mac-keyboard-shortcuts-1307836 The Option Key is the Alt Key Equivalent on the Mac. You can make a Copyright Symbol by hitting Option + G, (i.e. © 2018) or the Reserve Symbol by hitting Option + R. To make a é or É, for the lower case hold the Option, then tap the letter e, then tap the letter e again and you can get a word like Résumé. To make that word all caps, It is a little more tricky doing a capital. Hit Option e, then let go of the Option Key. Then hit the shift key and then the letter. You will get a capital É, so you could capitalize RÉSUMÉ. Here are some Option Key Shortcuts, as you can see, there are WAY MORE shortcuts on the Mac.

@Mary Burgy: Which Mac did you get? If you purchased a 21.5" iMac, by all means return it. Those are a complete waste of money. Apple wants you to "Go Big or Go Home" these days, and that means a 27" iMac.

Damien is Anti-Mac. OK, Apple has made it really easy to convert over to a Mac. By default, the MacOS will read your Windows Files just fine, and convert them over to the Mac File System. You could even network the two computers via a work group and copy and paste the files, but that gets a little tricky unless you are an advanced user. The easy way? Just use an external HD with the Windows based files and copy them over to your Mac. Easy-Peasy. The problem is, in order to go from a Mac to a Windows computer, you need to do extra-stuff, like using special conversion software in order to have the MacOS write files to a Windows-based PC. Yes, there is a way to make the MacOS turn on the ability to be able to write to a Windows computer, but it's turned off for a reason, mostly to protect you from yourself and corrupting data; plus it's really meant for you to stick with Apple and not go back. LOL!!

Whoop! Whoop!! Damien hits a Grand Slam!! This is a real-world scenario on why I personally do not like drives that are 256GB or smaller for today's modern computers. Manufacturers like to put in a 256GB SSD drive for the main drive because they are cheap, and those drive's prices have come way down since we have larger SSD Drives these days. Plus SSD drives are fast, which gives them bragging rights for advertisements. That's how you get the "Boot your Windows 10 Computer in less than 15 Seconds!!!!" tag-lines. Uh-huh...what happens when it's full? LOL!! The problem is...the end-user. They are so used to putting everything on the main HD, from files to programs...it's all next-next-next-ok-click-click-ok-next-next-finish...that they don't pay attention on just how much space they are using up on those smaller capacity drives. So are these drives bad? Of course not. You just have to by hyper-anal on what is put on them. From Bridge Cache, to Windows Updates, to software, to your data files...it all matters and you need to be pro-active at all times on what gets stored on them.

Possibly, it could also be an inverter board, the part that turns AC current into DC current since display panels use DC power. It also could be least the current video card driver is not playing nicely with the Spyder software. But before we get to that, HOW are you connected to your display? Are you using a standard 15-Pin Blue VGA (aka D-SUB) cable or a digital connection, such as a white DVI cable or HDMI / DisplayPort cable? What make / model is this monitor or is this a laptop. What version of Windows are you using?

@caralizzie: Here is a monitor that you should consider and is on my short-list. It's the Dell U2415 and it's the modern version of the Dell U2412M that I always recommend. I plan on buying two and getting a stand that will connect them. Next Windows computer I buy / build will be a "Command Center" when it comes to the display. Edit: Here is a 27" display that looks decent spec-wise and has positive reviews: HP Z27n.

OK, here is the thing. The stuff made these days is not like it was years ago. It's all crap, meant to get you in the market sooner rather than later. From what I've seen, the solder seems to be the same with both desktops and laptops, it just really depends on the manufacturer on the quality of the solder that is used. That can vary greatly, so don't focus solely on that. I was just giving you the reason why your laptop's power connector doesn't always work, it's due to bad solder joints. The power connector's leads that are on the motherboard, the joints need to be re-soldered. The reason that desktops typically last longer is that they are stationary and there is more a lot more room for airflow. Heat is the enemy when it comes to computers / electronics. Yes, you could build a computer and perpetually update components over the years. If you do go this route, you will be spending a decent amount on a high-end computer case and power supply; it will make life so much easier for you in the future when upgrading components. Oh, be sure to budget $200 for Windows 10 Pro in addition to the hardware. As for a beginner, things are so easy these days to put together. Everything is standardized from sizes to screw holes / mounts; if you can put together a Lego set meant for a 14 year old, you can build a computer. Head to YouTube and search for building a computer, there should be plenty of how-to stuff. What the difficult part when it comes to building your computer, is tweaking the various settings in the BIOS and Video Card to get the maximum performance. Plus having the right amount of heat-sync compound (not too much and not too little) takes experience, but that issue isn't too bad, again...plenty of info on the internet. Oh, Static Electricity!! You want to make sure you don't zap anything when handling stuff. That said, you will spend more when building your computer and the reason is you will end up buying more high-quality components and you don't have the option of buying a million motherboards or hard drives to get a discount on cost. I went a little crazy and priced out a high-end motherboard, RAM, CPU, case, etc. I stopped when I hit $2800. LOL!! So it's very easy to get expensive, you just have to stick with a budget. The upside to building your own is if something fails, you just replace that component. Most computers are so integrated that if one tiny component fails out of 50,000...you have to replace the whole part. For example, the integrated video card on the motherboard has issues, you have to replace the whole motherboard and not just the video card. That's where building your own comes in handy; it's the amount of complete control that you have. As for the bricked computer, that could be the result of failed hardware, or more than likely corrupted software. Malware does a real number on computers these days, more than Viruses or Trojans. People need to be diligent when it comes to updating EVERYTHING and not always believing that an update is legit. In fact, just last night I visited a web page and it said I needed to update my Adobe Flash. It automatically started downloading and if I wasn't so anal about stuff, and didn't know any better, I would have assumed it was just another update. Of course, I cancelled the install after looking at the web address, it wasn't from Adobe's Servers. So I went to Adobe's website and got the new Flash update and went back to the website (it was Nikonusa.com) and the Flash didn't try to update. Java, Adobe Flash, Adobe AIR, web browsers, Microsoft updates...all need to be installed. What usually happens is that people's computers are just mucked up prior and when they update something, things break. Then you get the folks out there who say, "I never update, because every time I do, my computer doesn't work right..." or something along those lines. Then you have a sitting duck, who is connected to the internet, just waiting for something bad to happen. In my experience, I've had more laptops break than desktops. I'm on my 3rd work laptop within 3 years. I'm typing this response on my 2009 iMac. I've also had friends who end up replacing their store-bought computers every 3-4 years. Your mileage may vary. Personally, I HATE laptops. They are made so cheaply these days.

I'm typing this response on my 2009 iMac. LOL!! I HATE wasting money on this Sh*t.

One more thing. Computers are great when they work, what happens when they break? One of the big reasons that I start with a Dell computer for recommendations, is you can call Dell and they will fix it, depending on what type of Warranty that you purchase. Either way, Dell fixes their products and are easy to get a hold of. What about the others? What happens when things break? Where is is sent? If you are offered a Service Plan or Extended Warranty, what is in the fine print? Where do you send things or who do you call? Just thinking out loud.

Nope. Ditch the laptop. The life expectancy with laptops is around 3-4 years, in my humble opinion. Sure, there are folks who are running laptops just fine for longer than that, but they tend to be the exception to the rule. Around 3 years, batteries stop working / charging, the power connector to the motherboard gets flaky and won't always work, performance seems to take a major hit and the thing gets hot. I'm sure this sounds familiar? One of the primary reasons for this, is devices, phones, computers, washing machines, microwaves, whatever...the internal components are soldered with Eco-friendly solder these days, not the lead-based solder from year's past. The lead-based stuff was awesome for components; that's why your 19" CRT TV from 1984 lasted 25+ years, today's stuff is better for the environment but you end up having crappy solder joints (e.g. the flaky power connector on laptops) which cause you to replace your stuff every few years. Which then causes stuff to end up in landfills or 3rd-world countries, since most countries are really bad at actually recycling (They take the stuff, but then ship it to other countries for disposal, like China.) So I'm not sure how well that Eco-friendly solder is working for the planet in the end? Plus, why make a device that lasts 10 years or more? That keeps you out of the market for that long. We are in a throw-away society, gotta get that new phone every 2 years!! Hmm....I'm digressing here. Now, the reason that you aren't seeing a huge difference between your laptop and current desktops, is you have a GAMING LAPTOP. The rules change for you since gaming laptops have more horsepower to begin with; they are more compatible to mid-range desktops. It would be different if you had a $300-$500 laptop and were looking at $1200 - $1500 computers. OK, now for the models you linked to. I'm not really a fan of Acer laptops or Desktops. Displays are fine; it's just the computer-side of things, in my personal experience they just don't hold up over time. Especially the laptops, they break pretty easily and the track-pads are usually terrible. In fact, I have one customer who had a bunch of Acer Laptops because they were cheap at Costco / Best-Buy (or whatever,) and guess which laptops are dropping like flies after 12-15 months of usage? Of course, these are the cheap sub-$500 laptops, so that does play a roll. As far as laptops, I usually recommend the ASUS Republic of Gamers line for a laptop, you really can't go wrong there. Just make sure the screen is IPS-based if you are planning on editing photos. Desktops, I like the Dell XPS line. They seem to be up to the 8900 series, with the 8920 or 8930 being the most recent models. Don't like Dell? That's fine. Here are the specs that I recommend for a Photo-editing Machine: Intel i7 (or i5 if money is tight) 8GB RAM at a Minimum - 16GB or more preferred, like 32GB 1TB Hard Drive for the main drive. I don't care how fast that 128GB / 250GB SSD Drive is, it won't to you a damn bit of good if it's full. Of course the bigger the better when it comes to hard drives. Windows updates can be huge, so I would shoot for a 1TB at a minimum, though a person could get away with a 500GB HD. A video card that has separate & dedicated video memory. 2GB - 4GB is fine (like 4GB) and since Adobe's products are using the graphics cards for a performance boost, a video card with 8GB of Video Memory is a good thing. So call it 4GB recommended / 8GB preferred when it comes to Video RAM. I like Windows 10 Pro but I'm more of a power user. Most people will be fine with Win 10 Home. As you can see, you already know what to look for with the specs. I will say this, there is only a 5%-7% performance gain with a Intel i7 over a Intel i5 when it comes to Adobe Photoshop. In order for a i7 to really shine, the software needs to be programmed to take advantage of the i7's architecture that makes it so fast. Adobe's products are not programed to do this. So don't think you need to get the fastest i7 or the latest just-released i9 CPU assuming Photoshop will run SUPERFAST...because it won't. In my opinion, if I had to nail down a CPU, I'd pick a solid i7 CPU chip going forward. I tend to have my computers for 7-8 years and will usually get the "Next Higher Choice" because I will be saving money on the back-end. There are lots of options for a 24" monitor at the $200 - $250-ish price-point. You want one that has a Matte Coating or is Anti-Glare properties and has a IPS-based display panel. This is very important. IPS screens are better at color consistency from edge-to-edge than your typical cheap TN based display. I don't have to tell you that color accuracy is important when it comes to editing photos. LOL!! You will have to investigate whether or not the display you are looking at is IPS. Manufacturers don't always make a big deal of it. As for which brands, Dell and HP monitors have multiple IPS-based screens, and are easy to find. Damien even wrote up an article on this very subject. I always used to recommend the Dell U2412m display and it's still a good solid monitor, though is getting a bit long-in-the-tooth. (I think it's from 2012, so no fancy USB 3.0 Ports.) That said, I have several photographer friends (in real life) who shoot professionally, own this monitor due to my recommendation and they are all happy. Just be sure to use DisplayPort or the DVI-D ports and not the 15-pin Blue "D-Sub" cable. For the best possible picture, you want a digital connection and not analog like the 15-pin VGA connector. As for resolution, I tend to recommend monitors that aren't 4K, since they make everything so small. In fact, this is what is driving me to getting a new Windows Computer instead of a new iMac, but time will tell.

That's what I would buy and do. Though 64GB these days might be a bit overkill. 32GB is fine but if you want to max it out all at once, go for it.

Oh, Apple RAM is insanely overpriced. In order to get to 64GB, start with the $1999 iMac and configure things from there. The $1799 version only goes up to 32GB, though I'm sure you are aware of this.

I would bump up the RAM to 16GB. Apple should install two 8GB sticks. Otherwise, you will have two 4GB sticks from Apple. When you go to 32GB if RAM, and you have 4GB sticks, you will need to remove the existing RAM and replace them with 8GB sticks. (There are four slots total.)