Brian

What sort of Antivirus Software are you running? When was the last time you installed Windows Updates?

Lighting...it’s a slippery slope. Yes, your thinking is correct, but the reality is you do truly do get what you pay for. I can recommend a $2000 Profoto Light or go even higher, or go less. Combine that with mounting hardware and accessories. So we will need to talk budget and give me a typical scenario of what you lug around on location. What are you photographing? I’m sure it’s people, is it families? Headshots?

We will need to start off with your current lens line-up and what kind of budget do you have in mind?

Yeah, there was problems initially, but usually 3 months or so after these major updates get released, they seem to be stable for the most part.

If it makes you feel any better, I am at D50 and around 80-ish on my 27" iMac. Everything else just is too off the mark. I'm also 2-3 ticks from the left in terms of brightness. Even after calibration, the Mac screens are just too bright. So don't be afraid to lower the brightness yourself, regardless what the calibration software says. Honestly, D50 makes the screen just warm enough and not as cold as the Apple Default, and my colors are so much better. Also, after calibration, I see so many different gradient levels, especially in the darks.

You might have to un-install your Spyder5 Pro software and download a fresh copy and install it. OR Check your manufacture's website for any Driver Updates, especially USB or Intel Chipset Driver Updates. You could be correct, Windows could have screwed something up and you need OEM drivers to get things to stop being Wonky. Microsoft has gotten really good over the years with drivers, but they aren't 100% fool-proof.

Awesome! It's still good to add Photoshop and Bridge to that list in the Privacy Tab / Section. It keeps various error messages from popping up in those programs. It's just a glitch with Mojave.

Also, head here: Known Issues with Photoshop and Mojave. You are going to want to read halfway down and Add Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Bridge to the Privacy Tab in the Preferences. This gives permission to Photoshop and Bridge to do stuff on your Mac, especially modify files. Here are the instructions from the website with a little added from me: Open System Preferences. Select Security & Privacy Click the lock to make changes, then enter your system user name and password for your computer. Select Privacy from the top set of tabs, then select Accessibility from the left-hand column of options. Click the + (plus) button under the list 'Allow the apps below to control your computer'. Navigate to the Applications folder and select the Photoshop application (Photoshop and Bridge) and click Open. Both programs should appear in the list under the Privacy Tab. Click the Padlock and then close out the Window. Restart the computer.

Give this web page a read: Change permissions for files, folders or disks on Mac Especially this section: You can't do a "Select All" and change permissions for a bunch of files, but you can do that on a folder. I would try doing this on a folder that is located on your HD.

This doesn't look good. Where were these files from? How did you copy them over? I'm assuming the were originally on a DVD Disc? Because "Digital Rot" is a very real thing and those images might be gone forever. Other terms are "Digital Decay," "Data Rot," or "Bit Rot." In-a-nutshell, various media degrades over time, bit by bit. Almost like a fallen tree-branch slowly degrades and returns to the Earth. Various devices such as hard drives can even suffer from it, but DVD media that you make yourself / burn is notorious for only lasting for so long and is VERY SUSCEPTIBLE for Digital Rot. Especially if you used a really cheap Disks, like a Memorex 100 pack for $19.99. For example, Discs that were made, say in 2002, might be completely blank by now. That's right...your images will just go "Poof" over time as the media degrades without you doing anything. It wastes away sitting in a drawer somewhere for years. Even the Library of Congress has Digital Rot issues and are trying to find ways to combat it. Basically, your generic DVDs that you burn are the worst medium to have important data that is intended for long-term storage. Fortunately, we have Archive Grade DVDs now, but even those aren't 100% Fool-Proof. As a real-life friend of mine, who goes by the Moniker 'Missy MWAC,' has a famous saying: "Print what you want to preserve..." From what I can tell, the cr2 files that have blank / white icons did not transfer over correctly and are more than likely gone without any data recovery possible. I would try copying the files over again and see if you can get any to pop up. As far as the Ratings, Bridge is a Damien thing. I'm thinking the .xmp file isn't playing nice. I would just try copying over JUST the .cr2 files to a new / test folder; especially ones that you are having issues with, open them up in Bridge mess with a new rating, and then open up in ACR. Then save. Let's see what happens.

The Middle One. The RTX 2060 8GB. You don't need "Super" unless you are a Gamer.

I just installed it. The 2004 update seems fine now. Just re-run Windows Update after it completes. Sometimes there are updates for the update.

There are the possibility of two things going on here. The RAM Module in the 4th slot is faulty. (Very Likely.) The Slot itself is faulty. Your crashing problems / beeping noise all point to a bad RAM stick. I think you recently upgraded your RAM? You might want to schedule a RMA before it gets too late. Oh, one more important thing, make sure you touch something metallic to ground yourself out before handling the RAM sticks. RAM does NOT like to get zapped by a static discharge, no matter how small.

Yep. You can either do a Select All and then right click / choose copy and paste those folders on the other EHD, OR you can drag on EHD over the other while one the desktop. Either way works. For me, I'd rather open up the first EHD and do a select all, to make sure I get everything, and then paste it on the 2nd EHD.

That's up to you. Honestly, how often do you go back to these photos? If the file sizes, and folder amounts match up, you should be good. As for the Topaz thing, I'm not sure, I've never used Topaz products. Try opening one of those files and see what it does. I'm thinking for whatever reason, the file is associated with Topaz. Maybe you edited those files at some point with that plugin.

The distortion around the edges isn't usable stuff to work with. That's why sensors / film cells are always slightly smaller than the what the lens projects.

You are thinking like an Engineer. LOL!!

No idea. Can you post a screen shot? Preferably with the file format types. I wanna take a look at these files. Here is an example of what I'm looking for: This is a prime example of why I always recommend to copy and never move files. Just thing if you moved the whole folder? Those 22 files in that folder would be lost forever. Those files could also be duplicates of some kind that the system created, but this is 100% pure speculation without seeing what isn't being copied over.

A couple of reasons. People have been creating art in squares and rectangles for thousands and thousands of years. So it's a habit that is not going to change anytime soon, if ever. Even with Caveman drawings, they were usually linear and could easily "fit" in a rectangle or square. It's how human's are "wired." The distortion that is cut off from the round lenses that we use with a rectangle / square sensor. You really don't want 100% of the round images captured. You will be cropping every single photo anyway, probably to a rectangular shape. The rectangle is kinda what the human eye...well human brain, perceives / works with our stereoscopic vision. The brain automatically flips the images (the eyeballs "see" upside down) that the eye creates and cuts off the distortion around the edges. Very similar to how the camera sensor / film cell works and believe it or not, is in a shape of a rectangle. The human eye also sees about 180º Horizontal and 130º vertical, which is basically a rectangle. This in turn also helps humans perceive depth and utilize multiple axis. (X, Y and Z.) A round lens will focus light without geometric aberrations. A rectangular lens that matched the shape of the sensor would distort the image near the corners and if you had a round sensor with round lenses, it would produce the same but different distortion. Think of a really wide fish-eye lens that produces images that aren't pleasing to the human eye. Cost. This is the biggest thing. If you were to have a circular or hexagonal sensor, the manufactures would have to add layers of software in camera to compensate the distortion to get the "look" on how humans perceive things. Why bother creating circle photographs only to convert them to rectangles? If Adobe can't get the "Secret Sauce" from the Manufactures in order for ACR to "Read" the Raw files correctly, I don't see extra software being given away for free either. We have enough trouble as it is with ACR. Golden Ratio. Some of the greatest and best works of art (buildings, sculptures and paintings) use the Golden Ratio. A rectangle is the easiest form / shape to utilize the Golden Ratio when it comes to artwork / paintings. Manufacturing benefits. It's easier to create a bunch of rectangles, and to ship these rectangles and to install said rectangles in rectangle things. Otherwise we are creating circles that will end up in square / rectangle devices. Just think how uncomfortable it would be to hold a round camera. Just like camera plates when photography first started, it was cheaper to create / mass-produce something rectangular or square and even to transport it.

One more thing! I just noticed that MacPaw makes a version of CleanMyMac X for Windows, called "CleanMyPC." It has a uninstaller built in and is just as easy to use a CCleaner. So you might want to check it out. Here is the link to the software. Chances are, just like CleanMyMac, it will do a scan for you and report back to what it finds. If you want to delete those files, you will need to "Pony up the $$" to get it to work fully. But I'd at least try it.

Alright, so you have a Windows Computer. First things first, we will need to uninstall Avast! Here is the Avast! Uninstall Utility and the instructions on how to use it. You will need to boot Windows in Safe Mode in order to run the software. So I'd save the AvastClear.exe to the root of the C:\ Drive to make things easier for you. Here is a YouTube Video demonstrating the easy way to get into Safe Mode. I would choose the option of Safe Mode with Networking. This way you can access the internet, or more importantly the software uninstall might need the Internet to work correctly. While in Safe Mode, we should be able to un-install CCleaner as well. Here are the instructions on how to accomplish this. Fortunately, it looks pretty straightforward to uninstall and does not require a utility to get everything removed. After you get both programs un-installed, restart your computer. Believe it or not, the Windows Defender Software that you can obtain via Windows Updates works really well. The only downside is you should check for Windows Updates weekly to see if any updates are pushed out for it. If you don't want to pursue that route, and would prefer paid external Anti Virus Software, I highly recommend a program called Webroot. Here is their website: Webroot.com. It seems that the software is on sale and I'd pick the Middle One for $44.99. The downside to Webroot is that like most AntiVirus Software, there is an annual license fee. The other downside, which is a good thing actually, is that Webroot is really hyper. It's like a guard dog for your computer and considers "EVERYTHING IS A VIRUS!" a normal operating mode. So I've seen various installer programs not work (or get "blown out of the sky" when opening them) so if you do purchase Webroot, just "Snooze" it when you are installing software and then turn it back on when you are finished. In reality, computers don't get Viruses anymore. That's a 1980's & 1990's thing. Now there is more money to be made by exploiting your computer, or installing Keyloggers or other Trojans / Worms than by using a Virus to kill someone's computer. It's all about money now. It's all about personal data and data-mining. It's about Bank Account Information / Debit Cards or getting your Credit Card info. We are more interconnected than ever and don't realize on just how much personal info we willingly give out on a daily basis. Got a fancy Smart Phone? Whether it's Android or and iPhone, our phones are constantly spewing out personal data that is picked up by a Server somewhere. The worst ones are the Ransomware ones. These Crypto-Lockers, which completely lock out all of your files unless you pay a fee, usually in BitCoin, to some Hacker for a large sum of money, and it doesn't always work if you do pay them. In fact, once they discover a source of income, chances are they will infect you again via a series of back-doors into your computer during the first installation of the Ransomeware. That's why Windows has a Safe Mode with no Internet. Sometimes you need your computer to not be hooked up to anything. Before installing anything else, I would run Glary Uninstaller and see if it finds anything else that looks obvious. Chances are, we are going to have to go over each program one-by-one to see if there is anything that isn't obvious. In addition, there might be other AntiVirus Software that is pre-installed, like McAfee or Symantec...these programs usually come with store-bought computers and lie in the background running because people don't think to uninstall them.

I just wrote this article. Take a look. Quick & Dirty Desktop iMac Configurations.

Actually, things are a little bit cheaper than if you were to configure a 27" now with the different options. For Photoshop Work, start with the $2299 27" iMac and configure it as follows: Leave the CPU at the Intel i7 3.8GHz 8-Core. (Default Configuration) Leave it at the Standard Glass. (Default Configuration) Leave it at the default 8GB RAM. (Default Configuration) Upgrade the Video Card to the Radeon Pro 5700 with 8GB of GDDR6 memory (The Middle One / Add $300.) Upgrade the Internal HD to the 1TB SSD Storage (Add $200) Leave the Ethernet at Gigabit (Default Configuration) and the Magic 2 Mouse (Default Configuration) Personally, I'd upgrade the Keyboard to the one with the built-in numeric keypad. It's totally worth the extra $30. You should be at $2829.00, plus applicable tax and any shipping. Oh, do not forget to purchase AppleCare for an extra $169. It's on the next screen when you click Add to Bag. I would then purchase this Crucial.com 32GB kit to take your RAM from 8GB to 40GB for $160. If you want to splurge a little, purchase this 32GB Kit ($310) which will take your RAM from 8GB to 72GB. I'm at 64GB with my 2017 27" iMac, and it works fine with editing images from my Nikon D850. So for Photoshop work, even with PS CC 2020 and a modern camera, 72GB is more than enough. Here is a screenshot with my configuration above:

The Middle one. Pro 5700 with 8GB of Video RAM. Thanks for reminding me, I have to update that article.

I dumped WHCC years ago. Their individual prints are ok, but things like albums and such, I’m not impressed. Maybe your results will be different.