Brian

Unless a service is hung up or is using up all of your available RAM, they should be left alone. Why are you in there? If you are trying to get more RAM available, then we should be looking at RAM upgrade options for you.

Meh. The sun is at the wrong angle. It needs to be 90° to the camera’s lens for the greatest effect. So I would make an L with either your left or right hand and have your thumb point to the Sun. Your index finger will be where the lens should be pointed at. I would try testing on a sunny day with poofy clouds. Rotate the ring on the CP to make the sky more blue and the clouds white. Oh, keep in mind there will be a loss of a stop or so when you mount the CP. whenever I use mine, I automatically bump the ISO to 400.

Sweet!!! SSD drives are WAY faster and the bonus? Don't require that much power to run. So you should get more battery life while travelling. As for the RAID, I agree. Having more space is always a good thing. The downside to a RAID 1 setup is data corruption; if a file is corrupted on one drive, it is automatically corrupted on the other drive. I think your problems have been fixed. From what I can tell, I think the majority of issues that people are having with and existing botched up Windows and the latest round of Adobe updates just aggravate things. Since you have a clean slate to work off of, future Adobe updates should not be an issue going forward. Enjoy your new Hard Drives.

Amazon Polarizer? No. I use a Nikon Circular Polarizer or would purchase a B+W one. My recommendation is to always purchase a high-quality polarizer due to color-shifts on the cheaper models. That said, it's $16.50. I would try it out first and pixel-peep. You might have found a good deal or you could discover a pinkish or orange hue to your photos. Either way it's good to know what you are dealing with before heading out. Now for the strap, that is an eternal question. I use a over the shoulder strap and know what you mean. If you are truly hiking and climbing, you might be better off with a backpack. Which is another Pandora's Box. I almost bought a Mindshift 26L but that bag isn't big enough to hold gripped bodies, like my D4s. I ended up with a ThinkTank Shaper Shifter 17. Now for the darkside to backpacks, sure the Shape Shifter fit ALL of my Gear, when it was all said and done, it was over 40lbs. LOL!!! I think it was about 49 lbs. Ugh. Not the best when hiking all day in the dessert. Going forward, I'm thinking about getting a Nikon D850 and the newer version of the Nikon 24-70 and just stick with that. When playing tourist, that's usually what I end up shooting with 99% of the time.

The reason that Zack is a white seamless guy is the type of Photographer he is: A Commercial, Editorial and Corporate Photographer. If you go into any supermarket, take a look at their magazine section. 95% of the Magazine Covers will have a person / model on a white background. It’s easy for the Graphic Artist doing stuff to work with a white background. If you have enough room, you can turn a white background to a grey one or even make it black, all by positioning of your lights and the distance between your subject and background. What’s killing you is your lack of room. Especially 7’ High ceilings. The light is just going to bounce around. What you want is 20’ High Ceilings. So you might want to invest in a seamless black / gray background. Thanks for the link I will watch it later on my computer.

That’s a good example. Another one would be someone who never gets an oil change and wonders why their car breaks down.

Oh yeah. The Windows 10 updates alone...you NEED high-speed internet. Fingers crossed.

Just in case you have a corrupted operating system. It's something that you could do that shouldn't cost you any money if you did it yourself. I'm not saying to just re-install windows, I'm saying you nuke the computer (format it and take it back to day #1) and reload everything fresh. To be honest, I have no clue why PS is not seeing your video card or why its doing what it's doing. Since updating the driver seems to temporarily fix things, I'd say you do have a software / driver problem. The only way to fix that type of problem is to remove / re-install drivers, update to a newer driver or if those options do not work, format the HD, re-install Windows and reload everything from scratch. Of course, the third option is the last resort; however, I've been doing this process lately with customer's computers and even their servers. Back in the Windows XP days, I used to format my HD twice a year due to weird issues / garbage that it would collect during normal use. It seems that we are back to those Good 'ol Days.

If it's working, leave it alone. Honestly, I personally think the majority of issues are with people's computers that are screwed up to begin with and the PS CC 2019 update just aggravates pre-existing conditions. It seems that those who have the most problems don't have a clue on the health of their computer, they just "update" without thinking. Or having a decent backup for a catastrophic event. Software is volatile, and while it might seem that things should work perfectly for the most part, that is not the case at all.

Paid software is almost always more powerful than the free stuff. Though no software is 100% fool-proof. That said, $29.99 for Recuva is not a bad price at all. Personally, I have used Data Rescue and have recovered some important images that got accidentally deleted on my Mac, and RescuePRO Deluxe Software works really well. RescuePro Deluxe recovered even more than Data Rescue. The problem with labeling something "THE BEST" is that its all relative, usually based on personal experiences.

Can you provide a link to the video in question? You are correct, your typical flash is not powerful enough to over-power the Sun. There is also the Inverse Square Law to deal with so I really need to see what voodoo he is trying to sell.

Fresh install / format might help things. You will more than likely have to download the driver from Asus, even though it's an Nvidia card. The power brick also concerns me, you might want to get that replaced first. Personally, I wouldn't throw any money at a laptop. In fact, I'm very anti-laptop, especially for photo editing. The biggest problem with laptops, is that they only last for a short time. Not only from a hardware standpoint, but driver updates as well. Laptops today get orphaned so quickly; back in the day, you'd have a Spring Line and a Fall Line of laptops. You could get all sorts of accessories for it, a year or two after purchase. Now...you are lucky if the laptop model stays current for 90 Days. So what would I do? Backup everything, and format / reset the laptop / reinstall windows, etc. etc.

Adobe's current products have a few minor quirks with Mojave and there are work-arounds. Of course, this info is a bit dated, so I'm hoping Adobe has fixed a few things. Download and try it. If things happen or you get an error message, report back. Personally, I haven't upgraded to Mojave.

OK, if you want to install Windows 7 Pro that Microsoft gave you, that's fine since you are upgrading your laptop within the next year or so. Just be sure to do all the Windows Updates before Microsoft pulls the plug a year exactly from now. If you want to install Windows 10 Pro, that will cost you $199. I'm cheap. Windows 7 for your old laptop is fine.

Yep. 16GB is the maximum for your laptop. Fan might just need to be blown out.

I thought Microsoft had you use the Download Tool and create a Thumb Drive with Windows 10? They gave you a new key and everything. Do you not have a Thumb Drive with Win 10 Pro? Or do you just have an install key that they e-mailed you? If you need to create a Win 10 Pro Thumb Drive, download the Media Creation Tool from Microsoft. You will need a blank Thumb Drive, I recommend at least a 8GB Sandisk Thumb Drive, or just get a 16GB Version since they are so cheap these days. Insert the new Thumb Drive into your computer, let it detect and open "My Computer" or "Computer" in the start menu and right click on it and do a quick format. In the Volume Label Box, give it a name like WININSTALL, WIN10PRO or something similar / unique / obvious. Leave everything else at the default selections like NTFS, etc. and leave the "Quick Format Checkbox, checked. Hit Start at the bottom and let it format, should take less than a minute or so. Now Open the Media Creation Tool. You will want to create a 64-bit Windows 10 Pro meant for "Another Computer." Now it seems the Migration Tool has changed slightly, but here is a decent instructional video that you should watch. Even though the screens might have changed, the process should be familiar after watching the video. You want a "English Version," "Windows 10 PRO" and "64 - Bit" if asked then tell it you want to create a Thumb Drive and not a .ISO file, which is a DVD. Oh, just straight Windows 10 Pro, no other letters or whatever after it. The Media Creation Tool will then connect to Microsoft's servers, download the file and install it onto the Thumb Drive. Then after you install the HDs, set them up as RAID 1, you simply boot off the Thumb Drive and follow the prompts to install Windows. (Insert the Thumb Drive before powering on.) You might have to use the "Boot Manager" with your laptop. That could be the F12 key or F9, or even F11 depending on your computer. When you power the computer on, look for something like "Hit F9 to enter boot menu" or "F12 Boot Manager," something along those lines on the POST Screen. (The Dell Logo Screen.) Then select the Thumb Drive in the list and it should boot off the Win 10 Pro Thumb Drive. Clear as Mud?

No. (Brian throws Nerf Football in your direction...) Awesome, purchase those 1TB SSD Drives from Crucial.com. Your RAID Controller might have the drivers built in but the only way to find out is to actually try installing new drives. Remove existing Hard Drives Put a sticky note on which section of your laptop the original HDs came from. (left side / right side or bay 1 / bay 2.) This is important if we need to re-install them. Use a piece of tape to make sure the sticky notes don't fall off the old HDs. Install new Hard Drives. Configure new Hard Drives as a RAID1 (Drive Mirroring) Boot from Windows 10 Pro Thumdrive install a fresh copy of Windows 10 Pro. Remember, "Upgrade" is not in your vocabulary. Create Administrator Account & follow the prompts. Run Windows Updates. Create your own Admin Profile with your name. I can give instructions on how to do this. It's good practice to have a separate and dedicated Administrator Account and to create a separate Daily Admin Account to work from, usually this is your name and not "Administrator." This way you have a backup login if things go wrong / stuff gets corrupted.

Ah-ha!! I found out how to install older versions!! Head to your PS CC Manager. Click the Down Arrow Next to the word Open and then Select Manage. From there choose "Other Versions" and choose which older version you want to install.

Dell M6400? Ugh. I'm going to go bang my head against the wall. I hate laptops. Such a PITA when you need to fix them. We now have to worry about physical size of your hard drives and the type of interface that they use. It's not as straightforward as a desktop computer. Bonus Points: Dell has discontinued it and the manuals for it aren't coming up so I'm kinda blind at this point. From where I stand, there is no hope for your existing partition; as far as I'm concerned, your hard drives are "Contaminated," for lack of a better term. In my honest and professional opinion, (doing this for almost 26 years) you either need to install new hard drives, or at the very least delete the current partition(s) and then re-install Windows 10 Pro. Anything other than a full "Nuke" (Delete Existing Partitions) is going to put you right back to the same spot as you are now. It's like you have some sort of "Virus" (for lack of a better term) and no matter how many "scans" or re-installations you do, it's not going to fix your problem. You need a clean slate to work from; the word "re-install" or even "Upgrade from Windows 7" is no longer part of your vocabulary. Your Windows is so corrupted, it is not repairable. Permissions and Folder Ownership Problems are nasty and usually aren't repairable. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news; believe it or not, you will fix your problem within a day or so rather than months by working from a clean slate. Now, since you have a RAID Setup, you will need the RAID Controller Drivers or else Windows will freak out and won't install.So before doing anything, try to create the Dell Recovery Media if that is an option. I'm more concerned about the RAID Drivers more than anything. If you have a repair shop to take your laptop to, do it. Have them delete your current C Drive partition and have them install Windows 10 Pro. (Bring along your license key.) Hopefully their labor fees are reasonable since we aren't going to try and "fix" this problem and just need a huge reset done on your laptop and go from there.

I received it, thanks.

THIS IS A VERY GOOD THING. To answer your question, when you purchase a store-bought / name-brand PC, Dell, HP, Toshiba, Sony, whatever...you actually do not purchase a Microsoft Windows License, but one that was given to the manufacture, and then that license is sold / forwarded to you. So it's not a "Microsoft Windows OEM" License but a "HP Version" of Microsoft Windows or a "Dell Version" of Microsoft Windows, or whatever. It works exactly the same as a OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) copy of Windows directly purchased from Microsoft; it just has to do with the licensing more than anything. (Another Splitting Hairs thing.) So by having Microsoft giving you a new license key, and getting the installer .ISO on a thumb-drive, has helped things immensely, even though it doesn't seem like it has and ties in with my idea. There is light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, and it's not an oncoming train. Since you are already backed up and have nothing to lose except time, we are ready to proceed with my idea. This should only take a day or so to get you up and running 100% and probably a week to get EVERYTHING reloaded, but at the end you will once again have a stable system, AND quite possibly install and run PS CC 2019 with no problems... What we are going to do is remove your existing hard drive, have you purchase a brand new main hard drive, and install a fresh Windows 10 Pro on that new HD with the key provided from Microsoft. Hopefully, this is a desktop computer and not a stupid laptop, which WILL complicate things if it's a laptop. I personally use and HIGHLY RECOMMEND the Western Digital Caviar Black Line of Internal Hard Drives. You could purchase a 1TB 7200RPM Model for about $72, or go with something larger, like a 2TB for $120. You could get a 4TB model, though by doing so adds a few steps to the Windows Installation Routine. This is due to the limitations of a MBR (Master Boot Record) partition of 2TB maximum. Anything higher 3TB or more will need to be converted / upgraded to a GPT Disk (the replacement for MBR) so that you will be able to use 4TB in its entirety for your main drive. So to keep things simple, and fairly inexpensive, I'd stick to a 1TB or 2TB hard drive. Replacing your hard drive is fairly straightforward. Unplug the computer, wait about a minute or two to make sure all the trickle charges have dissipated from the motherboard, and un-mount the existing HD. You will remove a power connector and data connector and then pull out the HD. Transfer over the mounting screws / mounting cage from the old hard drive to the new one and hook up the power / data cable. Then turn on your computer, let it detect the new HD (it should do this automatically,) then plug in the Window 10 Pro Thumb Drive. Follow the prompts to install a fresh copy of Windows 10 Pro. You will create an Administrator Account and more accounts / Admin Accounts after installation. (I can help with this part.) Then it's just a matter of letting Windows detect your components and getting a connection to the internet. That is the MAIN THING which is THE MOST IMPORTANT...THE NETWORK CARD DRIVER. You usually can download all sorts of manufacturer's drivers if they are available (like video card, sound card and motherboard chipset drivers, etc.) but that isn't going to happen if your Ethernet Port doesn't work. That said, these days that issue is pretty minor as Windows 10 Pro detects things 98% of the time on the first try. Even then it will attempt a Microsoft Generic Driver to get you going. Why Windows 10 Pro? Windows 7 is going to be taken behind the proverbial barn and shot dead on January 7, 2020. All support will be abandoned for Windows 7 on that date, so you better get used to Windows 10 now because its days are numbered. Actually, looking at the calendar...it's a year from this date as I type this. Oh, the benefit to replacing the Hard Drive is not only will you have a faster / higher quality drive and a clean slate to work from, you can always re-install your old HD if you needed to get something off of it. Plus, this new HD is an investment, when the time comes to get a new computer, simply pull this new HD and mount it into an external case. Boom! You will then have a 1TB or 2TB EHD that you can use in your new computer, OR mount it as a 2nd HD in your new desktop computer. Either way the installation process is very similar for both an internal enclosure or external. Thoughts?

Ah...here is the comment box from FB:

OK... Let's begin. Buzz!!! I'm sorry, that is incorrect. You are getting that error because your Windows is botched up. Either there was an underlying problem with your Windows and the PS CC update triggered something, OR the PS CC update is the main culprit. Either way, the end-result is the same. As I have stated over on FB, I've dealt with this permissions problem before, and it's a nasty one. I had to delete the main C Drive partition and re-create during the Windows custom installation to fix that server. I spent MONTHS trying to "fix" it and there was no fix. Nuke it and start all over...actually took me 4-6 hours to do. With my problem, I un-hid the App Data folder and each time I double clicked on the folder, it would triplicate. Clicked the folder again, triplicate again, then again, then again. I discovered this problem when the Backup Software ran the night prior and tried accessing this folder. Imagine a Folder that was only a couple of Kilobytes, ballooning into several Terabytes over 12 hours. I was fortunate to cancel the backup program, but had to manually delete thousands and thousands of corrupted App Data Folders. Coincidentally, you know what folder was in that corrupted folder? A folder labeled "Adobe." That is how I know what you are going through. I'll bet...and you are caught in the middle of a pissing contest between Adobe and Microsoft. You are correct, it won't fix anything if the App Data folder file has corrupted. Even if you install programs on an external drive, stuff gets put in the App Data Folder under the User Profile in Windows. The reason is that folder is more of what's called a "Symbolic Link," and it's not truly a folder. It is just a pointer file that is posing as a folder. (Well, that's my interpretation. I'm sure there is an official definition out there but we are splitting hairs on technicalities at this point.) That's why Adobe is trying to create a new profile to see if that works, and it will not. The core component that controls that folder is corrupted, I'm almost certain of it...and this is based on my own personal experience; I wish I could say something like, "Capacitor J2635 isn't running at the proper voltage oscillation, thereby contributing to the issue with the Flux Capacitor not being able to control the space-time continuum, which is causing your Windows to not function properly..." Or something. You are correct. Just like pushing the Elevator Button 15 times...it's not going to make the Elevator come any quicker, it just gives you something to do. Yes. That is not acceptable. Not only will this method not work, due to the corrupted Windows, if it did, you would be dealing with a bottleneck with working off a USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 port. Not good. Don't bother doing this. I empathize. You poor Woman. I can say that with this PS 2019 update...it has screwed up A LOT of people's computers. You are not alone. I think you mentioned somewhere that your computer is being replaced sometime later this year but as of right now it's not in the budget. Understandable with the Holidays just behind us. I do have an idea though. It's not as expensive as buying a new computer, but it will definitely solve your problem and get you up and running. That will be posted in the next comment box. I will ask, what type of computer do you have now? (Make / Model) How large is your current/main hard drive in terms of capacity?

Manual focusing on a digital camera is a pain in the ass. They are fun to play with. A few years ago, a company called KatzEye made focusing screen that worked like the split-prisms on SLR bodies, which made manual focusing MUCH easier. Unfortunately, that company is no longer in business. Personally I'd either wait for the 200mm f/4 or get the 105VR. Unless you are going to use a tripod 100% of the time. I'm in the same boat. I have toyed around with getting a 105VR, but I feel that a 150m - 200m Macro Lens might be a better fit. Honestly, you seem to want that 200mm and that is your answer. That said, I wouldn't hold my breath for Nikon to release anything like that in the near future. They have gone Mirrorless Happy with their new Nikon Z Mount lenses. What I do see being released is the Nikon D6, and the new 58mm f/0.95 Noct lens for the Nikon Z Mirrorless. Anything other than that is pure speculation.