Kim Haugen

Hi Brian, My husband purchased photoshop CS6 for me a few years ago, and it runs great on my current Windows 7 Pro machine (Dell xps something with Intel 7, but per your recommendation we had the 256 GB(?) SSD replaced with a 2TB SSD one). With my husband retiring, I now need to purchase and set up a second computer in another state, but the requirements vs. advancements in technology just boggle my not-computer-savvy mind! Plus I've heard it needs to be Windows 7, and ... I have only used one CS6 installation. If you could just recommend a computer to buy that would work with CS6, and send me a link, I'd just order it right away and be soooo relieved! If it's not that simple, please give me the bad news, lol. Thanks for always being a great, trusted resource for technical answers for the technically declined... Kim

The information inundation continues (my sincere apologies if you don't need this info, just wanted to reduce the back-and-forth request/time-loss for more info): It turns out I actually purchased the computer on Amazon, through Techno Intelligence, in June 2015, for $1700: Dell XPS 8700 Desktop - Intel Core i7-4770 Quad-Core Haswell up to 3.9 GHz, 24GB Memory, 256GB SSD + 2TB SATA Hard Drive, 1GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 650Ti, DVD Burner, Windows 7 Professional https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IS7VCMW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Upon further investigation, in addition to the OS (C) drive, there is a New Volume (I) drive, that is completely empty... with 1.81TB free!!! My guess is that some stuff should be here, and maybe that's why the other is so full? The C drive is the SSD one.

Free-form information spew: There appears to be no D drive, but an option to insert a disc into "DVD RW Drive (D)". I cannot find a Create Recovery Media file as such in the Dell program folders (found Dell Backup and Recovery, but it's only about 860MB), although if I log off and then on again the overly-polite window suggesting I make a backup will probably come up (again) -- and I won't close it this time -- but should I make the backup before doing anything else? Not sure where to come up with the 50GB of free space. Do I need to send you any screen shots? I have Norton which runs automatically. There is a Disk Cleanup option in the "OS (c:) Properties" box, next to the pretty pie chart that shows my Drive C (now with 11.1 GB free and 203GB used, of 214GB capacity) -- should I click on that box? How do I get rid of temp and cache files? (My hubby said to ask you.) Norton says it eliminated the temp files, but does that mean all the photo thumbnails, too? I think I have a pretty high resolution set for them...and they load very quickly after the initial load. I never had any trouble when I only had Photoshop Elements 2.0 and Canon ZoomBrowser... I am thinking that Photoshop is somehow contributing to this log jam? Sorry to be so terribly ignorant of these things. Quite thankful for your help and patience! (Would love to somehow compensate you for your time....methods welcome.)

Oh dear. This is terrifying. I'm sooo glad I asked! It is not a laptop. I have a relatively new Dell XPS 8700 w Windows 7, Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790 CPU @ 360GHz, Installed memory (RAM) 24 GB, 64-bit OS [product ID: 00371-OEM-8992671-00524]. Did NOT upgrade to Windows 10. When I bought it I thought I was buying a 1TB machine, online, directly from Dell, about a year ago. I (well, my hubs) then installed Photoshop CS6 (first-time user) from a brand new disc ($$). I have never put any photos or docs onto the hard drive, just the EHD. I have never cleaned or defragged or anything. I have heard that temp files exist but don't know what to do about that, so I have done nothing except play with photoshop. I have indeed ignored suggestions to make a backup recovery file, and will do that NOW, assuming I don't need to make space on the HD to even do that?! I have a 32 GB memory stick handy.

I do tend to take the drive (and the computer!) to the lake on vacation a few times a year. I am a thrifty person but don't want to cheap out on the important things... Reliability is the key, for me, esp since I currently only back up my photos once a year. (Still thinking about the incremental backup thing, etc. Doing my yearly backups was my Christmas vacation project, which is now over...) I have another question: my C hard-drive only has 8.75 of 215GB left; all my photos/docs are on EHD. Should I make a separate post? TIA

Thanks so much! Amazing info about the 3TB drives!!!! I asked bc I recently bought a 3TB Seagate Expansion portable EHD (at Costco, on a whim, she said ashamedly), and was beginning my yearly backups. It had trouble ("Location is not available") three times in the first hour, so I take your advice seriously and will return it! Are there bad Western Digital ones, too? Do you have a preferred/recommended portable and a desktop EHD in the 4TB size? Regarding the incremental backup software... I have been looking at the ones you posted. I have Windows 7 Professional; is that the same as Windows 7 for this application?

I currently back up my photos only once a year (I can hear you laughing...) in January, by copying my External Hard Drive to a newer larger EHD, which I then use for the rest of the year. The original EHD becomes my backup. It takes me days, since there are now almost 2 TB, and there are invariably errors that stop the transfer and cause me to have to sort it all out so that the new and the original end up with the exact same number of bytes) I am not a pro, but am (finally) feeling guilty about the possibility of losing a whole year's worth of work because I don't know a better system... I have read your all your posts, and don't think I need RAID, and I'm not quite ready to try the cloud. Isn't there a way to just run a backup every week or month manually, using two EHDs where only the changed files are saved? I like the portability of the WD Passports (I take mine on extended vacations), but am open to suggestions. What hardware and program and/or service would you recommend? Also, you recently suggested (Nov 2016) that we NOT use a 3TB HD, but a 4TB instead; was that just for RAID applications? Thanks in advance!

Great article, and good advice about retiring cards to a secondary status. I do (did!) tend to use the battery until it quit, use the card until completely full, and have been known to *GASP* delete images in-camera. I ALWAYS emptied the card in Windows Explorer, NEVER formatted in-camera (until after my one corrupted card experience), and never EVER retired a card unless I got a bigger one -- amazing that I had no previous failures! From the article, though, it sounds like my one failed card could actually have been a counterfeit SanDisk; the problem occurred on the very first use (about 2-1/2 years ago). I learned a lot, and I thank you muchly. Your generosity is appreciated! (And thanks, too, for the new attributable quote: Perception is reality.)

Thanks so much for the quick response with recommendations! The only card that has ever corrupted on me (in almost 10 years) is the 16gb one shown, but I think I will just ignore the heebie jeebies I got when I saw the photo and write that particular one off as an aberration... and try again. Is it best to use the same brand for card/reader? (Asking, bc the Lexar Pro Dual Slot reader (<$20) got better reviews than the Sandisk...) Thanks -- again!

What CF cards and card readers would you recommend? I don't do sports or video, but am about to start raw (just signed up for Damien's raw class), so I am concerned about file size and transfer speed. I have a Canon 5D Mark III, Windows 7 and a Dell PC (w usb 3.0), but just rcd my daughter's Windows laptop so now need a card reader too, for travel. Lexar makes one for SD/CF cards that looks ok if it will take my older cards? (Couldn't find this topic using the search bar, but surely that's my fault, as i am used to the FB format! Feel free to redirect me... Thanks!)