Discussion about new hard drives and Win7/8 etc.

[daggers]

No use to me, thanks. Is it in Greek??
I am about to take the plunge into W...8, so you may have heard the last of me if I get lost.
D

[dickiesam]

No use to me, thanks. Is it in Greek??
I am about to take the plunge into W...8, so you may have heard the last of me if I get lost.
D

Take a ball of string when you dive into W8. Tie one end firmly to XP so you can find your way back again.

On a serious note I have come across a program that will, if you miss good old reliable XP, make your Win 7 or Vista look and work like XP. I believe it works with Win 8 as well. It's called Classic Shell and it is free from http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

Puts back all the missing pieces to make the current OS look like XP with all the XP features that went missing with Vista.

[daggers]

Thanks for the useful tip which I shall tie to a finger with the end of the string. For a few months I have struggled to find WP files after a breakdown (pc) when the folders vanished. I have had to Search for each file in the E memory, external drive, then resave it into C.
luckily my family stuff in RootsMagic survived, though not the picture gallery.
Nearly led to a breakdown (me). Hence a new laptop and it seems some exciting times ahead.
D

[dickiesam]

Thanks for the useful tip which I shall tie to a finger with the end of the string. For a few months I have struggled to find WP files after a breakdown (pc) when the folders vanished. I have had to Search for each file in the E memory, external drive, then resave it into C.
luckily my family stuff in RootsMagic survived, though not the picture gallery.
Nearly led to a breakdown (me). Hence a new laptop and it seems some exciting times ahead.
D

Points to doing regular backups of important folders to either an external hard drive, which are quite cheap these days, or a couple of flash drives which are also inexpensive, or both. In the latter you can get a 16 Gb for less than a tenner.

I use an external HD to do a regular backup of everything and a couple of flash drives, one for my Brother's Keeper family tree files and the other for My Documents [including the Photos folders] and Email backups. Being a little paranoid about losing data I also burn a CD or two with important folders on them including the BK files.

[Blue70]

I have pen drives and CDs to back up my family history files. Re-writable CDs can be updated whenever you discover new information and easily filed with printed records in a Lever Arch file.


Blue

[MaryA]

Just a warning to make sure everything you need is in sub folders of "My Documents" if you are backing up.

Family Historian which I use, keeps my customised settings in one of either of the following places

C:\ProgramData\Calico Pie\Family Historian\
alternatively
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Calico Pie\Family Historian\ depending on whether XP or Win7 is used.

When my hard drive failed "everything" was copied across to the new one until I discovered the settings weren't there, and now I have in one hand a failed drive and in the other a flash drive, and I am hoping that the shop will be able to retrieve the files from the one for me to take home on the other.

My fault I know, but I will know better in future.

[daggers]

Guilty as described! Sharing helps with bearing. Fingers crossed about the plunge into Win8. I feel like a first time bungee jumper.
Sorry to have diverted the thread from the original topic.
D

[big g]

Just found this 'old' thread................I hope shortly to buy a laptop, need to get up to date , but have been told that most have Win 8. I am currently using XP on old p.c. , another family member has Win 7 on their laptop.

Need your views and advice please.......

[Barbara B]

We have now had Windows 8 for three months and it's fine. It is, however very different to xp so I would suggest you invest in 'Windows 8 for Dummies' by Andy Rathbone (not that you're a dummy!). You can get it on Amazon. With Win 8 there is no start menu but a start screen which takes a bit of getting used to. One of the tiles on the start screen is for 'desktop' which once you click on it will take you there and it's just like windows 7 from there. I could go on but it gets complicated so that's why the book is a good idea. Lots of people are installing add-on programmes which bring the start menu back but you should stick with Win 8 as it is if possible - you will get used to it. Overall it's a good system.
Good luck
Barbara

[big g]

Barbara,

Thanks so much for that info - I really do dislike change

Someone I was talking to yesterday said they thought Win8 was more like 'touch' screen, as on, I think, notepads?


Glenys

[dickiesam]

Barbara,

Thanks so much for that info - I really do dislike change

Someone I was talking to yesterday said they thought Win8 was more like 'touch' screen, as on, I think, notepads?
Glenys

If you must buy a machine with Windows 8, it will take some time to get used to the way it looks and works. I have Windows 7 which was a huge improvement over Vista but I missed the layout etc of brilliant XP. Now there is a way you can make 7 and 8 look and work like XP by installing Classic Shell, a freebie from http://www.classicshell.net/

[big g]

Morning dickiesam,

That sounds brillant, if I find I can't adapt to Wn8, although Barabara has found she likes Win8.

It's going to be a long period of adjustment for me when I get to buy my new laptop.

Thanks again to you both,

Glenys
brrrrr - had lots of hailstones last evening

[dickiesam]

Morning dickiesam,

That sounds brillant, if I find I can't adapt to Wn8, although Barabara has found she likes Win8.

It's going to be a long period of adjustment for me when I get to buy my new laptop.

Thanks again to you both,

Glenys
brrrrr - had lots of hailstones last evening

In the meantime, it would be worth doing a compatibility check to make sure that all your fave programs on XP will also run on Windows 8. Because XP is somewhat long-in-the-tooth now several programs that are fine with XP may not like the upgrade. For instance some printers and scanners may not work and would need new drivers downloaded.
See here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ ... enter/Home
The above site had a problem when I had a look so I found this to be a more objective, non-MS, view on compatibility http://office.about.com/od/WebApps/a/Ch ... d-More.htm

You can see what 8 looks like including the 'Start Screen' here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IE/windows-8/new-look

[big g]

Dickiesam,

Just had a quick look through the site re compatibility and my Canon Canoscan Lide25 looks 50/50, and Lexmark X615 inject printer is ok !!

Next, as you suggest, need to look at programmes.

Thanks ever so much for your help and interest.

Glenys
Still brrrrr here, rain and hailstones.