Everyday Nerd

Thanks KF for asking a great question, and something that almost everyone with a digital camera is going to ask at some point in time!

There are several ways to backup items on your computer; burning files to DVD (See Infra Recorder), using online backup services such as Mozy, or as simple as taking your flash memory to any photo processing location, and letting them archive the pictures to CD/DVD. 

But in this case, when talking specifically about pictures, I only have one way that I will back them up:  Picasa!

That’s right, you read that right, Picasa!  I’ve told you before about how much I love Picasa, especially Picasa 3!  Well, now, here’s one more reason to love it even more!

Open Picasa, and go to Tools, Backup Pictures.

At the bottom of Picasa, the Backup steps (all two of them) appear:

First, either accept the default backup set name, or create/edit the set in Step 1.  The set can be customized to backup to DVD, or to a drive (good if you are backing up to an external Hard Drive, or network drive), as well as choosing All file types, All Pictures, or only JPEG with Camera Information.  I go with the default, because I want my movies backed up as well (I have Picasa “watch” my home movies folder as well).

If this is your first time backing up your pictures, you will want to choose “Select All” in step 2, otherwise, Picasa will automatically select all the pictures that have not been backed up since your last backup.

Also, if you wish, you can manually select the folders that you want to backup.

If you have a lot of pictures, it may take a couple of DVD’s to backup, but trust me, it’s a LOT better to have a backup of those precious memories, than your hard drive going “clack clack clack” with the only copy of your pictures on it… 

Restoring from the Picasa DVD Backups is just as easy as the backup process.  Simply insert the DVD, let the auto-play run, and a nice restore wizard asks you if you want to restore to the original location, or a new one.  Easy as pie!

REMEMBER:  ALL HARD DRIVES GO BAD!  It’s a matter of when - not if!

Backup often, cry less…

Download Picasa 3

The Windows Registry.  Most people cringe when they hear this, or are afraid of even messing with it, until they see that ad on the Internet claiming that their computer is slow, and they need to buy their registry cleaner!  Heck yeah!  Whip out your Credit Card, and fire that bad boy up right?  Well….

The Registry is basically a database, holding information for the entire operating system, it’s programs, and settings.  If you were to look at any given registry, it would be hundreds of thousands of lines long (mine is 1.9 million lines long in Vista Ultimate).  With this in mind, even a 100 or so keys in the registry that are “dirty” are not going to slow your computer down in a noticeable manner.  Now that being said, if you have a corrupt key for an application, it may cause issues with that particular application, for sure, but a registry cleaner isn’t going to fix those issues!

So, is cleaning out your registry going to speed up your computer?  Doubt it.  Should you clean your registry anyway?  Yes, but don’t stop there!

What do I use to clean my registry?  CCleaner.  It’s a free, easy to use, and very good system cleaner.  Not only does it clean your registry, it will also clean up browser, application, temp, and java junk files, and even comes with an application remover - it’s faster than using the one in Add/Remove Programs!  Using CCleaner on your system can definitely speed up a sluggish computer.

How often should you run CCleaner?  That is entirely up to you.  I usually run it about once a month.  Some people run it daily, and others weekly.  This part is entirely up to you, but I wouldn’t go over a month between cleanings.

One thing to remember when cleaning the registry; make sure to ALWAYS make a backup!  CCleaner prompts you to do so, before making any changes to the registry.

My only gripe with CCleaner, is during the install, it wants to install the Yahoo! toolbar.  I HATE installers that always want to throw toolbars in my browser!!!!

Coming soon, I’ll be adding some more system optimizations for your PC, so stay tuned!

Thanks E. B. for the Request!

Download CCleaner