Computer Problems

[sarahjc]

My current laptop- a HP Pavilion which I have had for over seven years- is running out of storage. I know I have a lot of photos on it, but I tried to delete duplicate photos, Internet cookies, Internet temporary files, emails etc- and it makes a tiny difference for a little while, but then the storage starts filling up again, when I’m not even adding anything to it! How can I get it to stop filling up, and what can I delete to make a real difference?
I thought about deleting Picasa, as that hasn’t opened for the last while anyway, but I read that Windows stopped supporting Picasa, so I’m afraid it won’t be able to be downloaded again! I got a new laptop (a smaller Asus Zenbook), and it’s very different to the laptop I’ve had. I can’t figure out how to upload photos onto it- I probably need to download a special photo program- and at the moment I have them just going onto the OneDrive of both computers, which clogs it up and where they don’t display properly. But because this laptop is smaller anyway, I don’t think it will hold all my photos anyway! I DO have a very good external hard drive- but that will only work as long as the computer is working- so I was wondering if it was possible to use Picasa only on an external hard drive, or online only? Or, as Picasa is no longer supported, I was wondering if there was some similar program where I could keep all my photos in the same place, and use face tags, etc?
I’m just terrified my laptop will crash- especially as it needs to do updates very soon- and even though I won’t be on it that much over Christmas, I’d still like to know I can watch a DVD or Disney Plus up in my room, and not be dependent on the living room TV ALL the time! I was delighted to get the new laptop so quickly, but I didn’t know that laptop’s nowadays don’t have DVD players, and for some reason it won’t play Disney Plus! Despite me signing in, I have no access to it- it shows the taskbar at the top but it won’t let me search for any movies, or display them! Has anyone heard of this issue before, and if so, have they any advice for me?

 

[Bighorn]

Might be time to pick up a USB Drive for storage of data files, something like a Toshiba, Seagate or Western Digital My Passport which are pocketable for easy transport. Most Windows-based programs can work with files on them and can be accessed from other computers. I use 1TB drives without issue, also put surplus drives in an inexpensive case such as Sabrent to make more use of them. In this situation pocketable means pants, coat or the side pocket on a Notebook case.

 

[ubuysa]

Might be time to pick up a USB Drive for storage of data files, something like a Toshiba, Seagate or Western Digital My Passport which are pocketable for easy transport. Most Windows-based programs can work with files on them and can be accessed from other computers. I use 1TB drives without issue, also put surplus drives in an inexpensive case such as Sabrent to make more use of them. In this situation pocketable means pants, coat or the side pocket on a Notebook case.

If you mean USB attached HDDs and/or SSDs then I agree. However, USB flash drives should (IMO) never be used for long term data storage, they're just not reliable enough.

 

[davehc]

"I probably need to download a special photo program-"
I have used PaintNet for some years now. It has pretty much even an advanced photo user would need. It is regularly updated and is FREE.
I probably need to download a special photo program-
I have two spare SSD's, which I can run through a caddy from my laptop/computer. I use them for storage.
For auto boots for emergencies, and often for storage, I have several USB plugs. Two are more than 5 years old and still chug along merrily.
"’Im just terrified my laptop will crash- "

Get yourself a third party backup program, I would recommend Macrium, also free. Together with the external storage and autoboot facilities, you are always safe from disasters.

 

[Bighorn]

I agree with @davehc. Also, for simple file storage/archiving no program is needed, just copy data to be saved to an external drive. Harkening back to when I used Colorado Memory tape backups in the mid-'90s, a catalog was created that pointed to what was backed up and loss of that prevented restoring.

 

[sarahjc]

Thanks to everyone who replied!

I actually DO have two very good external hard drives- one, a Medion, is nearly full, so has no recent photos, and another, a Toshiba, has a lot of space on it still. I know I can access the things I've stored from most PCs, it's just that a lot of the time I love to have all my photos in the same place, because then I can use programs like Picasa, photo screensavers, and using them as desktop photos. But if my 1TB laptop is running out of space, then my next one, which is even smaller, definitely wouldn't have enough room for all of them! So I was wondering if it was possible to store all of my photos online or on an iCloud (but nothing expensive!) and do Picasa-like things on it, like name tags, face recognition etc, or whether I can download programs but just plug in the external hard drive whenever I want to access the photos, rather than storing them all on the laptop and clogging up space?

I also wonder if it could be an issue with the hard drive itself, because my Toshiba external hard drive has even more photos on it than the laptop does, and the storage on that isn't running low at all! I was wondering if it was possible to wipe and reset the actual computer's hard drive, or buying a new hard drive for it- would you know if that would fix the problem?

On a happier note, the new laptop has recently done an update and now Disney Plus is appearing properly on it!