I am always amazed when people say they have loads of photos or music that they do not want to lose or cannot replace yet have never backed up these valuables. If your hard drive fails tomorrow you have a very real problem. You are not alone in this and I am not trying to be mean spirited but if you fail to look after you and your possessions then who will? For less than $50 you can buy a name brand DVD-RW and for under $20 you can buy 100 blank DVDs. You can buy a lesser amount of blanks of course, that is a choice you can make. The DVD will come with software you install to use it. Or if you already have blank CDs you could use those in the DVD burner. If you back some of that stuff up and remove it from this computer it may well run faster because you will have more free space on the hard drive for the swap file to work better. Does your activity light come on frequently and stay on for long periods? If so this is an indication the swap file is have a problem. Then if you really want to get carried away you can visit Big Lots where they have (or did recently in the Buffalo, NY store) CD or DVD labels and the software to create your own labels for $10 or $11. Another option would be to install this hard drive as a slave in the new computer you intend to buy. You would need to check that there are compatible data connections in the new computer. Older hard drives are IDE or ATA but the newer and faster technology is SATA.

I don't have everything under control but it was a wonderful day when I put a laundry basket beneath the small desk in our entry way. When mail comes in, I put all standard monthly bills inside without opening. I now have added a zip lock bag to the laundry basket and store all receipts/maintenance for the house in that laundry basket. At the end of the year, I pull out the zip lock bag and put that in my file cabinet for the house filed by year. The rest of the stuff in the laundry basket goes into a kitchen trash sized bag with a stickup label on the outside that has the year. I store the bag in our loft which we use for storage (could put it in an attic or closet, etc.) At the beginning of the year, I make sure the laundry basket beneath the desk is EMPTY. This location is handy because I can sort my mail quickly. I have two or three times needed to go into this basket in the years since I've been doing this. Once I remember I needed a water bill to show I was a city resident and could use the dump for hauling trash. I found what I needed within 10 minutes. I have added a second ziploc bag to the laundry basket labeled "Annual bills/invoices/records" such as when I get our health and home insurance statements, (can't remember what else goes in there. ) This is still a work in progress but I LOVE having a place to immediately file. (I have another small pot I use for storing tax related stuff that comes in starting in January) and since we itemize, I have a small box close by for medical receipts that are kept file yearly. (Haven't figured out where or how or when to store blood test results, etc...work in progress) Trick for me is to make it EASY to file immediately. I have a box for junk mail that I use for tossing, don't even open. Then I take whole box (when it fills up) to Office Max store where they charge modest amount to shred. I don't even have to keep a shredder anymore. As a result of this thread, I think I will change and find a new "Pot" for "IMPORTANT" and save and store on a yearly basis and don't throw away periodically. I think filiing immediately and trying to avoid sorting until you must find something is a good strategy. As a result of remodeling, I will have a new fairly nice sized closet near the entry way. I plan to put my "pots" in there. However, I don't think I will move the laundry basket. It has been such a life-saviour, I don't want to mess with a good thing.

My little 4GB drive performs beautifully, but I "needed" more space. Bought a 16GB drive that is just giving me fits. At first I thought that the problem could be that I transport data from a Mac to a PC and vice versa. But I found that even when I go strictly from Mac to Mac or PC to PC, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It often creates its own file names with characters that won't allow me to copy from the disk. Each time, I have to reformat it, and it works for a bit again and I think I've conquered it. Then it performs badly again. Yesterday I loaded several zipped files onto it and when I got home and tried to open them, they were all corrupt. But I checked the files here at work, and they open fine. I returned a previous drive for the same bad behavior, and this is a different brand from a different seller, so I think there is just something I am missing - a little trick, if you will. I'd sure love to figure it out.

Yes, a flash drive is essentially just like any other drive, and as pkponder says, just use Windows Explorer to drag folders and files into and out of it. Make sure your different groups of files - say photos - stay in their own Photos folder on the Flash drive, so things don't get all mixed up. Make new folders when necessary. When you get to the new computer, just drag files to the places that you want them - probably similar locations as in the old computer. Also I always use a two pane Windows Explorer view so I see the folders on the left, and folders and files on the right. Open up as many Windows Explorer windows as you like, and drag from one to the other. You can even do copy and paste. Try experimenting a little bit - you'll probably find it's not that difficult. By the way, Microsoft has an Easy Transfer Tool which started with XP but I believe is builtin starting with Vista. That would probably do it all for you : http://www.nextofwindows.com/how-to-using-easy-transfer-to-migrate-data-between-xp-vista-windows-7/ and the following . . . It looks like you have to start with XP, but I believe it works just as well starting with Vista. Here is a link that might be useful: Migrate XP to Windows 7 with Easy Transfer and a USB Drive