correctmyphotos

Where do you put your digital photos when you download them to your computer?
A couple of weeks ago I posted and article on Downloading Photos to Your Computer. In the article I suggested using Windows Explorer to download the photos from the camera or memory chip (via a card reader) and putting them into the My Pictures (XP) or Pictures (Vista) folder. If you have sufficient hard drive capacity that is a good place to put them. However, you should also create a backup copy of the photo files other than on the C drive on your computer. In fact, I have gotten into the habit of downloading the photos to my external hard drive and not to my C drive. There are two reasons for doing this. One, is that my main drive is getting full and the second is that I make sure I create a backup or archive copy of the photos external to my computer.  When I go to edit the photos I will either edit them directly on the external drive or copy the photos to the Pictures folder on the C-drive.

Should you archive or create a backup file of the photos?
The answer to this question should be obvious–absolutely! But, how many people actually do that? When I ask my friends if they archive or create a backup of their photos, they  generally look at me with a blank stare. These are, of course, the same people who don’t back up their computer or back up files on their working C-drive. Think I am kidding? We get calls and emails from customers all the time that either did not backup their software file or backed them up on the same hard drive that just crashed. Duh!!

A simple way to create an archive or backup file of your photos.
First, go buy an external hard drive if you do not have one. They are relatively inexpensive (you can get a 250GB drive for less that $125.00) After you plug it in to your computer click on My Computer and then click on the external hard drive. Then click on the My Pictures folder (XP) or Pictures (Vista) and locate the folder you want to back up. (You did create a separate folder for the photos before you downloaded the photos, didn’t you?) Then click on the folder and drag and drop it onto the external hard drive. The files will copied to the external drive. Now, wasn’t that easy?

Create Backup to External Hard Drive-Use Drag and Drop

There are a variety of ways to back up and create archives of your folders ranging from on-line services to backup software applications, but this is a simple and straight forward way to create an archive copy of your photos. The real purpose of this post is to strongly suggest that you create a backup of your original and edited photos. How you do it is for you to decide. But, discipline your self to create the backup when you download the photos to your computer and then you won’t forget. And, you won’t be sorry when your hard drive crashes or you lose your laptop in the airport with all you photos on it. Your wife (or husband) will be very unhappy if you lose all of your photos.

Wayne  www.correctphoto.com