Will a Windows 8.1 refresh affect Lightroom?

[thefarmhand]

Howdy,

It looks like I’m about to loose all “desktop apps” on my laptop due to the need for a refresh. How can I protect/save my work and settings in Lightroom, if this is going to affect it? I know Lightroom backs itself up periodically, but I’m not sure what exactly it’s backing up. The computer technician did not know how a refresh would affect the program. Also, I think I can only download Lightroom like six times, so I don’t want to count against that if I don’t have to.

Thanks,

• This topic was modified 54 years, 9 months ago by .

[Ezra Morley]

Hi @thefarmhand!

I wrote you a little tutorial that hopefully covers everything you will need to know… It’s on my test website, so it may look rather funny, but hopefully it will work!

Let me know if you have any questions!

[thefarmhand]

Hey @buddingphotographer!

The tutorial was very helpful, I am wondering exactly how to save the Lightroom download. A tile usually appears @ the bottom of the browser which is the downloading file, at what point in this process do I want to save it to the DVD? Does it have to be on DVD, or could it be a thumb drive? And to download it I would just put it into the comp. and find a file that I can “run”? I don’t have my computer right now, so I’ll do this when they call me back today. Thanks a lot!

-thefarmhand

[Ezra Morley]

Well, you will have to wait till the download completes, then there should be an option somewhere to “Open in folder” or something like that. If you let me know what browser you use I could give you more specific directions…

It will be file nearly 1 GB in size which you can copy either to a USB thumb-drive or a blank DVD.

You can absolutely copy it to a thumbdrive if you prefer! I recommended a DVD because it would be a bit simpler to remember where it is. I’ve done this before… “Let’s see, now where did I put that installer file for Lightroom? Was it this flash drive, or that one? Oh, it must be this one, but wait, which folder did I put it in?” 🙂 Just make sure you remember where you put it! And make sure to save your license alongside it so you don’t lose track of it.

Once it’s on the DVD/thumb-drive and you want to use it to re-install Lightroom, you should only have to run the file. It should be named something like this: ” Lightroom_5_LS11_win_5_7.exe ” This will extract/unzip the installation files to a folder on your computer somewhere and then it will automatically run the installation.

[thefarmhand]

What kind of hard drive should I buy? It will need to be 1Tb. I’m looking for something really reliable!

[thefarmhand]

I’m using internet explorer right now because my Chrome crashed. (After the refresh, I would like to get back to Chrome…)

[Ezra Morley]

Ok, so have you downloaded the Lightroom installer yet? If not, begin the download and be sure to say “Save” instead of “Open” when it asks you what to do with the file. Now, in your Internet Explorer window, hit the Ctrl and J keys on your keyboard. That should bring up a dialog box similar to the one below. Click on the blue highlighted text under the “Location” column. It should open up a folder with your Lightroom installer highlighted. Copy that file to your USB drive/DVD.

As to hard drives, I would recommend a 2TB one. Just think, for $20-$30.00 more, you can double your storage space! Of course, if you’re on a low budget right now, you can always go for a cheaper 1TB drive, but I think you’ll use up your storage space faster than you think, and wil have to buy another one within a year or two. Actually, it’s a good idea to buy another one in a year or two anyway, and make a backup of your current one, because hard drives will fail. It’s not a question of if they will fail, it’s merely a question of when they will fail.

Also, if you’re computer has a USB 3.0 port, be sure that you buy a USB 3.0 drive. It could easily double your transfer rates, which is really nice when you’re backing up 359 GBs of data and pictures…

Anyway, you can take your pick, there are lot’s to choose from! If you want to buy from Amazon, here’s a Western Digital, or a Seagate drive. They both have excellent reviews, and you can choose whichever capacity you like. Note that if you buy it from Amazon, you’re more likely to get a refund/replacement if it does fail on you.

Otherwise, http://www.ebay.com will have slightly better prices. If you find a good price, take the model number and search for it Amazon to see if it has good reviews. If it’s got several hundred (or more) good reviews, then it should work for you. Remember, just because there are several one star reviews that “the hard drive failed in x months” doesn’t mean it’s a bad drive. Like I said above, hard drives fail. However, if it is a good drive, it should have at least 4 and 1/2 stars. On ebay, if in doubt, buy from a “Top Rated Plus” seller, who has at least 99% positive reviews. They want to keep their reviews that way, so they should help you out if you run into any issues.

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[James Staddon]

Thanks, @buddingphotographer for taking care of these questions. I’m just reading this thread for the first time! 🙂

@thefarmhand, I use Western Digital and recommend that or Seagate. Iomega is cheaper, but I had one fail on me after a year or so. 🙁 I’ve not had any Western Digital or Seagate fail on me . . . yet.

It seems awful expensive up front, but I do recommend that when you buy one hard drive, you buy a second just like it to use as it’s backup. Getting started, you actually need three: one to back up your computer, one to store pictures, and the other to back up the stored pictures. When your storage drive is full, you’ll have to buy two more. And that’s why I recommend you get as large a drive as you can up front. 2TB or 3TB will last you a long time and the price/GB is much less, even though it’s money up front.

And, as a side note, make sure to store you backup drives in a separate location than your storage drives. 🙂

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