Windows transfer software
 
Unlike Apple software, Windows doesn’t provide a great way to transfer your old computer to a new computer. Data isn’t so much the issue here, but programs are. Over the years there have been various ways to transfer data to a new computer, but typically, programs need to be re-installed.

Recently, Carol got a new computer. The rule is, when 3 things go wrong with the old one, it gets replaced. The backlight stopped working, the ‘G’ key was falling off (and other keys were wearing out), and then the trackpad was noticeably crooked. That last one was because the battery was swollen.

She uses quite a few programs, and had lots of data. I generally move data to a new computer, but as I said earlier, programs need to be re-installed. That usually means setting them up, as well, and that can be tedious and troublesome. Carol found a program that solves that issue, and bought Zinstall. 

It promised to move everything over from the old computer to the new computer. It doesn’t effect the operating system though, so you could use it to move everything from Windows 7 to Windows 10, for instance. The caveat being, it’ll move it, but if the program won’t run on the new computer’s OS anyway, then it won’t using Zinstall either. Also, they said drivers don’t transfer, so you still need to manually install those, like for printers, scanners, etc.

Carol started the transfer and wasn’t sure anything was happening after several hours, so she stopped it. A bit of a no-no. When she started it the next day, it wasn’t working. Customer support was excellent and eventually got in to both computers and started up the process. It took 12 hours to transfer 500 gb.  While that is shocking to me, it also worked, and I didn’t have to do anything. All her programs were there, and she was able to start working again almost immediately.

MS Office required signing back into, but Photoshop and particularly, QuickBooks was all there and working. I don’t normally recommend software or hardware, but I have to say, this was impressive in its ability to transfer nearly everything over. It costs $129 and it did take a long time, but I can see a use for this product in certain circumstances.

​There are other options out there, but if you are simple folk like me, then moving data is all you need. There are many ways to do that, from One Drive, to external storage, to cables and networking. A great article on how to do these things can be found HERE. 
 

There are 2 main home assistants these days, Google’s Nest, and Amazon’s Alexa. Functionally, they are very similar. I got one to play music, an Alexa. Amazon has allowed Prime customers to access the Amazon library of music, so there is quite a lot of choice. Aside from that, assistants can tell jokes, give you the weather, answer all sorts of questions, and much more. You can turn on lights, order stuff, or broadcast on it like an intercom.

A good comparison of Nest and Alexa home assistants can be found HERE. 

If you don’t know what I’m talking about at all, a home assistant, in this case, is a small device that has a speaker. We use ours mostly to play music. It also has a microphone. Our Alexa is an Amazon product and can be used to order things easily from them. I’ve never done that. It can also connect to compatible devices designed to control things, like your lights and thermostat. You can then use a voice command to turn up the heat, turn off the lights, and even broadcast a message, like an intercom, to somewhere else in your house that has an assistant. Learn about that function Here
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We don’t use it nearly as much as is offered, however, there are people that do. My kids use it to control lighting in their home, which seems so high tech to me when we’re sitting there talking and she says “Google, turn off living room light.”

Carol occasionally asks Alexa about something, like the weather, or the time, or who invented asphalt. There are several variations of the home assistant now. There are larger versions with better audio, and some come with screens. You can make “phone” calls as well, if it’s SETUP to do so. Learn about that  Here
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Some of these things are more tedious to setup than others, and obviously, I haven’t been bothered to connect anything, but I still like using the little Alexa that we have. Music, jokes, information, those don’t require anything extra and that’s what I like.

While I’m not low on space, I do like to keep my phone a bit tidy. Every once in a while, I go through and delete photos I don’t need, and I also remove apps I don’t use. The iPhone came with a lot of apps I don’t want, so just getting them off the screen is fine, but many can safely be fully removed from the phone.

Kim Komando has a nice article that can help guide you (us) through some other ways to clear up some space. That article is HERE.  
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One thing it did not include is getting rid of duplicate photos. I stumbled across this option the other day and wanted to try it out. I was in Photos, and selected Albums at the bottom. While looking through that screen, I saw Duplicates. Clicking on that found duplicates and offered me a way to merge them, which I did. It was easy and as far as I can tell, it worked. Here's a YouTube Video.

I’ve read Kim Komando’s tips before and I think they are often pretty useful.  There are some great ideas in this selection, like sharing a Nest video feed, or using a smartphone as a security camera. Dictation, too, is a very useful tool everyone can benefit from. The secret communication on an iPhone? I’m not too sure about that one.

How about doubling your internet speed? Some things are too good to be true, and this one is suspect. I suppose it depends, so it’s worth looking at. The gist is that the DNS can play a factor in internet access speed and that is true. Read it HERE and let me know if any of them help you out. 

Many PC tips are interchangeable with Mac tips. Particularly the key stroke shortcuts. Maybe you are a long time Mac user, but like PC users, there are always tips to pick up. Hopefully one of these will be good for you.

This week I’m referencing an article of top 10 tips for a Mac user. The one I particularly like, and is also on a PC is the File Format option. Tip 2 talks about saving a file in multiple formats from the preview option. When saving a file, you can Option click the Format and get a drop-down list of file formats you can save in. The same is true on a PC, you can often right click the save-as option and that will provide a list of different formats.

The number 5 option is handy if you want to de-clutter your dock, for instance. I like to keep the most used icons in my dock, and remove a lot of lesser used icons. There is a setting that allows recently used apps to appear in a divided section of the dock. Handy for coming back to things you don’t work on so much.
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Look at the article HERE, and see what appeals to you. https://www.macrumors.com/2023/02/14/10-macos-tips-make-life-easier/
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