My Kids Don't Need a Nicer Computer Than Me

I sincerely apologize for my absence this last week - especially at a time when you need gift ideas! We purchased a new computer "for the kids". Once we received it, I decided I would have a go at it and give the kids my "old" computer. I'm one who believes my 7 year old and 4 year old don't need a nicer computer than me.

Anyone who has ever purchased another computer knows what it is like to reinstall all your programs/software on to the new computer all over again and then burn your Word, Excel, Powerpoint (whatever) files - not to mention all your music files - to many CDs or flash drives and then reinstall them onto the new computer. Time consuming and quite frankly a huge pain in the butt. But again, my kids don't need a nicer computer than me.

(By the way, if you have a Mac, you can skip this post... unless you would like a good laugh!)

Here is where my amazing find comes in to play. My wish for you this holiday season is that you will benefit from my pain and discovery! Well, I did the entire process of reinstalling my programs on the new computer. However, I did hear about this Easy Transfer Cable. If your "old" computer runs Windows XP and your new computer runs Windows Vista, you are in luck - major luck. This handy dandy cable transfers all your files/documents from Word, Excel, etc., your music, and even your email. Yes, I said email! So, I bought the $40 Easy Transfer Cable and software (from Best Buy). I transferred all my files only to find out that there was some bug with my Outlook and I had error messages (on the new computer).

For two days, I tried everything I could think of and every sane thing I could find on Google to fix the problem. I think I can now apply for a job with the Geek Squad. I can't tell you how many times I uninstalled and reinstalled my Office software. I can't tell you how many file paths I followed and deleted this and that. I even went into the registry keys (a no, no for novices, but remember I think I could apply for a job with the Geek Squad at this point). Tedious proceedures. Then just as I thought I had it all figured out and I was going to try transferring my Outlook files using the Easy Transfer Cable for the last time, the cable just stopped working. Typical, right? Try telling this to me at midnight. You could say I was about to go crazy. But again, my kids don't need a nicer computer than me.

Once again, to Google I go for answers on why this Easy Transfer Cable simply stopped working. In my research, I find something called the Easy Transfer Companion. Hold onto your socks people, here comes my amazing find. The Easy Transfer Companion transfers/copies your programs. Your Office suite, your Adobe products, etc. (There are a few things it won't transfer, like your Internet Security, things you have a paid subscription for.) In conjunction with the Easy Transfer Cable, these two devices can save you literally hours, if not days, of transferring/copying programs, files, music, and email from one computer to the other. Remember I had already reinstalled all of my programs, so I was only able to use this feature for Office. So, I hope my discovery is your gain. It worked. Slick.

And that my friends, is what I've been doing for a week. Not to mention a little (very little) Christmas shopping. Boring, I know, but I tackled it and figured it out.

The story does go on.
I was so proud for figuring this out all by myself. Once I uninstalled the Easy Transfer Cable software and reinstalled it, that worked just fine. However, a couple hours later I contacted Norton to install my paid subscription for internet security on to the new computer. I won't bore you with the details, but holy man, I still don't have it all fixed. More problems, but not major.

So, I ask you? Should I really have gotten on my high horse and insisted that my kids don't really need a better computer than me?

YES! Even after all that. I'm sticking to it.