How do you organize your digital photos? How do you even get them from the camera to the computer? I have a couple of ideas.

So long, XP it's been good to know ya!

Managing Digital Photos

Digital cameras now outsell regular cameras. Sometimes I think that just means that instead of having shoe boxes full of negatives, prints, and slides in a closet, we have a bazillion files named can12054873240.jpg in "My Pictures." Yikes! Where IS that picture of Uncle John's band?

There are plenty of programs that you can use to organize your pictures into albums, make slide shows, screen savers, CD's and so on. Picasa is a good, free one, available here:

picasa

Adobe Photoshop Elements is a good one, but on the expensive side. You can read about that here:

Adobe Photoshop

But before you even worry about that, how about naming those photos something informative, like "unclejohn1.jpg" and "unclejohn2.jpg" so you can find the ones you want?

"That's a good idea," I hear you say, "but I already have about a bazillion pictures. Renaming each one is going to be pretty tedious."

Absolutely true. It's a good thing the weather is crummy, eh? Okay, seriously. You can easily rename a batch of pictures without any extra programs. This article will show you how:

rename photos

But even before you start on that, take just a moment and think about how you get the pictures from the camera to the computer in the first place. I have been to clients and seen two or sometimes three different programs, all starting up with Windows, for transferring images. If you have a digital camera, you probably got some software with it that wants to be the boss of your photos. If you have an HP printer, scanner, computer, or all-in-one device, you probably have an HP program that wants to take charge.

You don't need all that. Pick one program. Picasa will do it. So will Photoshop Elements. Stay with the HP version if you like that one better. But just pick one. Plug your camera in, and Windows will ask what program you want to use. Tell it to use that one all the time. Next time you plug in, your program will open and start managing the pictures.

If you are taking pictures while you're travelling, it's not a bad idea to take a few minutes at the end of each day, review the pictures while they are still in the camera, and delete the ones you don't want. If you don't get around to that, you can simply elect not to transfer them to the PC when you come home. And if you space THAT out, delete them from the PC right away so you don't confuse yourself or make a lot of extra work for yourself.

And because we all sometimes delete a photo by accident, here is a link to "Smart Recovery", a good, free program that will recover pictures from your hard drive or your media card:

Smart Recovery

I've had to use it more than once!

So long, XP

Microsoft made it official. Despite much speculation to the contrary, Microsoft says there will be no more sales of shrink-wrapped Windows XP or computers with XP preinstalled after June 30. The only new sales will be on the so-called "Ultra Low Cost PCs". Microsoft will continue to provide "mainstream support" for XP until 2009, and that might be extended again.

You can still find new computers with XP installed if you look hard. Dell.ca has several laptop and several desktop models. Local shops may be able to build an XP system for you. If you don't want to, or can't, upgrade to Vista right now and if you need a computer, you'll want to get that done before June 30.

Meanwhile, we are all still waiting for Service Pack 3 for Windows XP. The latest rumour has it being released April 29. Fasten your seat belts.

Thank you everyone who wrote in with questions, comments, suggestions, and requests for the Dropbox beta invitation(http://rlis.com/columns/column141.htm). I appreciate all your efforts.

You can browse the column archives or email me at cate@rlis.com with anything you'd like to ask or tell.

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