First and foremost you'll want to back up all of your personal documents. I have an additional hard drive that I use for this but you may have to back up on a DVD or multiple CD's. I won't go into great detail on all of the things I backed up but I can tell you a few things that are commonly overlooked.
Dell sends a Driver utility disk, I was able to put that in and instantly get updated driver for mostly everything. The basics include Video Card drivers, NIC drivers, etc.
Definitely do this first thing before you do anything online. Chances are your machine is bugging you to do this straight away, don't miss this step. This includes all security patches, service packs if needed.
Since I backed up everything on a firewire drive, I had to install the drivers for this so I could retrieve all of the data I backed up earlier.
One of the first pieces of software I install is Firefox. It's the best browser period. I detail the firefox extensions later.
Getting my email back up and running is key to my survival so I make this a top priority. Again, this article should help you get your outlook data file restored.
For me, a chat client is another key to my (business) survival so I get that right away. Trillian from Cerulean studios is the best choice for me because it's (free and) let's you use AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and IRC all within one client.
If I didn't have Dreamweaver 8 I wouldn't be in business. Well I could use notepad but nobody would hire me :-). Again, see this article if you need to restore your site definitions.
Another business tool, I couldn't operate without it.
Again this is a business tool, I just wouldn't have a job without it, period. Gimp is a free alternative if you want a free but solid graphics program. This is also where I restore all of my plugins and actions.
This is what I'm using right now to manage my photos, although I'm starting to get tired of it.
Getting my email back up and running is key to my survival so I make this a top priority. Again, this article should help you get your outlook data file restored.
Cheddar management, gotta have this. This is also where I restore my .qif file I saved earlier, this is a seamless process.
I love me some joost, see here for details.
I have to have podcasts and tunes. This is just not an option for me, I have to have it.
Firefox extensions make life easier, here are a few of the must have extensions. I won't explain them, just follow the link for details.
So that's it. Hopefully you picked up a tip or a helpful program along the way!
Our junk drawers were outta control. Since we moved in to our new house the 4 drawers on the island in the kitchen were a mess. Sarah and I went drawer organizer shopping only to find them to be a little overpriced.
I just had to post this real quick. It's my Firefox download day certificate. Doesn't really do that much for my geek status but still. I downloaded it on 3 machines.
Did you know? You actually CAN use iChat to talk with your MSN buddies. I use MSN for business and it always urked me to have multiple clients open. Adium did the trick for awhile but I really like how iChat integrates with the other OS X applications.
DIYPhotography.nethttp://diyphotography.net
I just now finally installed Firefox beta which I believe was released in mid February. So I'm a late bloomer but I thought I'd make a quick post (from my new FF3 beta, mind you) and give you my impressions.
Back in 2006 I shared how I made my own ring light with supplies from the local hardware store. I made a new ring light recently and wanted to share how I did it. This new version uses less power and looks good enough to take in front of a client/model (the old one was ugly).
New Ring Light Tutorial ComingI built a new and improved ring light. This is a sample photo of me, again at 3 am after I finished it. The new light will be more portable, not as dangerous, not as hot and more environment friendly (104 total watts instead of 800 watts). Look for that tutorial soon.
Eclipse has been mean to me today. I'm working on a .cfm template that's around 1300 lines. Doing simple search/replace brings beach ball madness.
I've been so much in awe with my new iMac(s) that I haven't had time to write about it. I'm now running Windows XP on my Mac (yes, I still have a few PC apps that I can't develop without).
Check out this sweet demo app that resizes images either by stretching or shrinking the less conspicuous parts of an image while keeping the key elements in tact. It's a really cool idea and I would only hope to see this functionality in a future version of Photoshop. Watch the video because I did a horrible job of explaining it.
I've talked about Add-ons before but found a new one today so I'd like to revisit the subject of Firefoxy goodness. Love me some Firefox!
Since my first Joost post I've had a few asking about invites. So I wanted to post this image to prove that I don't have any at the moment. :-)
My jaw dropped when I saw an eMail from Joost in my inbox. It felt like an eternity since I submitted my request to be a beta tester. Joost is like web 20.0.
From susanbuck.net: Here's something every photographer knows : built in flash photography is harsh. The kind of flash common to most of our cameras is called "direct flash" which fires a burst of light directly at your subject.
The following is a tutorial on how to create an extension tube / reverse mount for a standard 18-55mm lens using common plumbing supplies found at your local hardware store.
I'm using a new commenting system called disqus. They are working on a way for me to import my pre-disqus comments. Until then here they are! You can add your comment below.
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