I am very sad that I had to cancel my monthly subscription tonight, because we have been
having a lot of really bad trouble with the pc. We are worried we may lose it, as well as the external drive,
and the browser (Chrome) have all been serious problems this week. I have had a lot of trouble accessing all my graphic files,
and working with them this week, as they mostly reside on the external. Kept getting can't read, corrupt or unreadable etc errors.
I had been trying to upload the most important (personal) files from the external to clouds before it got really bad
or failed altogether, but tonight is the second time in a week we are also having pc issues as well, and a blue crash,
and freezing, and black screens, and several reboots, or kills. I fear I may lose a lot of my files, many of which are bought,
or contain my art and graphics artwork and kits 
Because we are not sure if the pc will stay healthy for a while, (it is from 2008, old for a pc today) I am forced to
decide to cancel my sub.... but we can not afford a new pc if something happens, nor other things I may not be able to access.
I hope that does not happen, cause I love this place, and I have a whole lot of net projects, not to mention 2 stores online,
so it's kinda scary...
Anyway, I come here everyday, even if I don't have time to do much, and will continue to do so as long as our pc cooperates.
In case I do go MIA, you will all know why, and I wish you all well, while I might be gone.
Also, if anyone knows, what happens if I lose my PS graphics, would I be able to
download the ones I want again without paying the download fee, or will they just be lost.
So sorry to hear about your computer troubles. Feel free to send me an email when you get things sorted out and we can help you get your subscription set back up at your current status. If there's anything else I can do, let me know.
BACK UP, BACK UP, BACK UP!!! Whether you do so on discs or in the Cloud, back up all your software, your photos, your documents and music, whatever you can. When and if you do need a new computer, the info you collected and backed up will be there for it.
Patacake, I have been doing this since July 18th now..
It is a long and wearing process, there are almost 900 gig in the exterior alone..
Wow! Okay, silly me for mentioning something I think we all know already. Good luck!
Thanks
Oh, Angela, I'm so sorry to hear this - & I feel your pain. I've managed to crash three different devices over the last five years, each of which wasn't backed up at all, or wasn't fully backed up. The computer place was able to recover everything off my Mac Mini desktop, which was a huge relief - & that now has an automatic backup that also backs up the external drive. But I didn't learn my lesson & a year later crashed my unbacked up laptop & then in June crashed it's external drive - & lost everything both times. I'm still mourning all my projects & scrapping supplies from this year.
I will be keeping my fingers crossed for you that you get everything safely off it before it goes. I know exactly what you are going through & hope so much that it works out for you.
Thanks Sarah, I am trying real hard, but its a wearing task lol...
If I can at least get everything personal (photos etc) and everything I purchased, and hopefully most of my best projects, I will be more relaxed.... I am shocked at how much this thing has been holding.
Angela, check in with us when you can. Thinking of you..........
Wow, thank you Sunny, I really needed to hear that
I really am having a tough time all way round lately, and to top it all off,
today I took a fall, bruised my head, my left side, and almost broke 2 fingers on my left hand.
Luckily they're not broken, but horribly swollen now.
I try to come in everyday for a few minutes at least, not downloading much lately tho,
need to take out, not put in
Oh dear, a fall! Sheesh, "when it rains, it pours"! But keep on "keeping on". Eventually it all WILL get better! You can do this, Angela!
Thanks Sunny, I'm British after all, so I keep on Carrying On lol.... Thanks for the encouragement
I use a free download called Macrium Reflect (http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx) to back up my entire computer to a network drive I have set up. I mark in my planner to do it once per month, then I keep 2 full backups (more than that takes too much space!). I let it run overnight by itself, then boom! all backed up. I have just recently become active here, so I'm trying to keep up with my new files by burning them to CD (I have a ton and nothing else to put on them, so why not...). Then those files don't even need to live on my PC. I'll have to make sure I remember to use them, though!!!
Maybe after you are able to get stuff backed up, you could just completely wipe your hard drive and start fresh--sometimes it's the easiest way. Been there, done that, waaaay too many times...Good luck!!! Breathe deeply and don't let the stress get its claws in 
wow Abbey, I have been thinking whether cd's might be the way, but have never used them that way before (to store stuff on)
and not sure how that work. Some questions....
What kinds of cd's do you need to buy to store graphics and zips files on, and how much does a cd actually store on one in terms of megabytes or gigs...
You might also look into purchasing a flash drive - they have some that are over a Terrabyte or more, in storage capacity. I know that you will come up with the best solution that works for YOU.
not sure if a flash drive is what we have now,
we have an external drive that hold 9 gigs, that is mostly what I am trying to clear.
A USB hard drive is an external hard drive that connects via USB. It uses the same design as an internal hard drive, except comes in an external casing that protects the drive. The case also includes a USB interface, which allows you to connect the drive to your USB port using a USB cable. Most USB hard drives require a USB 2.0 connection, since USB 1.1 does not have a fast enough data transfer rate to be practical.
A USB flash drive, sometimes called a "keychain drive," also connects to the USB port on your computer. Unlike a USB hard drive, a flash drive is a "solid state" device, meaning it has no moving parts. The data is stored electronically, using millions of small gates that have a value of 1 or 0. Hard drives store data using spindles of disks that spin thousands of times every minute.
Because USB flash drives are solid state devices, they are more rugged and less prone to data loss than hard drives. However, flash drives are significantly smaller than most hard drives and cannot hold nearly as much data. Both types of storage media keep their data even when the power to the devices is turned off. However, if you want to archive data for several years, you should burn it to a CD or DVD, both of which do not require electronic charges to store data.
Any of the various kinds of CD would work. I happen to have a stack of CD-R that I don't use for anything, so I'm using those. You could also use DVDs if you have them. A CD holds 700MB, a DVD holds 4.7GB. You need a DVD burner to use DVDs, though, so make sure you have one if that's the route you want to go. DVDs cost more than CDs, so you could do a unit price comparison if you want to squeeze the most storage out of your money. If you get the "R" kind of disc, those are writeable one time only--fill it up all at once, because you can't do it again. The "RW" kind is RE-writeable--you can remove files and write new ones, like a hard drive or thumb drive. I kind of like that I can't erase the files once they're written, though--it's the reason I'm putting them on disc in the first place
thanks both of you,
Abbey, the last thing you said, I did not understand right...
I kind of like that I can't erase the files once they're written, though--it's the reason I'm putting them on disc in the first place smiley
Which type were you referring to here, because I thought I just read you said....
The "RW" kind is RE-writeable--you can remove files and write new ones, like a hard drive or thumb drive.
so I got confused...
I'm sorry!!! I'm using the "R" kind--*not* re-writable....If you use "RW" then the disc *IS* re-writable....Make sense now?
Good luck with your pc troubles. What part of Britain are you from if you don't mind me asking? My hubby is from Scotland...such a gorgeous country but very wet and very cold...lol I am from Arizona where it's nice and HOT! lol
From a little town called Guildford about 50 minutes outside London,
and my grandfather and his dad's family were from Isle of Wight
Awesome! I spent six months in Scotland in 2009 and we went to London for the weekend and I LOVED it! If we ever move back, we want to move to London.
me too, I love London, even tho I have not seen it in a century lol
Hi Angela...so sorry for your PC troubles...thats what happens with old computers...but don't worry so much...there are so many ways you can solve your problems.
1) Buy a new computer
...if you cannot afford to buy with cash, then buy in installments 
;
2) Your best bet right now & always, is to buy an EHD
- External Hard Drive - they are small boxy like things where you can store your files - all sizes are available - from small USBs to real monsters which are 12 TBs or more 
, USBs are ok to store a small number of files - I think upto 32 GBs; the EHDs start from anywhere from 100GBs to 12TBs & more; 1TB=1,000GBs 
; I myself have 5 EHDs 
which total to about 7TBs, where I keep my movies, photos, scrapkits, school work, etc, etc. 
3)Also, as you know there are Cloud storage facilities...There you go then...if you get EHDs & use Cloud storage, it'll not put your PC at risk of crashing every now & then due to overloading the computer's drives...
So, you see, there are ways one can find solutions...take heart
, keep calm 
, worrying never does anything, except to spoil one's health... 
Backing up programs and documents is one necessity, but another thing to consider is making a list of the current programs you have, and their serial number or unlock key. It is a real pain to have to dig through your emails to find the key to a program you already purchased, and that is, if you even save your emails!
I had Windows reinstalled last month, and reinstalling programs is so much easier when you have those information close by. You can also keep the receipt/order number of you purchased online so if you ever have to contact the company or the developer, you have something concrete for them to prove that you bought it.
Carole, we have the original book folder that came with this machine, with things like Photoshop disc inside... I imagine all we have to do is re install that, and any other programs that are on those discs.
One good thing about buying a Dell package, everything they installed was packaged with the discs, and manuals included.
That is good for Photoshop, but i was thinking of any other program that you might have bought over the years. For example, i have 10 versions of Paintshop Pro, Camtasia, Photoshop Element (no disc), and so on. Just a thought.
yeah, no others I can think of that might not be replaced easy.. or obsolete
he has some programs like ship simulator etc, but they along with some others
stopped working properly a while ago and are not worth replacing in this pc