Robert in CA wrote:
No, I did the exact same procedure you advised for the 8500. I
uninstalled Sea Monkey then logged into the Admin Account
and downloaded it from there.

I checked and Sea Monkey is indeed installed in Program Files
(X86)

https://postimg.cc/MX65bNCM

here's the 780 and its also in Program Files (X86)

https://postimg.cc/k2vDcY3G

I think at this point I'll create System Restore points for both computers
and also Mrimgs and then we can start cloning. I'm not as active as
you in backups etc. but I do have quite allot of data and photo collections
to aid in my work; essentially everything in 'My Documents'. So you suggest
putting it on a D: partition would be a good idea or can I leave it as is?

I will make sure to label the disks and what's on them and for which
computer and date. Your numbering system is a good idea which I think
I'll use.

I wasn't actually in the market to buy another computer but just posing a
hypothetical situation if my motherboard fails. I have backup power supplies,
(which you helped me pick out) and the external hd's/Mrimgs and backup hd's
but if the motherboard itself failed then I was just curious what would be my
options?

I did a search on Newegg on refurbished Dell computers:

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=100019...016%2050010772

What do you think of this one?

https://www.newegg.com/dell-optiplex...9SIADFMEEU9126

Yes, they keep replacing the products so you have to buy the latest version
if you want to keep up but I'm not so sure about the quality and I definitely
don't want to go to Win10 if I can help it. I'll continue to use Win 7 Pro as long
as possible but its lucky we created the Win10 hd's when we did although
they would be probably need updating if installed of course. However I've
seen on YouTube where computers with XP and older OS still function.
Maybe not lighting fast but they work.


So let me know what you think about the partitions if you think I should need
them or not? I actually like what I have it seems to complicate things if I
create another partition.

Robert

Optiplex 9020 with 4570

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us...-3-60-ghz.html

Haswell (internal FIVR regulator inside CPU for power, running at ~200MHz)

4C 4T 3.2GHz 6MB cache ("comfortable" for Win10)
MaxMem 32GB as four 8GB DDR3 sticks DDR3-1333 (same mem as 780?)
HD4600 GPU inside CPU (onboard graphics)
Intel Quicksync (hardware movie decode for limited formats)

# Now, the Win10 stuff - it's containerization/virtualization ready

Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x) Yes \
Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) Yes \_ Everything
Intel VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT) Yes / Microsoft wants

Machine is Windows 7 era, so SLIC activated and a candidate
for moving the 8500 disk (if ever there was a candidate).

This is a good match.

*******

You don't have to change your data practices for me.

Just continue to do things that make sense to you.

You have sufficient copies of things (like with cloning),
you'll never be as bad off as some people who come along here :-)

You're probably more prepared now, than I am.

I don't do as many experiments as I used to, but my setup
is more with the machine as a toy than anything else, so
my partition splitting practices are prefaced around that.

Summary: Just clone the whole disk, label disk with a Sharpie.

Paul