Bare with me please, Computer Question

[JanCderidder]

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I'm switching my photo processing activities from a Mac to a dedicated Windows7 environment.

 

I have bought the components and built them in and ready to install and configure the setup. I have been reading quite a lot of information on the internet about setting things up and since I'm far from being any kind of computer technical person I am confused.

 

What I thought I have read is getting an SSD for start-up disk, and SSD for a scratch disk and normal Sata drives for storage.

 

So I have the following;

 

1 Intel X-25 Postville SSD 160GB for the system

1 Intel X25 Postville SSD 160GB for a scratchdisk

1 WD 2TB for storage and one for Internal Backup

1 WD 2TB for External Backup

 

So far so good. so what I do is install Win7 64bit, Lightroom 3, PS CS5 and Nik Software Suite on the 160GB SSD (as well as some other minor programs like Chrome, Backup and such)

Configure it so that all the Document files are placed on the WD 2GB, and none what so ever on the system disk, this disk will only be used for "static" programs and not for files of any sort

Configure the Scratchdisk in PS and LR3.0 as being the other SSD

Configure the Acronis Backup solution to daily back up from internal storage disk one to disk 2, where at the start of the day disk 2 is an exact replica of disk 1

Configure a weekly back up from disk 2 to external Harddrive.

 

What do I do with the Virtual Disk, do I configure on, if so on which disk (I have 12GB of fixed Ram)?

 

Might this be a correct sequence to get things installed, or do I have to consider other matters of importance. I think I might of got it correctly planned, but as I mentioned I am a bit confused by all the possibilities.

[elgenper]

I'm switching my photo processing activities from a Mac to a dedicated Windows7 environment.

 

...

 

OMG.....

 

Why????

[JanCderidder]

Per,

 

Apple - Win controversy always a thing isn't it. I just don't like Apple all that much, I get along fine with it, but aren't able to "live it" I use a couple Minis for my Media stuff which works fine, but find the iMac to limited, choice wise that is. I have been a MS user since the DOS era and have totally gotten use to it's quirks and stuff, but also to it's great flexibility, one can choose whatever one fancies in terms of # of harddisks, Video adapter, memory, processors etc. I like having that choice, not that the end result will be much different from an Apple configuration, but at least I have the feeling that I chose it myself.... (very subjective I know)

 

I dislike Apple as a company also, again the necessity to use what Apple defines, iTunes, iPhone possibilities, File formats etc. etc. Although I must admit that I invest heavily in Apple stocks on a daily basis and this is very profitable .... but then I'm not one to "drink my own champagne"

 

Objectively though I can't see all the fuss about Apple vs Microsoft. I'm far from being a computer savvy person but have never ever had any problems with Windows at all, nor blue screen, system breaks, security issues or what have you ... and last but not least the investment required is lower for Win7 than similarly specked OSX environments, quite a bit lower actually, good for 2cases of Chateau Neuf du Pape and 1kg of Foei Gras ... and perhaps even a bottle of 30yr. old Highland Park to finish it off....

 

anyway a matter of choice and preference ... such as most things in "our" world

[Jaybob]

sounds like a SMOKING system.

 

the only problem I ran into when going to 64 bit Windows 7 from XP was that my 32 bit denoise (Nik DFine 2) and film grain (Alien Skin Exposure 2) plug-ins did not work in 64 bit Photoshop CS5. However, they seem to work fine in the 32 bit version of PS CS5 that installed along side the 64 bit, and of course they still continued to work in PS CS3 which remained on my system.

 

Thats really much more of an Adobe problem than a Windows 7 problem. Of which I can report 2, both of which deal with networking/printing to XP computers.

 

Initial computer setup, is there no more exciting time? I have a 3 drive system, with pictures stored on 4tb of network storage. I use 1 disc for system (C: drive) meaning if at all possible just Microsoft. The second drive (D: drive) is for program files. All program installation happens on this drive, so I have D:\InstalledProgramFiles\Sony\DVD Architect Pro 4.5. I also have a Photoshop scratch disk. I also have my Lightroom Catalogs (every assignment, a new catalog, can you imagine?) on this drive as well. The third drive (E: drive) has ALOT of music on it, and folders of photos that I'm editing that day. AND virtual memory, and another Photoshop scratch disk.

 

Ahhhh Virtual Memory....If you uncheck the "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives" (Control Panel/System Properties/Advanvced, then Performance/Settings/Advanced then Change Virtual Memory) you can specify and set a custom amount of Virtual Memory. I turn off VM on the system drive and select one of the other drives on the system. I have 4gb of memory in my machine and have specified 6gb of initial and 6gb of maximum virutal memory. The formula that I follow is installed RAM amount (4gb) plus a half (2gb). Theoretically, a specified amount will keep your discs from thrashing about. So it looks like you'll have 18GB of virtual memory!

 

I think my first machine had 32MB of RAM. The day I bought it, was the same day they introduced the Pentium II chip. Obsolete even before I got it home.

 

The only thing I back up on my machine daily is the LR catalogs. They can get unruly (sizewise), and I suggest keeping them away from your SSD's.

[250swb]

I may have got this wrong when I went to Win 7, but as I understand/understood it to easily run 32 bit programmes in a 64 bit environment you need Win 7 'Professional'. Its useful to be able to run 32 and 64 bit versions of say CS5 or Lightroom alongside each other because not all plugins (like various Nik addons) work in 64 bit.

 

I'm sure you are aiming for a more techie response, but I'm not.

 

Steve

[JanCderidder]

I have Win7 Professional and this indeed seems to work with Nik.

 

Whilst setting this all up I understand that the problem isn't technical but rather organizational.

 

Briefly put:

 

With my X1 I will use 80% of my OOC Jpegs perhaps straightened a bit bit I like the OOC JPEGS so I need to store the "direct" OOC JPEGS and copy them to the LR3 catalog after which I will delete a number from the catalog and process some others, all to be kept in the catalog.

 

Becasue the opportunity presents itself I will also keep DNG's and select very few for PP'ing, similarly to above.

 

So for my X1 I will need 4 directories/partitions and also an off line backup.

 

Now this is only for my X1, the same will apply for my M8, the DSLR and the Sony Nex, but with these the focus will be Raw processing instead of JPEG

 

Then I have the scans of the films 24x36 and 60x60

 

I need to organize this since it's a huge mess at the moment, everythings everywhere, lots of doubles, triples etc. I have a total of app. 3 TB of image files reaching out over a period of some 20 years, currently all stored on external HD Drives of various capacity.... these will remain untouched for now.

 

I just can't seem to get my head around it all.... am I too difficult... seeing things wrong?

[andybarton]

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So, you "don't like Apple all that much" and "dislike them as a company". Yet you invest in them "heavily on a daily basis".

 

Money talks.

 

 

I think that you might be better off asking your question on a computer forum, rather than a photography one.

[JanCderidder]

"So, you "don't like Apple all that much" and "dislike them as a company". Yet you invest in them "heavily on a daily basis".

 

Money talks."

 

 

You've got that one right Andy....