Copying Files to Your PC
When you bring your project home from Chaos to Memories, we suggest copying your files from the USB thumb drive or external hard drive to the internal hard drive on your computer. This way you can access your memories on your computer and keep the delivery drive as a safe backup. Learn how in this short video.
Summary Steps:
- Connect your USB thumb drive or hard drive to your computer. If you need to connect a rectangular USB-A device to a computer that only has the smaller USB-C ports, then you’ll need a USB adapter. Here are some options:
- Double-click the MEMORIES drive.
- Click once on the archive folder to select your project.
- Right-click on the archive folder and choose Copy.
- Click once on the Pictures folder in the left sidebar.
- Right-click in the Pictures folder and choose Paste.
- When the copy is complete and the progress bar is gone, eject the drive and disconnect it from your computer.
Full Transcript:
At Chaos to Memories, we deliver projects on USB thumb drives or solid state hard drives because they’re fast and reliable. After you pick up your project and you bring it home, we suggest copying the files to your computer for easy access and keeping the USB thumb drive as a backup.
The first thing to note is that computers can have two different kinds of USB ports. There’s the original rectangular USB port that’s called USB Type A, and then there’s the newer USB port that’s smaller and symmetrical, and this is called USB-C. The type of USB ports on your computer will affect how you connect your USB thumb drive or external hard drive to your computer.
If your computer has a rectangular USB port like this, you can connect your USB thumb drive or external hard drive directly to the USB port. If your computer only has the new USB-C port like this, then you’ll need to use a USB adapter like this. And if your drive and computer both have USB-C ports, you can just attach it directly.
We format all project delivery drives so they’ll work the same on Mac and Windows computers, so there should be no compatibility issues.
After you connect your USB thumb drive or external hard drive to your computer, it should show up on your screen just like this.
Now click your Family Photo Archive folder to select it and then right-click and choose Copy. That step tells your computer what files to copy.
Now click Pictures on the left to tell your computer where you want to copy the files to. Now right-click inside the Pictures folder and choose Paste to copy the files into this folder.
As long as you have enough free space on your hard drive, the copy should start and speed along. The time to copy depends on the speed of your computer and the size of your family photo archive, but it usually only takes a few minutes to copy everything.
After the copy is complete, you can safely disconnect the drive from your computer, return it to the box it came in, and store it in a safe place.
Interested in working with Chaos to Memories?
If you’re near Chicago and ready to get started to work with a professional photo organizer, come visit our Wheaton Studio Monday – Friday, 10-5. Please bring your memories with you.
If you live outside the Chicagoland area, we’re happy to send you a Project Form and Contract, along with shipping instructions, so you can get started on your project.
Contact us for more information.