Goal Accomplished with a Small Miracle

About a week ago I decided I needed to upgrade my computer from Windows Vista to Windows 7 and from a 32-bit operating system to a 64-bit operating system.  This was not an easy decision because in order to upgrade I had to do a "clean install" which meant my hard drives had to be wiped clean.  After doing a lot of research and making a few phone calls to Dell and Windows, I was ready to become a real computer geek and do the job myself. The process entailed the following:

• First I had to decide which Windows 7 program to even buy.  I didn't realize that there were a number of "different" Window 7 program options.  Fortunately, after having several sales clerks give misinformation, I found a very knowledgeable clerk who could explain the differences to me.
• It  took me two full days to transfer all my pictures, video clips, family history data, documents, settings, bookmarks for the internet and email contacts, in other words everything I had saved to an external drive.  Because my pictures and family history files are so important and irreplaceable, I also saved all of them to DVDs.
• I made a list of all the programs and downloads I had installed.  I downloaded a program from Windows and ran it that indicated which of my programs would be compatable with Windows 7 and a 64-bit operating system.
• I also checked out all the devices I hook up to the computer such as printers, scanners, etc. and made sure they were compatible.  Sometimes this was as simple as downloading a new driver.  I have to admit that while I knew a driver for a device was essential I had no idea why or what it did.  Then there is your DVD/CD disc drives and your drives where data, programs and systems that help your computer operate.  This was a real learning process for me.
• Finally bright and early Thursday morning I was ready to take the big step and make the change.  I put the disc into the DVD disc drive and guess what nothing happened!  I tried all the solutions to this problem but nothing worked.  Thank goodness, for a technician at Windows who walked me through how to essentially bypass the normal way a computer powers up and instead start the installation process directly from the DVD disc drive.  Interesting but it worked!  From there everything went smoothly.  By afternoon I was ready to set up my, in essense, "new" computer.  
• The setting up of preferences; reinstalling virus protection; getting a new email set up (Windows Live Mail, which I like a lot better than what I was using); setting up the Internet and reinserting all my Bookmarks and getting my home page back; plus reinstalling several other programs and started to transfer data files back to my C and D drives took the rest of the day and into the night.
• Much of the day Friday was again spent transfering files (video clips take a long time but I wanted them saved in two different places for archiving purposes), and downloading things like Adobe Reader, Quicktime, etc.  Since our scanner wasn't compatible and the printer I used for making printable discs wasn't functioning properly as well as being incompatible, I bought a new Epson printer that is known for printing of pictures, but also has the capability of printing on discs, scanning, copying and faxing.  The best part though was it was on sale, the picture printing paper was on sale and if I turned in my old broken printer I got $50 more off.  The evening was spent setting up the printer which was a little more involved since it is wireless.  It is certainly nice to have eliminated some cords and be able to set up the printer across the room.
• Of course, throughout this whole process, I had to remember all the user names and passwords for different applications.
• Yesterday we took a break and went to the Temple for a session and then went over to visit David for his birthday, which is today.  Tonight I installed my new Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Premium Production!  I am really excited about these new programs especially Photoshop, Premier Pro and Encore.  Now I can get back to making DVDs and learn how to use Photoshop effectively.  Another goal--I'm sure glad I have the opportunity to grow and learn!  One would never have thought this grandma would become a computer tech--well, sort of.

It is wonderful to have a computer that runs faster, smoother, more efficiently and have my files all neatly organized.  I have been blessed in many ways in my life and a few miracles have come my way--a few big and several small miracles but a miracle none the less.  As I have done family history work for the last forty-five years I have accumulated thousands of records, names, pictures, documents, events, stories and other significant data.  All of this accumulated work is organized and stored in a program called Legacy.  I very carefully always make sure I have a backup of all of that work on a continual basis, so when I made this change with my computer, I made not just one but three backups of the data.  Here is the miracle.  Once I reinstalled Legacy on my computer, I knew I had to restore all the data back into the program but the data, pictures, everything were already there.  Somewhere, some how that family history data was saved on that drive that was supposed to be wiped clean!  Out of all the many, many files I have, these family history files were the only ones saved; the program wasn't saved but the data was!  A miracle, it was to me!  A testimony that family history work is an essential part of the Lord's plan.