Computer Storage

I believe I have asked this question before but thought I would throw it out again because I feel a real need to do something now that Windows 10 is on the way out. I thought I would ask the better minds here because I have always been lead straight here and trust the computer genius here. I would like to basically protect all my computer files and photos and anything else that I have on this computer. because when I switch to Windows11 I do not want any OOPSes. I do not want to use the Cloud. Have no idea how to anyway. I do not have the old style spinning hard drive in this computer. Lack of not knowing things I do not know if this means anything. Computer is about 5 years old and runs great. fast as I need it to be. Many many years ago I bought a device from QVC called Cick-It which I am guessing was a hard drive that you used to download your computer to and it saves files and all that. Basically plug in and it does all the work and you do this from time to time and it will find any new files over that period of time and add it to the this device. Have to say that worked very well because it was shortly after that my computer died and I had to get another one and thought I was lost because the hard drive in the old computer was shot from what I was told. But I had that backup system and was able to save mostly my photos and important favorite files. It did its thing. Well that device does not work with the newer computers.

So I am looking for either another device like that that is simple to use or a method to clone the files and important stuff. My computer skills are very limited at best. I bet if someone who knew computer were to look at my files they would laugh because they are all over he place and probably take up too much data space. i did get the 1 year extension to keep Windows 10 so hopefully I have time to work something out before I make the switch. I heard it is easy but as they say, best to be safe than sorry. if I lose this computer I do not know what I will do. i think it is wise to look into this now. So looking for all advise. I will answer any questions I can if need be. Thanks in advance.

I have a large thumb drive that I just drag and drop all my files I want to save to it. If I add more important files down the road that I don't want to lose, I format the thumb drive and drag and drop again.

My W10 laptop died and I got a Lenovo with W11. As for Cloud, Pilot, etc., there are a bunch of things on my laptop that I didn't ask for or don't care for. Changed a lot, too. Example: to download photos from phone or camera now takes several steps instead of two under W10. Saw where W10 isn't supported anymore.

I upgraded an older HP desktop from win 10 to 11 early 2025. I am somewhat computer savvy, but not an expert. Before you start, check that your computer is compatible with Win 11.
I went to Bestbuy and bought a new 500 GB SSD and a little package that contains the Win 11 license so you can download it. It was about $100 for Win 11 and about $100 for the SSD. It took me a 2 or 3 days to get everything done. Mostly because I was trying to install Win 11 as a "clean install" on the new SSD.
I did finally get it done but it was a frustrating couple of days. There are instructions on the web, I googled it and ended up using info from MS and HP and other places to finally get it done. You can elect not to put anything on the cloud during setup/configuration. If I am remembering correctly, it would have been easier if I didn't install as a clean install and keep the old hard drive as a backup drive. I didn't lose any data and the SSD is far faster than the old hard drive. Powerup is at least twice as fast.

Mike

Mike said:

I upgraded an older HP desktop from win 10 to 11 early 2025. I am somewhat computer savvy, but not an expert. Before you start, check that your computer is compatible with Win 11.
I went to Bestbuy and bought a new 500 GB SSD and a little package that contains the Win 11 license so you can download it. It was about $100 for Win 11 and about $100 for the SSD. It took me a 2 or 3 days to get everything done. Mostly because I was trying to install Win 11 as a "clean install" on the new SSD.
I did finally get it done but it was a frustrating couple of days. There are instructions on the web, I googled it and ended up using info from MS and HP and other places to finally get it done. You can elect not to put anything on the cloud during setup/configuration. If I am remembering correctly, it would have been easier if I didn't install as a clean install and keep the old hard drive as a backup drive. I didn't lose any data and the SSD is far faster than the old hard drive. Powerup is at least twice as fast.

Mike

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This computer is an all in one and has windows 11 on it but I never downloaded it. I have been working off Windows 10 since I got it and find it works well. I never did sign on to the cloud thing. I love this computer. I would get another if it ever broke beyond fixing. just want to save stuff.