The Reason your Computer becomes Slow

There are many people out there that take photographs and complain at some stage that their computer has suddenly become slow and “difunctional”. Well, there is a reason for this, and, it is not always because your computer is getting old, nor that it requires an upgrade. For the average person, it is just the way images are being uploaded and saved from the camera to the computer. If you are running out of memory space on your computer, you will find this to be an ongoing saga, and, upgrading your computer’s hard drive to a larger one will never be a solution to your problems and the computer will still run poorly according to your expectations. In most instances, people do not require a larger hard drive space, they are just uniformed that the hard drive on the computer should not be the final destination for the storage of your images.

Improving the speed of your Computer

The hard drive on most computers is fairly small, however, it is designed to be sufficient for the average person and certain pro photographers, depending on their workload and genre. The storage space on is dedicated mostly for your smaller “work style documents” like Microsoft, as well as for emails and admin software programs that you use on a daily basis. Today there are also many apps that people tend to download, not realizing that these applications are able to operate independently while online. And finally, your hard drive is definitely not designed to store all your images.

Once you get your mind around this, and start making use of external drives for all your work files and images, you will be in a better headspace and so will your computer. Your files will be safe and your computer will be happy and run as it should. The large size file images that we take with our cameras, especially those that we shoot in a RAW format will definitely “clog up” the computer and slow it down. The load is just too much to handle. Should this not be totally clear, ask your lecturer in your editing and post production photography workshop or course for further advice and how you can implement this to work for you.

It is all about your File Management

The computer desktop is the place to initially download your image from your card before you start editing. Firstly, you will need to create a new folder for the images to be transferred, thereafter, the folder will be opened in a program for editing. All the edited images will be stored in this folder once the originals have been edited and saved. It is also faster to edit from the folder than from the card or computer hard drive. Once you have completed all your editing and saved your RAW images in your chosen formats, you need to export or drag them to your external hard drive for storage and safekeeping. Your external hard drive can then be stored in a safe place, or remain portable for accessibility from any computer you choose, making it a very convenient option. We are all aware that computers are not always the most reliable, so keep those images safe and stored on a reliable device.