[MUSIC]
In a time where everyone seems to be getting by with their smartphones and their laptops and their tablets, the age of the home desktop computer seems to be coming to an end.
That said, I know it can be hard to let these things go, I mean.
I've probably had all my important files on this thing backed up to a cloud somewhere.
My photos are on Flickr, my documents on on Google.
and My music is stored on at least three different services somewhere.
But there's something comforting about having my files nearby, even on an old clunker like this.
So, how about we compromise.
I'm gonna show you one of the best methods I've found so far for backing up all your documents and files on your old desktop computer and clearing out some space in your office or home.
Decluttering your desk and putting this thing out of its misery.
Alright, now before we get started, let me be really clear about what I'm doing here.
I'm not making a backup of a vital computer that I use every day.
That's a whole other project.
What I'm talking about is a computer you haven't used in years, maybe even decades.
You're tempted to just get rid of it, but there might be some files on there that you wanna reference later on, but you don't have the time to go sort through it all and figure it out.
So here's what I recommend.
We're gonna migrate the data over from this computer onto a network attached storage drive.
In this case, we're using the WD My Cloud, a 2 Terabyte drive here that I'm working with for 150 bucks.
They're other competitors out there like.
As the Seagate central, but the WD My Cloud came more highly recommended by CNet.
And once you've set this up, it's gonna pull over all the data, all the files from your home computer, and move them onto the drive, and it's gonna organize them automatically.
And when you're done, instead of the files being on some portable hard drive that you're gonna misplace, the files live on your home wi-fi network, where you can access them at any time from any computer, even a phone or tablet, and from anywhere in the world.
First step is you're gonna find your home's wi-fi router and make sure that the mycloud is plugged in nearby, because this thing actually plugs into your router and not directly to your computer.
You're gonna take the included ethernet cable, plug it into the mycloud and plug the other end into your router on a free ethernet port and you're good to go.
Next, you're gonna head over to the computer that you're backing up and pull up Wd.com/setup/wdmycloud, from here you're gonna download the setup software, run it, and then watch it find the my cloud storage drive on your home network.
Using the software, you're gonna be prompted to plug in your name and your email address in order to personalize this.
And then when you get to the end, you're gonna be prompted to download an additional desktop application and the WD SmartWare application, which is PC only.
The desktop app lets you transfer files manually, just like a standard hard drive.
The SmartWare app, though, is the secret sauce that automatically organizes all your content before transferring it over to the MyCloud.
It's PC only, though, so Mac users are gonna have to either embrace the chaos or organize manually.
Since this is a PC, I'm gonna use the SmartWare application to create a one-time backup of my computer.
It's gonna graph out all the different kinds of media it's gonna move over.
And it's a lot of stuff you do just as well to have left this thing run overnight.
Alright, now once everything's transferred over, it's time to jump onto your preferred laptop, computer, tablet, or smartphone, and check to make sure that everything's transferred over that's important to you.
You can download the My Cloud application for master PC or iOS or Android, noodle around, and make sure everything important is there.
Finally before getting rid of your old computer you're going to want to make sure to clear all of your personal information off of it before handing it off.
Now to do that you can dig up your old installation disc for your computer if you still have them and do a full format and reinstallation of the software.
Or you can dig up a copy of Darik's Boot and Nuke online and burn it to a cdr.
That's another way to go, if your feeling extra geeky.
Or, you can find a recycling center that will destroy your hard disk as part of the recycling process.
So, there you go, that's how to give your old desktop P.C. new life on a. Network attached storage drive, giving you some extra peace of mind, and, look at this!
Some extra room on your desk.
