I got a new desktop, finally! So today was the day to get it up and running. I loaded the new scanner. No problems. Then I loaded my LR and PS programs. NO PROBLEM! However, I had downloaded some NIK plug-ins and when I went to get them, apparently they're no longer free? Is there some way I can transfer them from my old laptop to my new desktop? I've sort of become addicted to using the detail extracter! And how do I copy my LR catalog over to the new computer?

Something weird: I had to resign into UHH. And now the background of it on my screen is yellow instead of whatever it was before. Hummmmm. I guess it's OK.

UHH requires log-in from any new device. If you didn't log out from your laptop, your account will always show you as being logged in...to everyone but yourself I can't believe you didn't always have the yellow background! I've gone through multiple computers and Chromebooks since joining UHH in 2012 and have always seen yellow.

If you got Nik when Google owned it, look in your laptop folders for one called "Google." Nik should be in there. There are folders for each module: Color Efex, Silver Efex, Viveza etc. You can copy all to a thumb drive if you have one with enough space and then copy to the new computer, but I'm thinking there's more to it (an "install" file that may not be with the others). Someone who has recently done the steps may be able to better advise.

I got a new desktop, finally! So today was the day to get it up and running. I loaded the new scanner. No problems. Then I loaded my LR and PS programs. NO PROBLEM! However, I had downloaded some NIK plug-ins and when I went to get them, apparently they're no longer free? Is there some way I can transfer them from my old laptop to my new desktop? I've sort of become addicted to using the detail extracter! And how do I copy my LR catalog over to the new computer?

Something weird: I had to resign into UHH. And now the background of it on my screen is yellow instead of whatever it was before. Hummmmm. I guess it's OK.

I save/keep full copies of all downloaded program files I typically (or seldom, or rarely, or even these days never) use. Similarly, I save program/app .exe files from CD/DVD installation discs, and these are all placed on a WD (Western Digital) 1 Tb USB external 'Passport' drive. Once a year (or so), or if I've done a hardware upgrade of some kind, I do a complete re-install onto a wiped clean and freshly formatted prime 'C' drive (in my case, a 120 Gb SS drive). Once the OS and hardware software has been installed and updated, the most current versions of program files are installed from the USB external, then install any updates/patches that might've become available in the meantime. I then de-frag the prime disc (the 'C' drive), turn the computer off, re-connect the (again, in my case, on the computer on which I'm writing this) the four other physical drives (that hadn't been touched during the re-format/re-install process) installed in my computer, re-start, then set those other drive's values and parameters.

In effect, on the software side of things, a computer is a series of 'on/off' switches. Whenever anything is added to or taken away from a system or a set of programs dependent on the OS, not only does the new 'switch' live in the registry, the old one, the one that's been upgraded or patched or supposedly been un-installed, still potentially lives there in the system's registry, and is a switch that must either be turned 'on' or be turned 'off'. Think of it this way: You can drive from your town to the next town over in a matter of, what? minutes? Let's say there's even been a few traffic lights that were red, its still what? a matter of minutes? But if you want to drive from your town to the next town over by way of Boise ID, or Walla Walla WA, or Podunk SomewhereelseUSA, its probably gonna take you a whole lot more than a matter of a couple of minutes, right? Especially since there were eighteen bazillion traffic lights along the way, and odds are, half of those turned red as you approached. All those extraneous other way out there somewhere else places --with their stop lights and pit stops and who knows? maybe a stop to take a picture, or fix that damned flat tire-- are the equivalent of the 'switches' your computer had no choice but to go through --despite the fact that the question --'yes' or 'no'-- not only had to be asked, it had to be answered. And whether or not the answer was yes or no, it took a whole lot of time to get to where you wanted to get to, And that's not even counting the occasional hardware/software incompatibility issue (the roadbump?) that might pop up and need to be resolved by your OS without you even knowing it to get where: to somewhere a couple minutes away in the next town over? Ok, that's just an analogy; now, our computers do that truckin' in milliseconds. But which is "more elegant"/more efficient? a quarter of a millisecond or ten milliseconds?

And people think their computer runs slower than it used to. Crikey. I wonder why? Sort of like asking, 'why are my windows dirty?' (Answer being..... duh! wash 'em once in a while!)

Sorry for the long-winded rant/roll. I was going to say I'd be glad to send you a copy of the free version of the NIC software I've got archived. But I see you've got that situation covered..... Hope you like your new computer.