A 'hidden cost' of being a pro Locked

So you want to be a pro, you love taking pictures, right? Got a passion for it do ya?
How do you feel about computers, data and such?

It's computer upgrade time. My main editing computer is a bit over 4 years old and LR keeps advancing. Add to the fact my kids' computer died and it's a 'perfect storm' of opportunity to upgrade my computer and give the old box to them.
Step one was finding and getting the new computer. Costco had a good deal on a ZT Systems unit. i7 quadcore, 16gb ram, 2Tb drive, can run dual monitors, card reader. I have monitors so that's good to go.
Fine print - they build them so it can take 2-3 weeks for it to arrive. Wait and do noting.
It arrives - so spend time here and there installing software and updates - LR, PS, fotofusion, firefox, FTP software, ProSelect, color calibration software and a number of other things.

Find all the necessary serial numbers, activate, update them, etc. All this took over a week doing bits here and there and getting my actual work done so that I can make the move from one computer to the other.
Backup ALL my data and STOP ALL WORK - don't want to edit pics on the 'wrong' computer and not have those files on the new one. Copying of 1.2Tb of data to a backup drive takes a while. I then had to copy that data onto the new computer. Actually, I copied to a drive and installed that drive in the new computer.
With one small hiccup...it has 6 SATA ports, 2 used (C drive and the DVD). Of the 4 open ports only 1 works...bad motherboard. But it took 2 days, reading the manual and getting into BIOS (which sees the drive) and Windows 8 (totally new to me) which doesn't see the drives, on the phone with tech support A, B and C and then warranty A and B....ZT has been great and quick to answer teh phone and call back - but still it's been 3 or 4 days of back and forth. A new MOBO is enroute...so middle of next week I get to swap it out and hopefully all goes well (done it before so no great shakes I hope).
OK, since I have a working computer today i plan to move the box into position. Wait..I need to get things shared on the network and copy over a few things from drive C to C - like lightroom catalogs.... Well, it's been 4 hours of drag, drop and wait...and I'm only copying over 1012/13 weddings, seniors, ports and misc - no sports leagues and nothing of previous years. Over a 1Gb network too.
After this I'll move the box and give dual monitors a go...see what I run into there, and calibrate them. An easy couple of hours I hope.
The point of all this is it's been nearly 5 weeks since I ordered a new computer - and I've spent 3 1/2 days this week doing nothing but data transfer and hardware troubleshooting, with a day to go, plus the time to swap and check the new MOBO next week.
This will easily be a full week of my time - that NOBODY pays for. I can't be editing, shooting, marketing or selling this entire week.
Of course i could probably have paid someone to do this work for me - but at what cost? I'd have to use this time to earn the money to pay them - and pay me too or i'd still have worked for free for a week.
This is one reason my 'office' computer hasn't been upgraded

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Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success. -Henry Ford

Just upgraded last year to an Intel I5 2500 Penguin.  I'm good for another 5 to 7 years.  Since closing my studio, I just do an occasional wedding and portraits, all on location.  2013 is gonna be bad, so the selling skills are going to be useful with these shoot and burn brides.

All this year I scanned what customers ordered, and transferred all my negatives to a second Seagate 3TB external hard drive.  No more negs!  Destroyed all my wedding negs from the past (up to 2004) after warning what was left of the non-divorced couples.  I'm expecting a bride from the past calling me to make an 5X7 of that particular photo I took with her grandma. Yeah, right!

So now I'm debating whether to sell the Bowen autopole system and backgrounds.  We'll see.

I hate to be "that guy," but this is why more and more professionals are using Macs. Not to say they never have problems or anything, but I recently upgraded my 5-year-old iMac to a brand new MacBook Pro. Loss of productive time? Maybe an hour or two copying things over. Time Machine keeps all my important stuff backed up. No screwing with drivers, hardware incompatibility, serial numbers, pre-loaded junk, etc, etc.

The up-front cost is a little higher, but you know you're getting quality hardware and the hours you lose screwing with a windows PC are worth a lot more than the difference in price.

I just upgraded my pc and I was done in less than a day.

Mas has nothing to do with it - moving 1.2tb of data takes a lot of time.

Serial numbers isn't a PC thing - I bought a full copy of LR 2, then upgrade to 3 then to 4. LR is now at 4.3 and upgrade are downloaded. TO make any install work you need to enter your serial number and if you done this with adobe stuff you know you need to find the original package - the SN that comes in the help/about box is missing 4 digits.

Installing software is no faster on a mac than a PC AFAIK.

And any new machine can be bad. I've bought many computers over the years but this is the first one bad out of the box - and if i had not installed another HD I'd never have known - so you may have bad computer and not know it.

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Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success. -Henry Ford

You must have little info on it then.
I have LR catalogs since 2009 - 90g or so just with them.
I have fotofusion and it keeps it's albums/templates in their own directory.
I have PS and LR presets and brushes and such - all has to be located and moved over.
I have over 800g of just customer images.
The plan was to backup the computer then restore that data on the new unit. So that means copying the data TWICE.

Sorry, but I can't risk losing a single file. and the old computer is essentially going off-network - so no ability to pop over there and see what file I'm missing should the need arise.

Just installing the software takes hours, updating windows can take more hours.

I've still got printer drivers to find, load, update. And share at lease one of them on the network. So far sharing in Win8 seems much easier and more reliable than in previous versions. But finding where some of these 'features' are is a bit more difficult.
In all previous versions of windows you hit "delete" and you're asked 'are you sure?" - win8 by default does not ask this. Sounds good- until you see a directory structure vanish before your eyes...spooky to say the least. So I had to find out where/how to undo that 'feature'.

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Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success. -Henry Ford

No not quite 800g of images but nearly 200. I'm on three different hard drives internal external and one on a local wiffi network. USB 3 made quick work of that back up. I'm not saying upgrading isn't pain, and it sounds like you had a pretty hard go of it.

p.s.  you're bang on about the pc vs mac thing.

Mac solution:

Hook up new computer with Firewire or Ethernet. Start Migration assistant and leave overnight. Start working next morning with a new computer with exactly the same setup you had on the old.

I backup the machine continually and keep 2-3 copies of everything on separate disks, keeping the contents of the work machine below 500 GB most of the time. Before migrating I clear out anything inactive.

Nils

If I bought a brand new Mac, brought it home, and had a problem, I'd drive it back to the Apple Store, they'd give me a new machine, and i'd be back in business the same day. No phone tag, no warranty mess, nothing. If it's outside the exchange window, I take it in, they fix it and give it back a few days later. I don't touch computer hardware anymore. My time is worth more than that.

All my Adobe serial numbers are available from their website if I log in an view my past purchases. If I'm migrating from an old mac, the software comes over already activated and I don't have to do anything with it.

Moving 1.2TB of data does indeed take a lot of time, but with a gigabit network or Wireless-N, it should be done overnight. Although I'd probably suggest that if you have 1.2TB of working data on your computer, you might want to refine your workflow a little bit. I tend to only keep current work on my computer's main drive and keep my back catalog on a USB 3 external drive. (in addition to backups) It's plenty fast to work on and I can just plug into another computer if i need to.

I dunno. Like I said, I really don't want to make this about Mac vs PC, but having reliable, relatively maintenance-free equipment is a godsend. Especially when you're using it for unbillable work. In my (fairly extensive) experience, a Mac pays for itself many times over.

''My time is worth more than that.''  Good point.  But as University photography student I always scratch my head when I see someone with a bran new mac and a kit lens attached to their Camera.

sorry I should make it clear that I was referring to other photography students.

because.....you're the expert?

merely trying to have rational approach.  A seasoned professional not wanting to waste time on an upgrade, it seem logical that he would pick something like a mac with an easy upgrade path.  A student on a budget at the beginning of their career should spend the little money they have judicially.  Am I wrong?

Re>Of course i could probably have paid someone to do this work for me - but at what cost? < It would probably be harder than you think to find someone to come to you who understands all the aspects.

My system is much less complicated than yours. 17 inch Samsung portable, 17 in HP portable, 11.6 inch Acer portable, and a HP desktop with only one monitor.

We pack up anything not working and take it to the service counter of Future Shop (think Best Buy, on commission) where between the service people and the sales people, things usually get fixed efficiently.

You're right about how time is sucked from your life, but maybe it's still less than mixing Dektol.

BAK

Recent upgrade. Mac to mac. Hook the two computers together. Start migration program. Have nice dinner. Return to office and restart machines. Begin working. No serial # mambo. No loose ends. All transparent. The secret to LR catalogs is to keep all image files and folders on separate HD's. NOT on the same drive with your system software, etc.

Mac. Life without the computer drudgery.

Also, every pro should have a back up computer just in case. Same upgrades, etc. One goes down you plug in the next one and keep on working. You DO have a back up camera, right?

Next upgrade will be between two machines with Thunderbolt. The migration should take minutes instead of hours.

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Austin based advertising and portrait photographer, and author of the book series, Minimalist Lighting, and the books: Commercial Photographers Handbook, Photographic Lighting Equipment, and, LED Lighting for Digital Photographers. www.kirktuck.com

So very very true.
But if say it aloud and you'll get labeled an iSheep fanboy or not a 'serious' computer user.

It's all crap. I was 100% windows for many a year. Software development, servers, enterprise use, home use - bespoke this - bespoke that - you name it.

Sure sticking with a PC is needed for some, but if a 'pro' photog is complaining about PC admin / upgrade hassles then they should spend some time with another pro who's Mac based and learn if switching will work for them.

IMHO unless you fall into one of these categories then you will have an easier time with a Mac.

1. You're extremely short on finances and even the cheapest used macs is unaffordable.

2. You're a high end gamer or tweaker and needs a hand built over-clocked watercooled SLI / Eyefinity rig.

3. You love everything about windows and would be depressed if working with it was not part of your life.

4. You have a medical condition meaning you are unable to lay down new memory pathways and therefore are unable to use ANY new hardware or software.

I could argue than if you fall into #2 or #3 you should still buy a Mac for your pro use and keep a PC rig too.

But hey what do I know, I'm clearly biased and caught up in some reality distortion field. Macs are overpriced toys for fools with more money than sense while I'm clearly unable to decide for myself whether my computer system fulfils my needs or perform my own cost / benefit analysis.

may I add one category.

1.  You can afford a very low end or used mac but you would prefer the added performance that you get for same money out of a pc.

I would love one, and I will be getting one of the portable models when the wife and I travel in a couple of years.

As a desktop, not yet anyway. No upgrade path. Need more memory? Want to add a bigger / faster SSD drive? Want to add or change anything in your current Mac and you are SOL. Almost like having a camera without interchangeable lens Just kidding. Have a great season everyone. Cheers.

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'The question is not what you look at, but what you see'
Thoreau

Not sure if I'd be scared or just an idiot to take my computer to someplace...assuming the data was still inside.
When I was young I was told the 'information age' was coming where 'information' would be where the value/money was in life.
Yep - I have 1.2tb of 'information' and value. I can't fathom losing it. I'd be bankrupt with a ruined reputation.

--
Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success. -Henry Ford

Norton ghost or something I suppose could do what you describe.
I have a system drive -windows, programs, LR catalogs on it.
I have a mirrored data drive(s) in the old box. Can't un raid/mirror them without data loss (so it warns me when I try) and besides, the new box has a 1tb drive for data vs 750 in the old so moving the data is gonna happen anyway. Last did it 4 years ago - but I had a LOT less data then!
I've had instances over the years where a copy operation fails - power fails, weird things happen, who knows. Some theorize windows has issues if you drag/drop/copy over 32,768 files at one time.
I do backups of both drives.
But moving from vista to win 8 you can't just copy everything over...it won't run/work. Is that a windows thing, a good or bad thing? It is what it is.
Fresh installs always run better than multiple upgrades/updates.

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Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success. -Henry Ford