Things I did & a screw-up that solved big problems accidentally

Computer-related problems.

It can and will make a person batshit crazy.

I just solved 2 big ones by accident.

ONE

I have had a website problem for a while now, at least all of 2024, maybe 2023 too.

You won't see it on the front-end.

My website is Wordpress.

My media library folders were in triplicate across my dashboard for a very long time.

Uploading and organizing the back end worked but was annoying, and the interface looked wrong.

I played around with stuff and did some updates, nothing helped. I gave up.

Also I keep getting messages to update my php version.

PHP is a script that helps load a webpage from the server to the browser.

I have been trying to update my php for a very long time, but every time I do it, my site crashes so I have to roll back.

I have kept checking and trying this periodically. Nothing worked.

Last night I gave it another shot and updated every plugin on my website... my media folders went from triplicate to duplicate. Progress!

Php update still crashed the site.

I got frustrated and tired and quit.

Today I went back in...... idk how or why but my media folders are back to normal... so I went and updated the php again AND IT WORKED. I'm now on the latest version.

I don't know why or how but that solves 2 long-term website problems.

I guess servers needed time to process the updates from Friday which magically solved my other problems. Whatever, it works!

TWO

I run a 5 year old windows desktop at home.

Windows 11 has, inexplicably, taken up 118gb of a 125gb OS C:/ drive.

I have been trying for a long time to clean it up and minimize the size of Windows, which is the only thing on the drive.

I have scoured google and Reddit and tried a bunch of suggestions and nothing is working.

It's causing errors and is Not Good.

In desperation, I have even been considering the beginning thought process of having to get a new computer, which I don't want to do. My system is old but it is certainly Good Enough for what I need.

I am also out of Data storage, internally and externally.

This is important for my prints and setting up the image files, and personal archives.

I was going to get a huge (like 8TB) external SSD hard drive, but oh my god they are expensive.

Mark told me it might be better to have a few smaller ones, so if one drive fails I don't lose everything.

That made good sense so I ordered a 1TB solid-state external drive that was on sale for $64.

It arrived today.

I opened it and thought, wow that's small.

And then... where are the wires?

.... I accidentally ordered an internal drive.

Dangit.

And then I had the Bright! Idea! that MAYYYYBBBEEEE I could put a third hard drive in my computer, clone my current C:/ drive, make a larger partition for windows AND have more data storage.

I opened my computer, which wasn't nearly as dusty inside as I expected, saw an extra SATA connection, plugged the new hard drive in, got a cloning software for $20, changed the boot disk in BIOS, and IT ALL WORKS.

So my accidental wrong Amazon order solved my C:/ drive windows space issue AND gave me a nice 715gb internal data storage.

$85 to solve 2 problems is way better than the cost of a new external HD and/or a new computer eventually!