Saturday, December 29, 2007

how to do a GoToMyPC photo transfer


I love GoToMyPC. It's a program you can install on your computer which allows you to remotely access your computer from any other internet-connected computer in the world. You use any browser for access, and pay a small monthly fee:



When I've been overseas I've been able to log in to my computer and answer email almost as if I was there in person. My own computer screen appears as a full-size window in the browser on the computer I am using. Move the mouse, and my own mouse thousands of miles away moves at the same time.

Which brings me to another handy application. My aged mother-in-law - who you've read about in previous posts - is not computer literate. I knew there would be a long learning curve, so I installed GoToMyPC on her computer. It has been very useful in correcting daily problems that would have required a 30 minute drive across to her place each time.

But it has also been very useful in another way.

I started a Photo Album folder on her machine and transferred family photos to it through Skype. She has been viewing them almost daily.

But today I found a better way to make the transfer. It's a simple drag and drop.

It works like this: I have GoToMyPC open on her PC displaying her photo album folder on one of my screens.

On another screen I have a folder with the photos (JPEGs) I want to transfer to her machine. I simply select all and drag them across to the GoToMyPC screen, and they transfer without any problem.


In the photo above you can see the GoToMyPC window for my mother-in-law's computer is open on my left hand screen. The files are transferring from my picture folder on the right hand screen.

This afternoon I transferred 16 JPEGs of about 500 KB (half a MB) each, and it took just a few minutes. I captioned each one beforehand so they are ready for her to view straight away.

You don't have to have separate screens of course... you can also do it by minimizing the two windows - the GoToMyPC window and your own folder - on one screen.

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