The latest and final version for Windows is: Picasa 3.9.141 build 259 and the latest version for Mac is: Picasa for Mac version 3.9Īfter installing, go to Tools > Options > General tab and make sure "Check for Updates" is not check marked.
Make sure the latest version of Picasa is installed, see " Picasa final version"
(3) Prepare the new PC to receive your photos If you have Photo folders on an external drive, and that drive is going to be transferred to the new PC, AND be assigned the same drive letter as it had on the old PC it is not necessary to copy those photo folders, but instead, transfer the drive to the new PC and mount it to the same drive letter during the paste process when called for below. The goal is to have a complete copy of all Photo folders paths so they can be duplicated on the new PC. Make a folder on the external drive called something like OtherPhotosĬopy any folders outside of My Pictures into OtherPhotos and either remember or recreate the whole folder path of these photo folders.Įxample if you have a folder in Documents called "Old wedding photos," create a Documents folder inside OtherPhotos on the external drive, and copy the complete "Old wedding photos" folder to that new Documents folder. The goal is for the Photos folder to contain a copy of every file and folder in My Pictures on the old PC. Repeat the above step multiple times with remaining files and folders in My Pictures / Pictures until you have all them copied into the Photos Folder. Go to the external drive and into the Photos folder and right-click in an empty area and select Paste. Select a few or many files and folders in the My Pictures / Picture folder, then right click on one of them and select Copy. Make a folder on the external drive called something like "Photos" (don't call it Pictures or My Pictures to avoid confusion).
These settings are in the Windows File Explorer View Options menu depending on Windows version. Make sure Windows File Explorer is set up to not Hide hidden files and folders, and to Show extensions for known file types.
The reason for this is you want all the photo folders and the Picasa Database to match each other. Note: Exit Picasa on the old PC and make sure you don't start it again until after you have copied all your photo folders and your database to the external drive. (1) Make a backup of all photo folders to an external hard drive If there are photo folders on external drive(s), the drive letter and folder path must be the sameĮxample: if the old drive path was P:\Photos, the drive must be mounted as P: on the new PC The path to any folders being watched outside of pictures must be the same The path to the pictures folder must be the same on both.Įxample: C:\users\\Pictures on Win7, Win8.1, Win10, or Vista The User name must be the same on both because the user name is part of the path. The version of Windows on both machines must be compatible, either XP on both or Windows 7, 8, 10, or Vista on both.
If the old computer has Windows XP and the new computer has Windows 7, 8, 10 or Vista, follow this link to move your pictures (not the Picasa database) to the new computer: Move photos to a new computerĬopying the photos and the Picasa database will only work if your full path to the photo folders is the same on the old and new computers: Example: both computers have Windows XP or both can have other versions of Windows (such as Vista, Win7, Win8.1, and Win10) because they all use the same folder structure. WARNING: These instructions will work only if both the old and the new computers have the same Windows version. If you lose one folder or photo, you can find it in the backup and copy it back to the photo collection on your computer. If something unexpected happens to your photo collection and you need to restore it to the way it was when the backup was done, use the techniques outlined in steps (3), (4), (5) and (6) as necessary. Store the external drive in a safe place so your backup will be safe from fire, deletion, or theft. Make a backup of the Picasa database as outlined in Step (2) below. Make a backup of all photo folders as outlined in Step (1) below. Before beginning, back up your photo collectionįor the best backup, consider writing all Face Tags to the photo metadata as outlined in the Optional steps further below.