I might have made a huge financial mistake and I need some real advice. Three weeks ago, I splurged on my dream gaming setup with an RTX 4080 and an i7-13700K, spending my entire $3,200 emergency fund because I thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Fast forward to yesterday, and my six-year-old work laptop died without warning. As a freelance graphic designer, I relied on that laptop for my work. Now, I'm stuck using my phone to communicate with clients, while facing a brand new $3,000 gaming rig that can't even run Photoshop because I can't afford the software licenses right now. I'm totally panicking and trying to figure out if I should return some parts for a refund or if there's a way to fix this without going into debt. Has anyone else been in a similar situation?
3 Answers
You might be able to reuse some licenses if you can extract them from your old laptop's SSD. Just remember, you can't just copy programs over; they need to be properly installed with their licenses. If everything works out, you won't need to buy new licenses right away!
First off, you should really just install Photoshop on that new rig. It's crucial for your work! And if your old laptop isn't completely dead, consider pulling the hard drive and using it externally to retrieve your files. Always back up your work, just in case!
Another option is to pop that hard drive from your laptop into your new desktop. This way, you can boot from it and run all your existing software. It's a bit of a workaround, but it could really tide you over until your laptop situation is sorted out.
True! Just remember to install them correctly. Licensing can be tricky, but many software licenses allow transfers if you uninstall them first.