So I recently did something completely stupid: forgot to back up everything on my MacBook Pro before installing Windows XP through BootCamp. Long story short, I was using too old of a version of XP (the one without Service Pack 2… I had that separately) and so it wouldn’t let me choose what I had specified to be partitioned. I ended up installing it OVER my Mac OS (VERY BAD!). I had to reinstall Snow Leopard (then find the CD that originally came with my laptop for some of the software like iMovie, iPhoto and GarageBand). Anyways, well I was trying to get everything back on my laptop when I stumbled across 2 programs that I wanted to share with everyone.

Schoolhouse

This is a neat program that lets you add homework and test grades to keep track of what’s due and also to keep track of your grade (it even calculates it for you if you have weighted grades.. provided that you know how it’s broken up). The free version only lets you have 20 items at a time, which should be more than enough if you remove old assignments (you won’t be able to correctly calculate your grade though). I bought a license and love it so far. I have it set up for all of my classes. It even lets you attach files to corresponding assignments. How neat is that?

Expod

I was searching the web for some program Mac-compatible to transfer my music back onto my computer. I ran across Senuti (backwards of iTunes) and it was pretty cool except the free trial (30 days) limits you to 1000 songs. That’s when I stumbled upon Expod. It’s completely free and lets you rename your song files to however you want.

If you’re wondering how to get applications (if you have an iPod Touch) onto your computer, it’s simple and you don’t need to download any programs whatsoever. First, make sure you’ve authorized your computer. Then, right click on your iPod (while in iTunes) and select “Transfer Purchases” and voila!

And don’t forget to back up everything! Don’t make the same mistake I did!

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