I have been thinking
@Annb about if you ended up with 2 laptops to access everything you needed to.
Apologies if you know this this.
Like
@dunelm I use the cloud BUT I live in an internet dead-spot despite being in a populated town.. .And quite a bit of the time I want to work and I am unable to transfer from iPad mini to my old iPad Pro if my signal is down. I use a mobile wifi, I do not have a phone line. This is the video editing because not enough memory on one device. And so I use a usb memory stick to transfer what I need to, to another device. This is then independent of any wi fi signal.
When I had a laptop many years ago, I have several old laptops which were given me (the oldest being the xp, never connected to the internet which I watch DVD's on, very cheap they are in the charity shops now), the newest being a couple of netbooks (small in screen size and memory, just 16GB on one) with window 8's from many years ago. I had one of those external clumsy back up units, and using that I backed up stuff from the 16GB red netbook (it was a lovely responsive laptop who's only failing was its memory size), whereas the other netbook, a white one with more memory hated connecting up to the internet and was always arguing with me and the internet. So, I would use the external back up unit to move photos (I did a lot of photo editing then) from one device to the other.
I am assuming you have an external clumsy bulky back up unit for your back ups? This was how I worked on Ancestry. The red almost no memory netbook was great on being responsive in downloading Ancestry stuff, but the white, more memory netbook often refused to download from the Ancestry site.
I have never understood how to back up to a CD. I am clueless on that. I have these blank cd's and years later they are still blank....
I have never had anyone to help me with computers, so many a time I was days and despairing how to work out something simple...
I don't know if any of this helps.
PS It's the bungalow that is the internet dead-spot. Sometimes the mobile wi fi works, sometimes it doesn't. But I have recently changed internet provider which is now much much better in my bungalow. However, in the potting shed the mobile wi fi internet connection works amazingly, is very responsive, very quick...I have an electric lead from the garage across the garden to the potting shed when I have days I need to camp out in there for internetty stuff....for leccy blanket and kettle....