[REQUEST] Client desparately needs Picasa photo editor

[LedHed]

I have a client who is screaming at me to install Picasa on her new computer. I tried to explain that Google killed Picasa and she should use Google photos instead. She asked me to try and find Picasa for her. All the links I found are sketchy, to say the least.

I would like to know if anyone has an old install file, or if anyone knows where I could find one. Alternative software suggestions would also be helpful.

Thanks in advance,
Andy

 

[Joep]

I find Softpedia pretty trustworthy https://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Graphic/Graphic-Viewers/Picasa.shtml

 

[Your PCMD]

I had a couple clients that needed it, so try this: Picasa
The link above is on my website by the way.

As far as alternatives goes:

Phototheca
Windows Photo Gallery
PhotoScape
FastStone Image Viewer <-- basically a clone of Picasa

 

[LedHed]

Thanks for the links. I've downloaded it. I'll also mention the alternatives to her. Thanks again.
Andy

 

[dannyict]

there/s always this http://www.oldversion.com/windows/picasa/

 

[Larry Sabo]

... and archive.org: https://archive.org/details/picasa_3_9

 

[Fred Claus]

Fast Stone you say is a Picasa clone. Does it do the image editing that Picasa did? I should just try it.

 

[Larry Sabo]

FastStone Image Viewer is my default image viewer/editor but it doesn't compare with Picasa in many ways -- particularly Picasa's ease of browsing through all your photos without hopping from directory to directory.

I use it to browse through recovered photos while creating a video of the experience, which video I can then share with data recovery customers without providing the full recovered images. During the viewing, I open the occasional image to show what it looks like full-screen, hit escape then continue with the fast scrolling of thumbnails. Picasa's Folder Manager lets me show just the recovered photos, not other photos on my system.

 

[fincoder]

The Windows 10 Photos app isn't that bad, I direct customers to that. Already installed, has some of the features of Picasa, and is easy to use.

I try not to install unsupported software for customers. It's easy enough to say the app is no longer available because Google discontinued it, they can't blame us the technicians for that!

One day the old Picasa won't run on the latest OS and users will be forced to use something else. Why put off the inevitable?

 

[Porthos]

The Windows 10 Photos app isn't that bad, I direct customers to that. Already installed, has some of the features of Picasa, and is easy to use.

I try not to install unsupported software for customers. It's easy enough to say the app is no longer available because Google discontinued it, they can't blame us the technicians for that!

One day the old Picasa won't run on the latest OS and users will be forced to use something else. Why put off the inevitable?

Same here.

 

[LedHed]

For the record, I DID tell her my concerns about running unsupported software. Also, I refused to install it for her. I copied it to her desktop via remote, and I told her that if she wanted it installed, she would have to do it herself. She was insistent and I didn't feel like fighting it.

 

[alexsmith2709]

For the record, I DID tell her my concerns about running unsupported software. Also, I refused to install it for her. I copied it to her desktop via remote, and I told her that if she wanted it installed, she would have to do it herself. She was insistent and I didn't feel like fighting it.

I think this would have been my course of action too. Tell her shes on her own but at least let her have a known legitimate installer so she doesnt make things worse.

 

[LedHed]

@alexsmith2709
That was my thinking, too. Before I got the link from this forum, she texted me and said, "I found it, but what is Slim Cleaner?" I put a stop to that before any damage was done, thankfully.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Just another caution that I've learned over the years...sometimes when installing "old software", the installation process will put some step on the toes of some .DLL or .OCX file or something similar..over writing it with an older one. This can "break" software that relies on the newer version that got over written with the old one. Yes...yes...technically installation programs should detect a "newer" version of some required file already exists and it won't over write it with an older one..but ...hey, software (and its programmers) aren't perfect. This issue can lead to many hours of your time troubleshooting odd quirks.

 

[Your PCMD]

One day the old Picasa won't run on the latest OS and users will be forced to use something else. Why put off the inevitable?

That may be true, but as @Computer Bloke stated, its not today. Proof in point, I have installed and still use Sonic Foundry Acid Pro 4 which was released in 2002 and I bought it in 2003 and it runs on my Windows 10 Pro. It works with no issue at all.

@YeOldeStonecat has a very good point, but who's to blame if you don't create a restore point?

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

More likely instead of restoring...you'd be reinstalling that "newer" software, after time spent troubleshooting.
Which may turn around and "break" your old software..although newer .DLLs (and such) are usually decent at backwards compat.

 

[carmen617]

When clients want legacy software transferred to a new system or reinstalled after a N&P, the first place I look is their old download folder. You'd be surprised how many of them have never emptied it, and the legacy installer is just sitting there waiting to be run again. If you use FABS to migrate, their legacy settings will be there as well - easy peasy.

I also don't have a problem installing "unsupported" older software that they are comfortable using, although I always tell them the software is old and could quit working at any time. It's their computer, they are comfortable using the software, and it's almost always marketing strategies that force them to upgrade, not improvements in the functionality of the product. I'm working for the client, not Google, Microsoft, Adobe or Intuit.

 

[Porthos]

although I always tell them the software is old and could quit working at any time.

This. With 10 feature upgrades, it can go at any time.

 

[fincoder]

right now and for the foreseeable future Picasa (and most other "old" software) will work perfectly well

When it comes to Windows 10, the foreseeable future is only 6 months at the most.