Q: I need to use a flash drive to copy my files, photos and iTunes music from a PC that I share with my husband, then transfer them to a laptop. What is the easiest way to do it? Just click and drag each individual file? When I transfer the data to the laptop, do I just insert the flash drive and do a "save as"?

Yvette Irving-Johnson,

Burnsville

A: Transferring files, photos and songs can be done by dragging and dropping individual files or file folders. You can save time by "block defining" groups of files or folders; hold down the left mouse button and drag it over the files or folders before letting up on the button. For music, drag and drop the iTunes music folder, which can be found on your hard drive under Libraries, Music, iTunes, iTunes Media, Music.

But first determine the scope of the task, which will determine whether a flash drive or a higher-capacity external hard drive would be a better device for transferring the data. (You can, of course, move the data via several transfers with a flash drive, but this can sometimes cause more work. For example, if your iTunes folder holds a lot of music, its size might exceed the capacity of your flash drive, forcing you to transfer only groups of songs rather than all of them at once.)

You can figure out in advance how big a storage device you need by right-clicking on the files or folders you plan to move, then clicking Properties. The "Size" category tells you how much data they contain. By adding up the totals, you'll quickly get an idea whether you need a flash drive or an external hard drive.

A 128-gigabyte flash drive with USB 3.0, the fast data transfer rate standard that will soon be common on new computers, costs about $120. A 1-terabyte portable hard drive (the equivalent of about 1,000 gigabytes) with USB 3.0 costs about $90.

You can drag and drop your transferred files and folders to the C drive, but first rename your iTunes folder to avoid having it overwrite an existing iTunes folder on the laptop. (Highlight and right click the iTunes folder and choose rename from the list. Type a new name and press the "enter" key.)

Store the renamed iTunes folder in the Libraries, Music folder of the laptop. In iTunes, go to File and click "Add folder to library." You'll be taken to the Music folder; add the renamed iTunes folder to iTunes.

Q: I just bought a used 2011 Apple iMac and I'm having difficulty downloading Adobe Flash Player to watch videos. Does the iMac support Flash?

Peter Clement, Minneapolis

A: The iMac does support Adobe Flash Player, although Adobe says you may need to temporarily disable your anti-virus software in order to download Flash. The download at tinyurl.com/ab9wcl8 is for Macs with operating system versions from OS X 10.6 to OS X 10.9. Flash works with the Safari, Firefox and Opera browsers.

E-mail tech questions to steve.j.alexander@

gmail.com or write to Tech Q&A, 425 ­Portland Av. S., ­Minneapolis, MN 55488. Include name, city and telephone number.