OT Computer Question

I have a lot (100"s) of photos I need to save from my windows photo gallery. Ive been puting them on DVD-RW disk. 4.7GB/2Hrs sp mode. When I put a disk in the machine the disk needs to be formated. This takes forever to format. Did I get the wrong type of disk? Is there a way around having to format a disk or a better way to get this job done.

I usually use DVD-R disks. Much less expensive, and most people never re-write those disks anyhow, and I have had limited sucess in doing so anyhow (burn it once, then just destroy if you are finished with the disk and use another). However, no it is much simpler to just get a USB flash type device, and backup or save to that. A lot depends on how much you have to save. I have a 32 GB flash drive I carry and keep most everything backed up to that. Another option I use a lot is I have a couple of the Passport type portable drives. You should be able to purchase at WM for around $100, and holds 1 or 2 TB, USB connector, and you can back up a LOT of photos or data to those.

I would just buy a couple of USB flash drives. They are much faster and easier to work with, plus I don't worry about storing them. They can be had relatively cheap. Watch the sales and you can buy 32GB drives for 15 -25 dollars. Much better than DVD's which sometimes have problems if you need to read them with a different machine than written with.

I agree with Ron-MO. I have only used thumb drives and a Passport type drive since the backup file from my wife's office got too big for one CD-RW. If you have a newer router you can plug the Passport drive into the router and save files from any computer on your network.

The biggest problems with saving important information to a removable disk are their relatively short life and constant changes in format. (Do you know anyone with a working 5 1/4 floppy disk drive?)

I also think something is wrong if you are having to format a disk every time you try to use one.

(quoted from post at 09:54:35 07/14/14) I have a lot (100"s) of photos I need to save from my windows photo gallery. Ive been puting them on DVD-RW disk. 4.7GB/2Hrs sp mode. When I put a disk in the machine the disk needs to be formated. This takes forever to format. Did I get the wrong type of disk? Is there a way around having to format a disk or a better way to get this job done.

Click to expand...

he dicks I used to use worked right out of the box. Your computer or the disk might not be right? I stopped using them. Your next new computer will likely not even have capability to read them,,,,,,,like tape, 5¼" floppies, 3½ diskettes, CD's. I use thumb drives, USB connected external hard drives. SIL uses one of the many "cloud" services, as some let you use pretty large amounts for no cost. I have used "cloud" a little.

(quoted from post at 09:54:35 07/14/14) I have a lot (100"s) of photos I need to save from my windows photo gallery. Ive been puting them on DVD-RW disk. 4.7GB/2Hrs sp mode. When I put a disk in the machine the disk needs to be formated. This takes forever to format. Did I get the wrong type of disk? Is there a way around having to format a disk or a better way to get this job done.

Click to expand...

he dicks I used to use worked right out of the box. Your computer or the disk might not be right? I stopped using them. Your next new computer will likely not even have capability to read them,,,,,,,like tape, 5¼" floppies, 3½ diskettes, CD's. I use thumb drives, USB connected external hard drives. SIL uses one of the many "cloud" services, as some let you use pretty large amounts for no cost. I have used "cloud" a little.

I back my photo's up to a USB flash drive and also to an external hard drive (so I have everything backed up times two).

After backing up photos to the external hard drive, I disconnect it from the computer AND unplug it. That way photos are still safe from lightening/electrical issue or from a computer virus.

Am considering "cloud" storage too... am just undecided about it yet.

Those disks are extremely slow, migrate to USB flash drive.

You say you are burning to DVD-RW, but are you really using DVD+RW? The disk formats are quite different, as DVD+RW supports random access, while DVD-RW does not. Only DVD+RW disks must be formatted.

I don't know why you are using reusable (RW) media for this purpose. It's not like you're going to erase your DVDs and reuse them.

I second the notion. Go with one or more flash drives.

SweetFeet,
When you get lots of data on the cloud, I bet it wont be long before there is a small fee.
Then it wont be cheep, but will be less expensive than down loading all your pix from the cloud to external drives. you could loose a lot.
Tom R Ont

JMO

Lots of discussion about different archive media formats. Two things to consider when archiving files:
1. Will the media be readable when I need to recover the files on it?
2. Will I be able to read the media with the hardware and software I'm likely to have on hand when I need my files?

Magnetic media tends to "lose bits" over time. Even though errors can be corrected by reading the checksum, at a certain point the errors become too numerous to correct. When magnetic tape was the storage media of choice, tapes would be re-recorded periodically to refresh the data. Likewise when hard disk drives are used for archive. If you don't want to periodically refresh them, you probably shouldn't use hard disks for archive storage. Not to mention that a hard disk that's been sitting on the shelf for years may not want to spin up.

I'm pretty sure that non-volatile memory devices such as USB "thumb drives" and SD cards have similar problems to magnetic media when it comes to long-term storage. Good for short-term backup, but not so good for long-term archive.

These days, about the best storage media you can get are archive-grade DVD-Rs. They are pricey, but have a 100 year life, making them comparable to microfilm for longevity.

The ability to read media after we record on it is something we take for granted, but we shouldn't. Anybody have a 5-1/4" floppy disk drive on their PC? Or even a 3-1/2"? It was only a few years ago the 3-1/2" floppy disk was THE standard media for Mac and PC. I haven't seen a floppy disk drive on a PC in years. And there were a dozen or more floppy formats that came and went before the 3-1/2" format was standardized.

Think you'll be able to read a hard disk in the future? After all, they're all ATA, right? Guess again: If you have an "old" parallel ATA drive on the shelf, chances are your current PC is serial ATA only and you'll need an adapter to read the PATA drive. Likewise, we assume USB will be around for a long time. Yes it will, but future USB implementations may make it difficult to read USB 1.0 and 2.0 devices. And eventually USB will hit a wall and be replaced by something faster. The reason 9-track tape had such a long life in the IT industry was there was plenty of hardware around that could read it. Meanwhile dozens of tape cartridge formats have come and gone.

As for cloud-based storage, you should keep a copy of your most valuable data off-site in case of a real disaster. But if you just want to keep a copy of every photo and video you've shot, the cloud isn't so practical. It's faster to burn a DVD than to upload 4.7 gigabytes to the cloud.

I use 3 USB hard drives. One is on the computer all the time and Our files are back-up nightly. Another is in the safe and it gets updated every month. The third is off site and gets up dated periodically. Every year I rewrite one of them completely. Currently I have nearly 400GB of files including Photo's and Video's. I prefer to keep this kind of update as with media changes eventually they will not be readable. All of the kids know that this data is stored this way and several know how to retrieve it. It is too much for cloud storage. 3 years ago we lost a hard drive. After we got a new one the computer was back to normal all programs and data in 4 hours. We had to reinstall Windows and all programs and then just copy the data off the USB drive. We use GoodSync to do the nightly copies.

Yes, before uploading to any cloud storage - I would definitely have to pare-down my photos to the best shots only. Because when I go junkyarding, I can easily shoot 1,000 in one afternoon.

Family photos also need to be sorted through too.

Sorting photos is on my "probably will never get 'er done TO-DO list.