Transfering from media cards to DVD About This Page:

[trixiedixie]

OK, computer's burner is on the fritz, really wanting to pay off cc debt in these times so we want to wait as long as we can before replacing. (C drive is so small that replacing the DVD burner, I dont know if the system could take it). Where is the best, most archival, they really are on there, place to take cards to make DVD's and not print pics. (I have wonderful Epson so I print my own).

Anyone able to tell I dont trust DVD's and miss negatives?

[A & J's Dad]

Unless you're talking about a very small volume of DVD's, I don't think you'll find a service that will be cost effective. We needed to duplicate 50 DVD's of data a few weeks ago. I don't know what the least expensive quote was exactly. But I do know we purchased an 8 drive DVD duplicator for $380 that was less than the lowest bid for the duplication. I am also finding out that DVD's are not the best things in the world for archival purpose. They do scratch easily and data is more easily corrupted because of scratches. I use a 1T external drive and do a full backup once a month and incrementals once a week.

Cheers
Craig

[LizardCop]

For what you can buy a new computer for, that would be your best bet. By the time you pay someone to copy the cards to a DVD, it'll add up fast.

Like Craig, I have a 1TB server drive on my system and things get backed up regularly. I also burn them to DVD, verify the DVD, then place the DVD in a cool, dry, safe place so they aren't messed with and scratched. I also make at least 2 DVD's of everything.

It is easier to store and safeguard DVD's and hard drives than it was to store negatives/slides. I still have thousands and thousands that I have copied to digital, but have kept "just in case"...

[trixiedixie]

Yea, and I realize this computer is only gonna live till Jan...so with a new DVD burner I guess Ill be fine.

Be careful of relying on external drives, I had one crash and burn this summer one week prior to the warranty being up. We still have one but for my pics the new computer will have 3 TB drives plus the external and we will have a mirror drive plus carbonite backup service for $50 year.

I like the idea of 2 DVD's of everything. That will have to be in my plan as well.
Thanks!

[modisney]

I'm not sure if they're available for movies but for my photos, I back them up to archival gold c.d.s The photo shop swears by them for photos. Maybe I'm a sucker. Anybody have thoughts on them?

[Chikabowa]

If you want, you could always upload your pictures to an online service - I really like mpix.com - and then order a CD/DVD through them. It would run you a little money, but at least then all your pictures would be stored online as well as having a CD/DVD back up.

[trixiedixie]

Originally Posted by modisney

I'm not sure if they're available for movies but for my photos, I back them up to archival gold c.d.s The photo shop swears by them for photos. Maybe I'm a sucker. Anybody have thoughts on them?

Yes I was using those very archival for 100 years DVD's when my DVD burner went out, probably ruining 2 of them! But I will use those exclusively on the pics.
Popular photography always has interesting adds for things like gold DVD's that no one else talks about/

[trixiedixie]

I was using the gold DVD's when my burner stopped working prob killing 2 of them!
I will use them as they are good for 100 years.
Popular photography always has a lot of neat things in their ads like the gold dvds that you dont see anywhere else...

[WillCAD]

Originally Posted by trixie lamb

OK, computer's burner is on the fritz, really wanting to pay off cc debt in these times so we want to wait as long as we can before replacing. (C drive is so small that replacing the DVD burner, I dont know if the system could take it). Where is the best, most archival, they really are on there, place to take cards to make DVD's and not print pics. (I have wonderful Epson so I print my own).

Anyone able to tell I dont trust DVD's and miss negatives?

If your system supported a DVD burner before, it will support a new one. Size of the C: drive is not a factor, except that the C: drive is often used as a holding area for burning stuff to a disk. Example: if you have 4 memory cards to burn, you will have to combine the pics from all 4 onto the C: drive before burning. Once burned, you can take them off the C: drive if you are desperate for space, but if you do, be sure that you have burned at least 2 copies of the DVD first.

A new DVD burner can be found for under $30 if you shop online, particularly during the Xmas sale season. Here is a good one for only $21 from NewEgg:
Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - CD / DVD Burners

Originally Posted by trixie lamb

Yea, and I realize this computer is only gonna live till Jan...so with a new DVD burner I guess Ill be fine.

Be careful of relying on external drives, I had one crash and burn this summer one week prior to the warranty being up. We still have one but for my pics the new computer will have 3 TB drives plus the external and we will have a mirror drive plus carbonite backup service for $50 year.

I like the idea of 2 DVD's of everything. That will have to be in my plan as well.
Thanks!

If you make multiple copies of your disks, take one complete copy and keep it at work, or Mom's house, or someplace else. This is called "off-site backup" and is an insurance policy against total disaster, such as a flood or house fire, where you might lose both your computers and backup media.

Also, if you're planning on buying a new computer in January, you might consider a few minor upgrades to extend the life of the current machine. The new DVD burner is cheap, but the best upgrade you could give it would be a new hard drive. You can either put in a second hard drive, which would be D: drive, or replace the current C: drive with a larger one. A 500gb drive will cost you about $70:
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKB 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

I recommend putting in a second drive and moving all of your data files (pics, music, movies, documents, email storage, everything) to the D: drive. Use C: for operating system and applications, and D: for data storage. Set up both computers EXACTLY the same - same folder names in the same place, etc. Map your burners to the same drive letter (I use R: for my DVD recorder drive). This way, whichever computer you're on will have the same stuff in the same place at all times.

When you plug them both into your router to share your high-speed internet connection, they will also be connected to each other, allowing you to synchronize files between the two machines, giving you yet another layer of backup protection. But to do this effectively, having the same folders in the same place with the same name on both machines is a MUST.

Organizing your files this way also makes it easy to back them up to DVD, because all your files are together in one organized folder structure. You can dump your files onto a DVD or two quickly and easily when they're all together, but if they are spread apart all over you have to waste time finding them before you can burn them.

NOTE: Since your old computer is older, I assumed that it uses an older drive connection called IDE. Both of the drives I linked to use this connection. But you need to check before buying, because your computer might use the newer SATA interface for connecting hard drives and DVD drives, and if so, you'll need to buy the appropriate models. Prices will be roughly the same for SATA drives, but one advantage will be that you will have more options - SATA hard drives come in much larger sizes than the older IDE drives, so for a few more bucks, you can add a 750gb or even a 1tb drive to your old computer instead of the 500gb I linked to.