Question creating CD/DVD backups on hard disk in XP

[Martha]

A question regarding preserving copies of my installation disks on a
backup hard drive to protect against loss on disks. I can understand
why images (e.g. ISO) are important to preserve bootability for
bootable installation disks (e.g. XP installation disk), but for
non-bootable disks such as application software and my data such as
picture albums, I can save space by creating compressed copies (e.g.
RARs) of such disks.

My question is - should I compress images of said disks, or should I
compress the actual folders & files on said disks? Seems to me like
creating images first is an unnecessary step.

Anyone?

Thank you

Big M

 

[Singapore Computer Service]

Hello,

For a few software programs, they may check the label of the disc which the
RAR format does not preserve.

For games software programs, some employ copy protection schemes that depend
on how the disc was created.

See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copy_protection#Copy_protection_for_computer_software
for more information on the various copy protection schemes.

Personally we recommend leaving it as a image unless you are sure it does
not require a physical media for installation. Hard to tell just by looking
at the files, you will need to test to be absolutely sure imaging is not
required.

Regards,
Singapore Computer Home Repair Service
http://www.bootstrike.com/ComputerService/
Video Conversion VHS Video8 Hi8 Digital8 MiniDv MicroMv
http://www.bootstrike.com/VHSVideoConvert/

 

[Martha]

Hello,

For a few software programs, they may check the label of the disc which the
RAR format does not preserve.

For games software programs, some employ copy protection schemes that depend
on how the disc was created.

See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copy_protection#Copy_protection_for_computer_software
for more information on the various copy protection schemes.

Personally we recommend leaving it as a image unless you are sure it does
not require a physical media for installation. Hard to tell just by looking
at the files, you will need to test to be absolutely sure imaging is not
required.

Regards,
Singapore Computer Home Repair Service
http://www.bootstrike.com/ComputerService/
Video Conversion VHS Video8 Hi8 Digital8 MiniDv MicroMv

Does ZIP preserve disk label do you know? Any other compression app?
Regards-
Big M

 

[Singapore Computer Service]

Hello,

Only imaging formats such as ISO preserve the labels.

There are compressed versions of imaging formats available. UIF, a format
developed by MagicISO is one of them. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MagicISO#Universal_Image_Format

Regards,
Singapore Computer Home Repair Service
http://www.bootstrike.com/ComputerService/
Video Conversion VHS Video8 Hi8 Digital8 MiniDv MicroMv
http://www.bootstrike.com/VHSVideoConvert/

 

[Artful Dodger]

Does ZIP preserve disk label do you know? Any other compression app?
Regards-
Big M

No, ZIP preserves even less information that does RAR.

Also, virtually all applications of any size are already compressed on
the install disk. While you might get a couple of percentage points
savings by using high level compression, IMHO it's hardly worth it
considering the time it takes, the extra complications involved, and
the price of storage today (1tb external drives are less than $100). I
vote for just keeping everything in ISO format and not having to dick
around with stuff.