I'd suggest looking at freeware backup programs, as the OP indicated.
RE your comment that some of the folders are "HUGE" -- do you mean
Megabyte-wise, or do you mean number-of-files-wise? If the latter, I'd
recommend using a utility to check and be sure that no folder/subfolder
has more than 100 files, which is typically the limit that and one
folder should have. By this I mean that each subfolder, incl the
top-level folder *each* should have no more than 100 files, maximum.
It's often recommended to cut this number down, esp for older systems,
like your "older machine," say to around a max of 40 per folder.
To do a diagnostic on this, if it's a concern, try the freeware version
of TreeSize to get number of folders, files, subfolders, and their
respective file sizes. There are several other freeware utilities that
do a similar function.
If you have folders/subfolders with more than 100 files each, then it
would probably be good to move these to a new folder or subfolder.
There are freeware utilities that can help you out with this also.
Finally, there are a few freeware tools, I think typically called
"optimizers" that work on the principle of the app you mention, "Burn
To The Brim," which calculates best configuration/number of CD's you'll
need to backup your files. It does, as you indicate, take some time to
"master" this app.
Another freeware prog which is very nice is "Ignition."
http://www.kcsoftwares.com/index.php?ignition
There are a couple of others, I think, but I can't recall their names
right now. Also, some CD burners have a similar feature built into
them, telling you how many CD's you'll need for the set of
folders/subfolders you've selected.
Recommended CD burners:
CDBurnerXP
BurnAtOnce
EasyBurning
Again, as the OP indicated, you may want to look at backup solutions
that have CD burning capability as well as just CD burners themselves.
[Some backup progs have burning to CD built in.]
The last one has some very nice features for doing filenames, tho I
haven't tested it out much yet. If you check alt.comp.freeware you'll
find other recommended CD Burners/Backup progs. If you don't have easy
Usenet access, you can always go to groups.google.com, and read/post
thru there.
Finally, if you want to ensure full filename compatability with older
systems, you MAY need to cut your long file names [LFN] down to a max
of 64 characters. A real pain, I know, believe me, as I'm forced into
doing this now myself. The Joliet standard will give you LFN up to 64
characters, meaning the CD's will be readable on an older Win98 pc.
To check for LFN length, use the freeware tool {Long Filename Finder."
http://www.dcsoft.com/products/longff/longff.htm
Simply input your folder/subfolder you're testing, and input the
maximum length you'll accept, like 64 or whatever. [I think there's an
option in LFNFinder to have it do subdirectories - be sure you check
this if you need it.] Then hit the GO key and you'll get a list of
filenames that exceed your spec. You can then go thru the list and
*manually* rename them in the prog. Then, run the app again to be sure.
If you don't care if the LFN text is cut, then you can use any of a
number of freeware file renamers that can truncate names to the length
you specify. Just one of many I can think of right now is Bulk Rename
Utility - very nice, lots of options. Maybe too many for some users.
Several simple renamers can do easy truncation to X number of
characters.
Remember, too, that in your CD burner, you will need to check the
various options for filename length and select those you need.
Generally, 64 filename length will ensure compatability on older
systems back to Win98, maybe Win95 [not sure if the latter]. If you
have a *really, really* old system, then you'll obviously need to go to
olde DOS 8.3 names. [Like for Win 3.1x or DOS.]
One final thing about filenames/renaming. Some older systems won't
recognize files with what they interpret as "weird characters" in
filenames. IE, some older systems have problems with the "[" square
bracket and may change automatically or ask you if you want to rename
to a "(" or a "_" etc. You should be aware of this as well depending on
the nature of your older machine.
Sorry, I've probably gone into too much detail here. Best way is to try
burning a CD with selected files and see if the older system can read
it. You can also install a freeware utility like CDCheck on your older
system to ensure that the burned CD's are readable.
