Best way to backup files on CD-R or CD-RW?

[RUMPLE]

First off, I’d like to say hello as I am new here .

Currently I have all, what I consider essential, files backed up on
CDRW (DOCs, XCLs, PDFs, JPGs etc.). Files such as DOCs and XCLs I’ve
been having to erase the CDRW in order to replace them with the newer
version. There has to be a better way, can’t those files be
overwritten, like back in the 3.5" days? I searched on this site as
well as a couple of others to see if anyone had this dilema before, I
didn’t find but one. The suggestion was to use CD-R (being cheap &
all), create multisessions on them and go from there. First of all, I
don’t recall CD-Rs being that cheap and secondly I have no clue to
what is meant by multisession or how it would work. I have a hard time
believing in this day and age a file cant be overwritten on a CD?

Please can someone help me with this. I know my way around my PC, but
this has me stumped (sadly enough).

Thank you all in advance[/b]

 

[MrGardenHoseMan]

First off, I'd like to say hello as I am new here .

Currently I have all, what I consider essential, files backed
up on CDRW (DOCs, XCLs, PDFs, JPGs etc.). Files such as DOCs
and XCLs I've been having to erase the CDRW in order to
replace them with the newer version. There has to be a better
way, can't those files be overwritten, like back in the 3.5"
days? I searched on this site as well as a couple of others to
see if anyone had this dilema before, I didn't find but one.
The suggestion was to use CD-R (being cheap & all), create
multisessions on them and go from there. First of all, I don't
recall CD-Rs being that cheap and secondly I have no clue to
what is meant by multisession or how it would work. I have a
hard time believing in this day and age a file cant be
overwritten on a CD?

Please can someone help me with this. I know my way around my
PC, but this has me stumped (sadly enough).

Thank you all in advance[/b]

You can’t just overwrite files on a cd, if you’re using a cd-rw you’ll
need to erase the whole thing and burn your backup again. If it’s a
cd-r you can multi-session, basicly you’ll be just adding on to the
disc untill it fills up. Meaning that your old files will still be on
the disc, however if you want to update your backup again the new
files will be burned along side of the old ones. The old backup’s
still going to be on there along with the new one.

If all you have to backup is text documents and pictures, i suggest
you just get a usb drive. It works like a secondary hard drive, and
depending on how much space you need/want on it, they range from 64
megs up to 2gigs. I got my 512 meg drive on ebay for $28 and couldn’t
be happier. Less clunky than a floppy with much more storage available
with it.

 

[Ron C]

I'm familiar with what you want, I've been using CDRWs that way for
years, but you need a Third-party application to do it, and I know of
only two:
Nero Burning ROM and Roxio Easy CD Creator. In Nero the utility you
want is called "InCD", in Roxio it's "DirectCD" and each of them format
a CDRW for packet writing.

A very rough and basic idea of how it works is that with a "normal" cd,
whether it's R or RW, the data is written essentially in one continuous
string from start to finish, which is why you can't erase/edit little
bits and pieces of it -- it's all or nothing. However, the utilities I
mentioned write the data in seperate small units, called "packets", and
these small packets of data can be edited, moved to a different folder
on the disc, deleted, added to at will. In short, the cd can be treated
like a big ol' floppy

I hope this helps.

 

[johnf]

A simple & fairly cheap solution may be a memory stick, as the files you
want to store would be relatively small, but large in capacity.
They just plug into a USB port & are completely editatable - a virtual
mini-drive.

 

[johnf]

Sorry, should read memory sticks are large in capacity.

--

johnf

A simple & fairly cheap solution may be a memory stick, as the files you
want to store would be relatively small, but large in capacity.
They just plug into a USB port & are completely editatable - a virtual
mini-drive.

--

johnf

First off, I’d like to say hello as I am new here .

Currently I have all, what I consider essential, files backed up on
CDRW (DOCs, XCLs, PDFs, JPGs etc.). Files such as DOCs and XCLs I’ve
been having to erase the CDRW in order to replace them with the newer
version. There has to be a better way, can’t those files be
overwritten, like back in the 3.5" days? I searched on this site as
well as a couple of others to see if anyone had this dilema before, I
didn’t find but one. The suggestion was to use CD-R (being cheap &
all), create multisessions on them and go from there. First of all, I
don’t recall CD-Rs being that cheap and secondly I have no clue to
what is meant by multisession or how it would work. I have a hard time
believing in this day and age a file cant be overwritten on a CD?

Please can someone help me with this. I know my way around my PC, but
this has me stumped (sadly enough).

Thank you all in advance[/b]

--
Posted using the http://www.windowsforumz.com interface, at author's
request Articles individually checked for conformance to usenet
standards Topic URL:
http://www.windowsforumz.com/Help---Support-backup-files-CD-CD-RW-ftopict543757.html
Visit Topic URL to contact author (reg. req'd). Report abuse:
http://www.windowsforumz.com/eform.php?p=1715487

 

[Ron C]

I agree memory sticks are a good solution, I use several myself. We're
talking portable devices (a memory chip in a housing of some sort) that
when plugged into a USB port becomes virtually a hard drive, and the
whole unit could be carried on a keychain should you desire -- although
I doubt it's wise to subject them to the stresses of keychain life

One place to see a range of them from a few Mb to a gigabyte or more is
www.tigerdirect.com [not an advertisement, just a tip about a
resource], and someone else in this thread mentioned ebay.
Memory sticks (aka "mini drives" or "portable storage" in some catalogs)
are readily available, and on a capacity-for-the-buck basis are as cheap
or cheaper than cds. -- Plus your system treats them as simply an
additional hard drive
--
~Ron

"illegitimatum non carborundum"
- w.c. fields

A simple & fairly cheap solution may be a memory stick, as the files
you want to store would be relatively small, but large in capacity.
They just plug into a USB port & are completely editatable - a virtual
mini-drive.

First off, I'd like to say hello as I am new here .

Currently I have all, what I consider essential, files backed up on
CDRW (DOCs, XCLs, PDFs, JPGs etc.). Files such as DOCs and XCLs I've
been having to erase the CDRW in order to replace them with the newer
version. There has to be a better way, can't those files be
overwritten, like back in the 3.5" days? I searched on this site as
well as a couple of others to see if anyone had this dilema before, I
didn't find but one. The suggestion was to use CD-R (being cheap &
all), create multisessions on them and go from there. First of all, I
don't recall CD-Rs being that cheap and secondly I have no clue to
what is meant by multisession or how it would work. I have a hard
time believing in this day and age a file cant be overwritten on a
CD?

Please can someone help me with this. I know my way around my PC, but
this has me stumped (sadly enough).

Thank you all in advance[/b]

--
Posted using the http://www.windowsforumz.com interface, at author's
request Articles individually checked for conformance to usenet
standards Topic URL:
http://www.windowsforumz.com/Help---Support-backup-files-CD-CD-RW-ftopict543757.html
Visit Topic URL to contact author (reg. req'd). Report abuse:
http://www.windowsforumz.com/eform.php?p=1715487

 

[RUMPLE]

I'm familiar with what you want, I've been using CDRWs that
way for
years, but you need a Third-party application to do it, and I
know of
only two:
Nero Burning ROM and Roxio Easy CD Creator. In Nero the
utility you
want is called "InCD", in Roxio it's "DirectCD" and each of
them format
a CDRW for packet writing.

A very rough and basic idea of how it works is that with a
"normal" cd,
whether it's R or RW, the data is written essentially in one
continuous
string from start to finish, which is why you can't erase/edit
little
bits and pieces of it -- it's all or nothing. However, the
utilities I
mentioned write the data in seperate small units, called
"packets", and
these small packets of data can be edited, moved to a
different folder
on the disc, deleted, added to at will. In short, the cd can
be treated
like a big ol' floppy

I hope this helps.


--
~Ron

"illegitimatum non carborundum"
- w.c. fields

First off, I'd like to say hello as I am new here .

Currently I have all, what I consider essential, files backed up on
CDRW (DOCs, XCLs, PDFs, JPGs etc.). Files such as DOCs and XCLs I've
been having to erase the CDRW in order to replace them with the newer
version. There has to be a better way, can't those files be
overwritten, like back in the 3.5" days? I searched on this site as
well as a couple of others to see if anyone had this dilema before, I
didn't find but one. The suggestion was to use CD-R (being cheap &
all), create multisessions on them and go from there. First of all, I
don't recall CD-Rs being that cheap and secondly I have no clue to
what is meant by multisession or how it would work. I have a hard time
believing in this day and age a file cant be overwritten on a CD?

Please can someone help me with this. I know my way around my PC, but
this has me stumped (sadly enough).

Thank you all in advance[/b]

I gotta tell you all, a USB memory stick sounds like the ultimate
solution. But I’m in no financial situation to do that method. So I
must say, rcavinspam, you rock. That sounds like exactly what I’m
trying to accomplish. Are there any drawbacks to doing that (less
intergrity on the disks, etc.)? As soon as I’m financially able a
memory stick sounds good.

Thank you all for your suggestions

 

[RUMPLE]

I agree memory sticks are a good solution, I use several
myself. We're
talking portable devices (a memory chip in a housing of some
sort) that
when plugged into a USB port becomes virtually a hard drive,
and the
whole unit could be carried on a keychain should you desire --
although
I doubt it's wise to subject them to the stresses of keychain
life

One place to see a range of them from a few Mb to a gigabyte
or more is
www.tigerdirect.com [not an advertisement, just a tip about a
resource], and someone else in this thread mentioned ebay.
Memory sticks (aka "mini drives" or "portable storage" in some
catalogs)
are readily available, and on a capacity-for-the-buck basis
are as cheap
or cheaper than cds. -- Plus your system treats them as
simply an
additional hard drive
--
~Ron

"illegitimatum non carborundum"
- w.c. fields

A simple & fairly cheap solution may be a memory stick, as the files
you want to store would be relatively small, but large in capacity.
They just plug into a USB port & are completely editatable - a virtual
mini-drive.

 >> First off, I'd like to say hello as I am new here
.
 >>
 >> Currently I have all, what I consider essential,
files backed up on
 >> CDRW (DOCs, XCLs, PDFs, JPGs etc.). Files such as
DOCs and XCLs I've
 >> been having to erase the CDRW in order to replace
them with the newer
 >> version. There has to be a better way, can't those
files be
 >> overwritten, like back in the 3.5" days? I searched
on this site as
 >> well as a couple of others to see if anyone had this
dilema before, I
 >> didn't find but one. The suggestion was to use CD-R
(being cheap &
 >> all), create multisessions on them and go from there.
First of all, I
 >> don't recall CD-Rs being that cheap and secondly I
have no clue to
 >> what is meant by multisession or how it would work. I
have a hard
 >> time believing in this day and age a file cant be
overwritten on a
 >> CD?
 >>
 >> Please can someone help me with this. I know my way
around my PC, but
 >> this has me stumped (sadly enough).
 >>
 >> Thank you all in advance[/b]
 >>
 >> --
 >> Posted using the http://www.windowsforumz.com
interface, at author's
 >> request Articles individually checked for conformance
to usenet
 >> standards Topic URL:
 >>
http://www.windowsforumz.com/Help---Support-backup-files-CD-CD-RW-ftopict543757.html
 >> Visit Topic URL to contact author (reg. req'd).
Report abuse:
 >> http://www.windowsforumz.com/eform.php?p=1715487

I was told "mini drives" are for temporary use only. Is this true?
In fact, someone told me if used for storage could have more chance of
failing, compared to a regular HD (not sure what that means)?

Any truth to any of this?


TY

 

[Ron C]

I agree memory sticks are a good solution, I use several
myself. We're
talking portable devices (a memory chip in a housing of some
sort) that
when plugged into a USB port becomes virtually a hard drive,
and the
whole unit could be carried on a keychain should you desire --
although
I doubt it's wise to subject them to the stresses of keychain
life

One place to see a range of them from a few Mb to a gigabyte
or more is
www.tigerdirect.com [not an advertisement, just a tip about a
resource], and someone else in this thread mentioned ebay.
Memory sticks (aka "mini drives" or "portable storage" in some
catalogs)
are readily available, and on a capacity-for-the-buck basis
are as cheap
or cheaper than cds. -- Plus your system treats them as
simply an
additional hard drive
--
~Ron

"illegitimatum non carborundum"
- w.c. fields

A simple & fairly cheap solution may be a memory stick, as the files
you want to store would be relatively small, but large in capacity.
They just plug into a USB port & are completely editatable - a virtual
mini-drive.

I was told "mini drives" are for temporary use only. Is this true?
In fact, someone told me if used for storage could have more chance of
failing, compared to a regular HD (not sure what that means)?

Any truth to any of this?


TY

None that I've noticed. The use of the name "drives" for these gadgets
is somewhat misleading and probably stems from the fact that Windows
recognizes them as such and assigns a typical hard drive icon to them,
but they're not really drives in the mechanical sense. They're simply
a memory chip that has been provided with a means of easily connecting -
disconnecting from a pc (typically via usb port). No moving parts,
nothing to fail, in a sense it's RAM that doesn't clear itself when the
power is off (ie: disconnected from the pc), but you'll have to ask an
engineer how that's achieved.

Abuse could cause it to fail I suppose... if you get one don't toss it
in the same drawer with a collection of refrigerator magnets and you
should be ok ;-)