How to span several CDs or DVDs?

  • Thread starter Thread starter MaryL
  • Start date Start date
M

MaryL

I have a *great many* digital photos -- enough so that it takes several DVDs
to make a single copy. Is there any way to use the basic "copy to CD/DVD"
built into Win XP-Home Edition to span several disks? Alternatively, is
there a simple way to select the number that will fit on a single disk? In
"My Computer," I can select properties to view the size of a folder -- but
how can I determine the total size of a large number of files/photos within
a folder? I misjudged on some previous attempts, so some photos were not
copied. It is tedious to try to track "missing" photos using the filenames
assigned by my digital cameras.

Thanks,
MaryL
 
MaryL said:
I have a *great many* digital photos -- enough so that it takes several DVDs
to make a single copy. Is there any way to use the basic "copy to CD/DVD"
built into Win XP-Home Edition to span several disks? Alternatively, is
there a simple way to select the number that will fit on a single disk? In
"My Computer," I can select properties to view the size of a folder -- but
how can I determine the total size of a large number of files/photos within
a folder? I misjudged on some previous attempts, so some photos were not
copied. It is tedious to try to track "missing" photos using the filenames
assigned by my digital cameras.

Thanks,
MaryL
Click to expand...
The best way to do what you want to do is with third-party CD/DVD
burning software such as Nero or Roxio. If you have a DVD burner, it
should have come with it, even if the burner was included in the
computer when you bought it.
 
MaryL said:
In "My Computer," I can select properties to view the size of a folder -- but
how can I determine the total size of a large number of files/photos within
a folder? I misjudged on some previous attempts, so some photos were not
copied. It is tedious to try to track "missing" photos using the filenames
assigned by my digital cameras.

Thanks,
MaryL
Click to expand...
I learned that to avoid the problem of not having files burned to CD/DVD. In
properties>General tab, use the "Size on Disk" figure. There is information
needed by the computer attached to items which increase the total size of
things. Using that eliminated my losing files being copied.

Malv
 
MaryL said:
I have a *great many* digital photos -- enough so that it takes several DVDs
to make a single copy. Is there any way to use the basic "copy to CD/DVD"
built into Win XP-Home Edition to span several disks? Alternatively, is
there a simple way to select the number that will fit on a single disk? In
"My Computer," I can select properties to view the size of a folder -- but
how can I determine the total size of a large number of files/photos within
a folder? I misjudged on some previous attempts, so some photos were not
copied. It is tedious to try to track "missing" photos using the filenames
assigned by my digital cameras.

Thanks,
MaryL
Click to expand...

XP's in built CD burning feature will not span CDs and it doesn't burn
DVDs. Third party software is needed for that.
 
MaryL said:
I have a *great many* digital photos -- enough so that it takes several DVDs
to make a single copy. Is there any way to use the basic "copy to CD/DVD"
built into Win XP-Home Edition to span several disks?
Click to expand...

No. Because there is no such CD to DVD copy included at all. The only
method is to copy files to hard disk, then make a new CD (and it does
not do DVD at all). You need third party software
 
Alex Nichol said:
No. Because there is no such CD to DVD copy included at all. The only
method is to copy files to hard disk, then make a new CD (and it does
not do DVD at all). You need third party software
Click to expand...

Thanks. I guess my question wasn't very clear. My photos are already on
the computer, and I wanted a way to copy from the computer to *either* CDs
or DVDs but to span the disks because of the large number of digital photos
I have. My computer did come with two programs that it looks like I should
use (as suggested in another message) -- Roxio Easy CD Creator and Sonic
MyDVD. I had not installed Easy CD Creator because I had read some earlier
reports of compatibility issues, and I have never even heard of MyDVD.
However, it looks like I need to experiment with them since I apparently
cannot use XP's built-in functions for this purpose.

MaryL
 
If you have Easy CD Creator 6 or upward there shouldn't be compatibility
issues. One feature that it has is the ability to span multiple discs. So if
you have a file or directory that is very large it will be auto spanned
across multiple discs BUT you should be aware that in doing this Easy CD
Creator creates a file that can only be read on a system that also has the
same version of Easy CD Creator installed. If you want to recover a picture
from the spanned set then you need to insert each disc and have it read so
that Easy CD Creator can find the file or files to be recovered.

Here is an alternative that might be a bit better ZipBackup
http://www.zipbackup.com/download.html

There is trialware to test it and see if you like it. This program will
create a .zip file which can be opened by nearly any program that manages
..ZIP files like WinZip or WinRar, or Windows built in compression program.
ZipBackup will create spanned discs and will burn directly to CD or DVD
using it's own built in CD or DVD writing software.
 
Thanks! The computer came with Easy Creator 5. However, the alternative
you listed looks like it may be just what I need because -- in addition to
the photo archive I asked about -- I would also like to backup my regular
data files to a zip disk. The problem with backing up data files to a CD is
that the attributes are automatically changed to read-only. I'm going to
download the trial version and try this.

MaryL
 
MaryL said:
Thanks! The computer came with Easy Creator 5. However, the alternative
you listed looks like it may be just what I need because -- in addition to
the photo archive I asked about -- I would also like to backup my regular
data files to a zip disk. The problem with backing up data files to a CD is
that the attributes are automatically changed to read-only. I'm going to
download the trial version and try this.
Click to expand...

Mary you really don't need to "span" either CD's or DVDs for your
application. You just need to know how much will fit - ie where the cut
off is - so you can label them. Spanning in general means taking a file
that is larger than will fit on one disk, chopping it into pieces and
copying it on multiple disks. That's not your case. Any one of a number
of programs will do what you want including Easy CD Creator or the other
Harry mentioned. The point is to get one with an interface you like.
 
Rock said:
Mary you really don't need to "span" either CD's or DVDs for your
application. You just need to know how much will fit - ie where the cut
off is - so you can label them. Spanning in general means taking a file
that is larger than will fit on one disk, chopping it into pieces and
copying it on multiple disks. That's not your case. Any one of a number
of programs will do what you want including Easy CD Creator or the other
Harry mentioned. The point is to get one with an interface you like.
Click to expand...

Well, my problem is that I have several *thousand* digital photos, and it is
not an easy task to select the correct number to fit on a disk. When I
tried to use the built-in XP function, it simply cut off when the disk was
full and I was left guessing as to "where." (That's what led to my original
message.)

Thanks,
MaryL
 
MaryL wrote:

Well, my problem is that I have several *thousand* digital photos, and it is
not an easy task to select the correct number to fit on a disk. When I
tried to use the built-in XP function, it simply cut off when the disk was
full and I was left guessing as to "where." (That's what led to my original
message.)

Thanks,
MaryL
Click to expand...

Which is what I said. You don't need to "span" CD's, you just need to
know the cut off, what is going to fit on one CD or DVD, and any of
those programs from Roxio, Sonic, Nero will do it. Having several
thousand is not a problem - I have tens of thousands. Files are added
to the window and a progress bar at the bottom shows the amount of space
remaining.
 
Taken from the Winzip Help File:

Multiple Disk Spanning
WinZip® makes it easy to create Zip files that "span" multiple disks. This
is useful if the files you are working with will not fit on one disk.

Creating spanned Zip files
To make a Zip file that spans multiple disks, simply create a new Zip file
on a removable disk, then add files to the Zip as you normally would. If the
disk fills during Add operation, you will be prompted for another disk.
Simply insert the next disk and click the OK button.

Important: disk spanning is not available when adding files to an existing
archive; it is only available while creating a new archive. Also note that
you cannot add files to or remove files from a Zip file that spans disks.
WinZip requires pre-formatted disks (you can format disks using My Computer
or Windows Explorer).

Example:

To zip the files in your c:\data folder to a Zip file called A:\DATA.ZIP:

1.. Start WinZip.
2.. Drag and drop the c:\data folder from My Computer or Windows Explorer
to the WinZip window.
3.. In the Add dialog box, type the filename of the Zip file
(A:\DATA.ZIP).
4.. Click the Add button.
If more than one disk is needed, you will be prompted for additional disks.

Extracting from spanned Zip files
To extract files from a spanned Zip file, insert the last disk of the series
and open the Zip file using WinZip; this will display the directory of the
Zip file and allow you to extract the files. WinZip will prompt you for the
disks as needed to complete the operation.

See also

Split Zip files
 
Taken from the Winzip Help File:

Multiple Disk Spanning
WinZip® makes it easy to create Zip files that "span" multiple disks. This
is useful if the files you are working with will not fit on one disk.

Creating spanned Zip files
To make a Zip file that spans multiple disks, simply create a new Zip file
on a removable disk, then add files to the Zip as you normally would. If the
disk fills during Add operation, you will be prompted for another disk.
Simply insert the next disk and click the OK button.

Important: disk spanning is not available when adding files to an existing
archive; it is only available while creating a new archive. Also note that
you cannot add files to or remove files from a Zip file that spans disks.
WinZip requires pre-formatted disks (you can format disks using My Computer
or Windows Explorer).

Example:

To zip the files in your c:\data folder to a Zip file called A:\DATA.ZIP:

1.. Start WinZip.
2.. Drag and drop the c:\data folder from My Computer or Windows Explorer
to the WinZip window.
3.. In the Add dialog box, type the filename of the Zip file
(A:\DATA.ZIP).
4.. Click the Add button.
If more than one disk is needed, you will be prompted for additional disks.

Extracting from spanned Zip files
To extract files from a spanned Zip file, insert the last disk of the series
and open the Zip file using WinZip; this will display the directory of the
Zip file and allow you to extract the files. WinZip will prompt you for the
disks as needed to complete the operation.

See also

Split Zip files
Click to expand...
Thanks. As XP provides access to Zip files and allows creating them,
I haven't used WinZip in years. Now I know where you are coming from
with your advice.
 
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