Backups to CD?

I think it was jamps who, the other day (last week some time?)
was asking about "What is the most efficient way to make CD Backups?"
(& prolly other people may have also wondered about that sort of
thing)?

jamps...

Yes it was me asking! I hoped that there was a better way than putting
individual files onto CD/DVD

pmj...

I think it really depends on what you mean by "better"?

Yes, putting the individual Files (Saving/Copying/Moving them)
onto CD (or DVD) *Individually* is definitely very inefficient
& wasteful (of both Space (on the CD) & your time & effort.

A far better idea is to keep the Files (as you Create/Edit/Update
them) in a sensible, logically laid out Directory Folder structure...

& then (periodically, how often depends on things like what they are
& how much they have changed & how important they are) Copy them to
a CD (or DVD).

You don't need any fancy "Backup" Software to do that - just use
windoze own Built-in CD Burning Facility (for CD) or something like
Nero Burning ROM (for CD &/or DVD)

Well, do you have Nero on your PC?
I know that a lot of PCs come with the OEM Version of Nero
Burning ROM, which can Burn CDs & DVDs

jamps...

Yes I use that for burning CD/DVD's

& I *think* you've got a Medion PC, haven't you?

jamps...

Yes.

They come with Nero Burning ROM.

I wonder if you've tried the Backup Program/Utility that comes
with Nero?

It's called Nero BackItUp

jamps...

No - I haven't found that - it sounds useful though.

pmj...

It may be.
That depends on what you want & how you want to do it.
With *any* form of Backup Utility (or even when you do it Copying
"by hand") you still need to decide *what* to Backup.

There should be a Shortcut to it in your Start Menu - if not,
have a look in the Program Files Folder (in the "Ahead" Folder)

jamps...

Will do a search now!

pmj...

& did you find it?
:-)

jamps...

When I've read (and tried to remember some of it) all the info in this
thread I'll attempt to copy all the stuff I want to save into a new folder
in My Docs and then probably shout for help as to what to do next! lol

pmj...

I don't think that there's really any need to make (yet another)
"New Folder" actually in your My Documents Folder? - Unless you
just want to do some general sorting out.

Treat the "My Documents" Folder as *the* Folder, which contains
everything that you want to keep.

That will now be on a different Drive (Partition) from the Operating
System, so you can wipe & Install no probs.
& then periodically, just Copy the stuff from the My Documents Folder,
onto a CD (or DVD) to Back it up.

& That will protect you against if the actual (Physical) Hard
Disk fails.

That can also be Set to do *Scheduled* (UnAttended) Backups as well.

Also, the Medion PCs come with the WinXP (Seagate/Veritas) Backup
Utility already Installed - most WinXP Home Installations don't
include that, it normally has to be Installed separately, from the
WinXP Install CD.

That (WinXP) Backup Utility is OK, but it won't Write the Backups
*directly* to a CD (or DVD) - you have to Write them to a File
first (on the Hard Disk, somewhere) & then Save/Copy the File to
a CD (or DVD).

jamps...

Looks like Nero is the better option for me.

pmj...

I dunno?...

You can perfectly well just Save (Copy) the stuff you want to "Backup"
to CD yourself.

Just don't do it with each File, individually, as you Create/Modify
them.
Do it a bunch of Files at a time, periodically.

Thanks for your help pmj. I've saved the previous messages but got lost
with all the to-ing and fro-ing and needed to try and understand a lot of

pmj...

I tend to just Mark (Flag) the Messages (&/or Threads) that I want
to refer back to.

& I have a "View" Set up that doesn't show the Messages that have
been previously Read *unless* they are Marked (Flagged)
& I also often just Delete the other (Read) Messages, that I don't
want to keep.

That way I don't have to Scroll miles to find either the New Messages,
or the older (but still wanted) Messages so I can Read them.

it.