Copying files from the HD

[Chosen Raven]

I have a ton of image, movie and text files(not games) I need to copy to a storage medium, how do I go about that and what do I use?

[Slater]

what do you use? well, from the sound of it, you're gonna need a lot of space. Exactly how much? First thing's first, find out how many MB. If it's between 100-512 MB, I'd invest in a thumbdrive or two. If it falls under 100 MB, see if you can borrow a zip-drive. If it's over 512 and under 700, a plain old CD will work fine. Anything larger will require a DVD-R, which can hold up to about 5 GB of data.

[blkmage]

I'd suggest forgoing the Zip drive and starting with a USB flash drive (or thumbdrive). They're not that expensive, can be used for a lot more, and can be used with any modern PC (that is, any computer with a USB port).

[Chosen Raven]

I need to store about 192mb. It's probably going to expand pretty fast from there, so a CD sounds like the best option for me. Will I need a CD burner? Or do I simply insert the CD into my computer and drag files and folders into it?

[Mr. SmartyPants]

well first you have to know if your cd-drive can copy files onto cds. Then you could use windows' built-in burner, but if you could use Nero or something

[blkmage]

Even if you don't have a CD burner, they're really cheap nowadays what with the DVD burners nowadays. They're really useful and very good for holding what used to be considered large amounts of data. CDs are also really cheap.

[Chosen Raven]

well first you have to know if your cd-drive can copy files onto cds.

I assume it can. When I tried copying a file onto a game CD, just to see what would happen, it said it couldn't do it because it was right-protected not because it...well...couldn't do it period.

CDs are also really cheap.

Yeah, after seeing packs of CDs for under 20 bucks, I knew this was the storage medium I wanted.

Uh, just to make sure I'm getting the right thing, here's what I'm thinking about getting: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... s&n=507846

[Slater]

Flash memory thumbdrive I recomend. A CD can only be used once (unless you have RW), and if you screw up, the CD is ruined. But a thumbdrive is much more forgiving.

[Sync]

I would reccommend a Lite-On cd-rw drive, Mwave has a model for less than $30. it will last you a good number of years.

[Yojimbo]

Yeah a CD Burner is the way to go. And always go with CD-RW's I usually buy them in packs of ten for about $12 at Target.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

you could always just buy a 1 gig USB stick

http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820155406

heres 1 for about 70 dolars

[Chosen Raven]

you could always just buy a 1 gig USB stick

http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Prod...N82E16820155406

heres 1 for about 70 dolars

That's definitely out of my price range. It would be real useful, though.

I guess I'm just gonna have to go with the CDs and try to take care not to ruin them.

Thanks for your help guys.

[Kaori]

What storage medium you should use depends on what you will be doing with the files, also. Much of the usefulness of a USB stick is that you can edit and rewrite files stored on it. Even with a CD-RW, this is slightly difficult; the process of rewriting takes several minutes (with my CD-R drive, at least). However, if you are simply going to be storing your files and won't be needing to move them around or edit them, there is no reason why a CD-R won't be sufficient. Unless you actually plan on editing the files, there is no need to spend the extra money on CD-RWs. Even if your CD-R drive has an error during the burning process and ruins the disc, you have lost less than a dollar in the process.

[Chosen Raven]

What storage medium you should use depends on what you will be doing with the files, also. Much of the usefulness of a USB stick is that you can edit and rewrite files stored on it. Even with a CD-RW, this is slightly difficult; the process of rewriting takes several minutes (with my CD-R drive, at least). However, if you are simply going to be storing your files and won't be needing to move them around or edit them, there is no reason why a CD-R won't be sufficient. Unless you actually plan on editing the files, there is no need to spend the extra money on CD-RWs. Even if your CD-R drive has an error during the burning process and ruins the disc, you have lost less than a dollar in the process.
05-02-2005 05:09 PM

It's purely for storage. I don't really have the need(or the know-how), to do anything else with the files. It's just that, by today's standards, I have a pretty crappy computer, and I don't want to take up too much of its space.