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Computer Question?

Started by Larry, January 11, 2007, 06:48:50 PM

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Larry

I send pictures and data to a CD every few months for a backup in case my PC crashes.  A lot of times I get a warning about some kind of error...doesn't tell me what the error is or anything else.  So I ruin maybe 2 CD's before I burn a good one.

Right now I'm using Memorex CD-R 52 X and 700 mb.  The Memorex CD-R/W seemed to work better, but I ran out.  My CD drive is a SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW252S and than for device type: it is standard DVD/CD-ROM drive.

So...I wondering if I'm buying the right kind of CD?  Or do I need to do some kind of format thing before I send data to the CD?
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

Ianab

If you are having random errors whle writing CDRs try selecting a slower writing speed. Not a certain fix, but sometimes it sorts out those strange little glitches.
Just before you start writing there should be a box where you can select the number of copies and the speed, try changing the setting from Max to something less (12x maybe) See if that helps anyway.

Cheers

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

SwampDonkey

You only need to format the rewriteable ones, or you can erase an old one and write over it.  Shouldn't be anything wrong with the CDR's. It might be that your system is a bit bogged down and the hard drive cache gets behind and causes an under run with the CD burner. So try a slower speed as Ianab suggested. Also, some of the newer DVD/CDR drives have buffer under run protection to cut down on the 'coasters' you have been creating.

Try this CD forum.

CLICK TO LINK
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Stump Jumper

I burn a lot of dvd's and some cd's what I have found out is that there can be bad batches.  I have run over 100 of Staples brand without a problem then this last batch I bought 20 of them were bad and I received error messages. The messages said try a different disc and try a different brand, cannot find information there were a couple of other messages but I can't remember what they were.  I have also used Memorex and had the same problem. I use dvd-r and dvd-rw yes it does seem that the dvd-rw work better. Then for cd I use cd-r and cd-rw. I have used the +r and +rw there does not seem to be much difference.  I use the dvd-r and -rw mainly because I can use them in my DVD player to burn pics and home movies as well.   The other possible thing it could be is that you are low on memory.

What gets me is that it takes about 2 hrs for a movie to encode and then when it goes to burn the dvd it gets almost all the way done and kicks out the dvd with error messages. Then I have to keep trying until a discs takes sometimes this takes hours.   Now the dvd will play but it locks up and cannot be rerecorded so that disc is no good I have lost about 40 discs this way.

I am running about 300 mb of ram 10 gb hard drive with about 5gb available
Roxio software
Plextor dvd/cd burner PX 708A

Mrs. Stump Jumper
Delcy
Jeff
May God Bless.
WM LT 40 SuperHDD42 HP Kubota walk & ride, WM Edger, JD Skidsteer 250, Farmi winch, Bri-Mar Dump Box Trailer, Black Powder

Larry

I dunno...7 CD's went straight to the trash can.  Found a CD from another batch and it worked perfect.  Delcy may have got it right about a bad batch...gonna switch brands and see what happens.  Slowed it down to 8X and no improvement.  Only have 15 gig on a 80 gig hard drive...do regular house cleaning to keep the machine up to speed so hopefully don't have a problem there.

Got another question...is there a better or easier way to back up data?  Used to run a mag tape HP Colorado on my old machine which was better than sliced bread.  Maybe that's the reason HP quit supporting it.


Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

SwampDonkey

I use Memorex, Maxwell, HP, SONY and others and don't have troubles that way. I suppose with stuff coming from China, quality control my not be too great. Used to be Discs were certified error free.  Another thing is that you may have tried to use an extended capacity CDR and your drive may not support it. The regular length of a CDR is 650 MB (74 min). Was the other disk 700 MB or greater that became a coaster?
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

logwalker

 I think the easiest and fastest is one of the new external harddrives. I picked up a 250 gb for only $79 at Christmas. In thru a usb or firewire if you have it and back up the whole computer. I then remove it for safety and about once a week do a backup. Very fast and easy. These units have come a long way since I started. Joe
Let's all be careful out there tomorrow. Lt40hd, 22' Kenworth Flatbed rollback dump, MM45B Mitsubishi trackhoe, Clark5000lb Forklift, Kubota L2850 tractor

Larry

SD, all that I have are 700mb 80 minute jobs.  The ones that have failed were 52X but the one that worked is 40X.

logwalker, do you have a brand name and model number?  Sounds like something that would really interest me.
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

Furby

Larry, there are piles of those external harddrives out there.
Visit any box store and you can find them.

PineNut

I go with the external hard drive also. Have sufficient space to make two backups before I erase one. That way I am not overwriting my latest backup. This seems to the most reliable and the cheapest method for me.

logwalker

Mine is a Iomagic. I got it at Staples I think. About $80 or $90. But doing a search they seem to be a little more now. But if you have that type of store near you they should have several to choose from. It is the way to go. They just plug and play with Windows XP. Couldn't be much easier. The drive shows up on MY Computer as a new drive. Just select and copy. Joe
Let's all be careful out there tomorrow. Lt40hd, 22' Kenworth Flatbed rollback dump, MM45B Mitsubishi trackhoe, Clark5000lb Forklift, Kubota L2850 tractor

Norm

I do the same as logwalker, mine is a western digital USB external drive.

Another option is what's called a NAS, mine is a bare bones one with 4 160 gig hard drives running in a RAID configuration. It is hot swappable and connects to the network via an ethernet connection. They mirror each other so if you lose a hard drive you just pull it and replace with new.

Raider Bill

Herer at the office we use external hard drives that are in a cheap fireproof safe. Drilled a hole for the wires, caulked them back up with extreme heat goop put them on automatic back up and forget about them.
Quote from: Norm on January 12, 2007, 07:54:56 AM
I do the same as logwalker, mine is a western digital USB external drive.

Another option is what's called a NAS, mine is a bare bones one with 4 160 gig hard drives running in a RAID configuration. It is hot swappable and connects to the network via an ethernet connection. They mirror each other so if you lose a hard drive you just pull it and replace with new.
Listen to this guy he knows what he's talking about, he sells computers down at the end of the road. :D
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

tonich

Branded Verbatim and Taiyo Yuden (unbranded, Verbatim or Plextor branded) are the way to go. This is a quality media, which can be done at 32x with no issues.
For genuine Taiyo Yuden, visit RIMA!

Larry

Did some reading on the Western Digital external drives...think I can configure it to do automatic back ups of the whole PC.  Just like my old mag tape drive.  This is exactly what I want to do.  Thanks guys for pointing me in the right direction...learned something new. :)

Actually learned two new things today.  I have free unlimited long distance on two phone lines.  When we moved to Arkansas, instead of switching to a local ISP we just dialed long distance into our old ISP in north Missouri.  AT&T did a review of our calling habits.  Apparently this does not meet AT&T's definition of free unlimited long distance because I got a letter today to immediately cease and desist or face termination. :o :o :o ;D
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

Kevin_H.

I have been using windows one care as my virus protection, it has the option to automatically back up to an external hard drive every week. sounds like a really good idea
Got my WM lt40g24, Setworks and debarker in oct. '97, been sawing part time ever since, Moving logs with a bobcat.

Furby

Larry, does your old ISP have a local number for you to use?

Larry

I called AT&T and got to talk to a very knowledgeable and pleasant lady.  She reviewed our account and found besides free long distance we were also paying for Extended Area Service (EAS).  The EAS had never been programed for our lines so she took care of that.  I had a list of all of the access numbers from our ISP and we found one that I could dial, which would be an EAS call and not long distance.  So...I'm off the hook for now.

Hopefully, in the not to distance future DSL will become available.  I went to the cable company and they said they would be more than happy to provide me with a cable modem...if I would pay $6,700 to have the cable extended to our property.  Life in Nob Hill Arkansas...find that one on your map ::)
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

SwampDonkey

Larry, what about Cucumber Hill in Rhode Island? Got cousins that live there.  ;D :D :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Bill

1>  Welcome to FF   tonich  - good people here.

2> Backups  - instead of the box stores I went to an 800 # ( also on the net ) in NH. They have the external drives for I've been using for backups and they also have been good if there were any problems with anything they sold. Now I mostly use CD's to back up pic's or give pic's to family or friends.

3> Problems - not too many from the people that have Mac's when trying to burn CD's - leastways that I've heard about. Well except if you try to put too much on them and it gets "excited" but doesn't ruin the CD as it checks first.



rebocardo

It helps to copy the data file first to the HD before recording, especially on a separate HD vs. just a partition. 

Larry

Found out my PC only likes certain brands of CD's...fortunately they are the cheap ones.

I bought one of those Western Digital external hard drives at Norm's suggestion.  The only way to fly.  Right now I have it configured to back up the entire PC on the 1st and 15th of each month so I always have two backups.  I also have it back up pictures, email, and word files every night.  And it's all automatic. 

On top of that it has this really cool blue light thing that adds to the romantic ambience of the evening. :D ;D :D ;D
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

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