Hello all, I currently have 7GB of MP3 files organized in my WMP10 Library. I'm allways on edge of losing this collection and would like to know if there is any way I can back it up without spending the money on a MP3 Player or iPod? I obviously don't won't to burn them all to CD RW's as this would take close to 100 CD's with 80 minutes/cd. Is there a way I could put them all on say 2 seperate 4GB DVD RW discs? If so how should I go about this? and if I did put them on a DVD RW would I be able to load them all back onto my PC if it ever crashed and I lost all of it? Any other suggestions of how I could back these up? Small cheap hard drive etc...? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in Advance **oh and after posting this I just remembered I don't have a DVD writer drive I just have a DVD Rom and HP cd-writer, so I guess that cancels out backing it all up on a dvd?
Well, an external hard drive or buying a DVD burner would be the best options. Pen drives might work, but they don't come in large enough capacities to back up 7GB. DVD burners can be had under $40 at places like Newegg and ZipZoomFly. For what you want, the DVD-RW drive is probably the most cost effective option for what you need. However, if you're interested in backing up more stuff, then investing in an external drive would be better. Get a DVD burner, back the music up as data DVD's (and keep it updated) and keep them in a safe place. Assuming the system crashes or you have something drastic happen (the house burns down with your computer), you've got the stuff backed up. Putting it back on is as simply as copying it from the disc to the hard drive.
thanks for the quick reply. Are you able to back up just about any kind of file on a DVD RW as long as you back it up as a DATA DVD? If thats the case then I might just invest in a DVD burner. Are they pretty self explanatory to install? Also, I know my friend has a DVD Burner, would it be something that I could easily remove from his PC when hes not using it, install it in mine for this task and then give it back? or are they permanently installed into a PC where I wouldn't be able to do that?
Yes you can back up just about any files you want. Yes, they are the same to intall as a cd drive, and you might need some software to burn files to dvd like Nero. If you have Windows XP, it might be able to do it without any extra software. You could do that I suppose, but it's easier to just keep it in one computer. If you wanted to swap it from computer to computer, you need an external one, that just plugs into a USB port.
yep. its just a matter of about four screws from the dvd rw. (obviously two or four to take the case panel off) unplug the power and ide cable and pull it out. do the reverse to put it in ur pc, just slide the dvdrw drive in, plug the power and data cable (u dont really need to screw it in if its for temporary purposes) and ur ready
will the IDE cable be labeled? What is it linked to so I know I'm 100% sure when removing it? Also another option is I have a laptop with a DVD RW on it would it be easier to hook this to the PC somehow and transfer the files from my Desktop PC hard drive to the laptop hard drive? I assume I would need a special cable but out of all the cables I have none of them have a duel USB connection to connect on both ends. could I use the IDE cable from inside my desktop PC somehow to do this and then just set desktop to m aster and laptop to slave?
Check if you have a Network Card on both the computers........ If yes then you need to buy a CAT5e cable to connect both of them.
if your labtop has eternet u can connect them and make a lan then transfer them to the labtop nad if u then have it on your labtop u can burn it to dvd and delete it from the labtop its your labtop is low on space or u can find a file host if your willing to wait and up load them all i know of one its streamload.com
