I am in the process of backing up and archiving my jpg and mpg files. I have been in the habit of burning to an ISO file (out of DVD Builder) and then use Disc Copier to create the final DVD.

I wonder if putting the ISO files into archive is a good idea or not because they are large, and more specifically, are they useable with any other program besides Roxio? In other words, what good will they do me at a later date if I no longer have Roxio? Can any of the jpg's/mpg's be extracted at a later date?

Another question - are the mpg files that I capture with Roxio in a format that other programs can use? I ask this because I videoed a school program for a friend. I made a DVD from a DMSM but he would like the basic file and I can't seem to get that to go from my PC to a disc. I used a program called "Drag "n Drop CD/DVD" and I got some message about a file that is marked to remain open.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

First paragraph, using Disc Copier to create the final DVD from a iso (disc image file) file burned in DVD Builder, is a standard compliant DVD Video..

Second paragraph, you talk about archiving iso files but how? As a data disc?



How did you capture ( what setting format) your mpg files in Roxio?

Go to your captured file and burn it as a data disc in Creator Classic for your friend. Only problem might be the size of the captured file fitting on a DVD.

Who makes the program "Drag "n Drop CD/DVD"? Roxio has a program called Drag to Disc 'D2D' that came with your version 7 software. I wouldn't use it because of compatibility and reliability issues!

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Here's my 2 cents.

ISO [image file]
=============
Basically, this is a single file that contains an image of the files/folders that will be burned to a disc when using a disc image burning program [like Disc copier in EMC 7/7.5 or ImgBurn].

They are basically universally compatible with any software that can burn an iso file.

It can be useful to keep an 'archive' or backup of them so that you can re-burn a disc if needed. Such as someone asks for another copy, a disc gets damaged or lost, etc... It allows you to easily burn another disc if needed.


DMSM file - is a Videowave Project file DMSD file - is a DVDBuilder project file
===============================================================
In both cases, these 'project' files contain none of the original materials used. Video files, picture files, transitions, special effects, etc... They basically only contain a set of editing notes or instructions and pointers to all of the original material used in the project.

So if you need a resultant video file of a DMSM [Videowave] project, for archiving or to use for some other purpose like giving it to your friend, you use the 'Output' function to create one. It's best to either ouput it to either a DV-AVI [DV Output purpose] file or a MPG file [DVD authoring purpose - Best quality].

As mentioned, there are ways to 'extract' the video from a disc, but following the output process in videowave is much easier.


Regarding the jpg [picture] files you are wanting to archive or backup.
=======================================================
By archiving, or backing up just the ISO file, you are not saving any of the jpg files that you used in any of your projects. When you 'burn' a DVD Builder project, it converts all of the materials you used into a standard DVD-video format. It does not retain all of the original materials used. so bottom line is, your ISO files do not contain any jpg files. You'll need to use the original ones you used in your projects to archive/backup them.


Archive/Backup files
=================
As others mentioned, stay away from any "Drag n Copy" type apps, as they can be unreliable.

For making archives or backups, there are 2 methods usually recommended.

First is to get a second hard drive (internal or external) and then just copy your files [.jpg, .iso, .mpg, etc...] to that hard drive for storage.

If you are wanting to use discs instead, you need to burn the files to a disc as a data disc. You already have the app you need to do this with in EMC 7, it's Creator Classic. By using the Data Disc project function in Creator Classic, and adding the file(s) you want to 'archive', it will create a standard disc that can be read on any pc without needing the software installed that created the disc [which most 'Drag n Drop' apps do].

Thanks for the help guys!

Drag 'n Drop came with my Sony PC. It is from "easy Systems of Japan". It is not a "packet" writing program so it is OK to use.

Your expanation hit a note - that is I should copy as "data". I think that was where I went wrong.

Archiving the .iso is exactly as you explaned - for future reruns.

I also understand that the mpg and jpg cannot be extracted so that is why I am archiving those files too.

The achiving is to an external drive.

Thanks again for yuor time in this matter!

Drag 'n Drop is packet writing software. Do a google search on it'

Well, that is certainly not good! I guess from here on I'll stay clear of Drag N' Drop CD/DVD and use Roxio - as long as I have it.

Thanks for that too.

If you burn to Quality DVD Media, Taiyo Yuden Premium or Verbatim Data Life Plus disc's. Make a extra backup disc and check them every year or two with a disc quality tool like # 3 in my signature 'CD-DVD Speed renamed DiscSpeed'. A " future rerun" is only a DVD rip away, from the backup disc.. I feel that is better than hard drives sitting around with ISO images on them. There was a good read around about hard drives losing data if they were not run often, sitting on shelves for six months to a year...

Just my my 2 cents...

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That depends on what you mean by 'extract'.

MPGs can be extracted........Using an .iso file, you can burn that .iso file from the external hard drive using Disk Copier ( or a similar program) to your main hard drive or to a DVD. Then using later copies of Roxio software, you can 'capture' the movie from the DVD that you've burned to your hard drive or DVD and edit the movie. ( Different versions capture from different sources and I can't remember which is which at the moment.)

So if you're going to archive those mpegs also, I'd suggest you do it to a DATA DVD or a second hard drive. Otherwise, you're putting all your faith in that external hard drive and they have been known to fail just as all media can fail.

JPEGs.....HOWEVER, as others have pointed out..... save the ORIGINAL copies of your photographs (.jpegs, etc.) to your hard drive, or as .jpegs on a DATA CD or DVD. Once you've put them in a movie, the quality will be degraded significantly and you won't be happy if you try to extract them from the movie DVD.


(Sorry I'm a bit late)

Well, to be even later, you can usually "mount" your .ISO image file as a virtual DVD drive using Disc Image Loader, or other disc image tools. Then you don't even have to burn them to disc to access the video files on them.

One other comment is that a .ISO file is not necessarily "universal". I did some testing between EMC 7.5, and EMC 9, or maybe it was between EMC 8 and EMC 9, or maybe EMC 9 and EMC 10, and depending on how I created or extracted the image (.ISO) file, it would or would not load in various image loading tools (I was comparing Roxio's Disc Image Loader and the DAEMON tools image loader). So, some would load in both, some would only load in DAEMON tools, and some would only load in Disc Image Loader.