Backup

[Sherwood]

What's the difference between Backup MyPc and Roxio Backup? Roxio Backup wants to burn my CD. What will this do to my disk? It sounds dangerous. Backup MyPc said my blank CD is the wrong format. What is the right format and how do it get into the right format?

[lynn98109]

Definition of burn:

Burn is a colloquial term meaning to write content to a CD, DVD, or other recordable disc. DVD and CD drives with recording capabilities (sometimes called DVD or CD burners) etch data onto the disks with a laser. CD-Recordable (CD-R) and CD-Rewritable (CD-RW) are the two most common types of drives that can write CDs, either once (in the case of CD-R) or repeatedly (in the case of CD-RW).

 

 

Formatting CD-R or CD-RW discs:

If you format the disc, it is formated with Drag2Disc, and will only work with Drag2Disc. It will call up Drag2Disc evry time you put it in. It's what I call "Basic False Analogy" - you format the floppy, then use the floppy - therefore you format the CD-R or CD-RW, then use the CD-R or CD-RW. For all the other programs within the suite (the ones which are better for keeping your data long-term), use a BLANK blank disc, directly out of the package or off the spindle.

 

If you format the disc, you have made the first and most important step to permantly LOSING the data on it.

 

And if you are about to make the MISTAKE of using CD-RWs, they are a fine tool, but not a long-term tool. The same quality that enables them to be re-written will cause them to fade to blank over time. They can still be re-used, but eventually not even an ISO based program will retrieve them. There is no hard-and-fast rule as to how long they will last, but the more critical the situation the more you should worry about this.

 

Lynn