-=PCTechTalk=- Re: Burning question--Lil
- From: "Sammi" <sammi@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 17:24:47 -0600
Hey Gman,
I understand what you mean with this information. And it is good advice, I
think as soon as I am sure my newly burned disks are working correctly, I do
as you suggest with those older ones that are still good and copy them anew.
BTW, that CD had a label on it from when I was entranced with what the
program could do. I never did it again, thankfully. I think that printed
adhesive label might be part of the problem, like you said. I could see
little flaws in the material of the burning side of the CD, too. I have
always used Sharpies, but now I see from you guys that is bad, too. I'll
have to get some of the CD/DVD safe pens.
Here is what I did last night with the one that said it was zero bytes: I
fired up my old W98 and put in the disk that was in question. I could hardly
believe my eyes!! It showed up on that machine. So I thought I would copy
the CD contents to a newly created shared folder on the old machine. But,
the CD drive was only able to copy about half of them.
Hmm. Then I used some mild handsoap and cleaned and dried the CD. Rebooted
the XP machine, put in the CD and holy cow...there were the files. But it
couldn't access all of the files, I kept getting a error that it couldn't
read from the source. And one about a redundancy check problem. Between the
two computers, I just kept trying and trying until I was finally able to
copy the files to a folder on the XP. Then I reinstalled EZC-6 from the
folder. I use Total Commander (http://www.ghisler.com/) for transfering
files from one pc to another, works great!
I appreciate the info on the eternal hard drives; I looked at Tiger Direct
this a.m. and will be looking around more I figure I would like at least the
same or a bit more as the hard drive I have now, and it is 145 capacity. I
saw one that was about $125 but now I can't remember which was which. CRS! I
would like to stay at around $90 to $125 max. I realize that no media lasts
forever, nor will I! Ha-hah. But it is good to be reminded that I should
back up what I have worked so hard to find and that which I have created. I
am really leaning on getting an external hard drive.
Thanks so much,
Sammi
Gman wrote:
> Two things, Sammi.
>
> First, CD blank media does not last as 'lifetime' as the earliest
> marketing
> of that medium reported. The 'pressed' ones (retail CDs & DVDs) last
> a long
> time, but the ones we burn ourselves are burned onto a different type
> of
> film (it's typically a metal foil sandwiched between two clear
> layers). The
> 'pressed' ones also use actual hills and valleys created by the
> pressing,
> where ours are nowhere near as deep or tall (burning only melts the
> foil and
> it can only move so much as a result). Consequently, writable disks
> (CD-R,
> DVD-R, DVD+R) should only be trusted for several years before being
> replaced
> (copy the contents back to the drive and re-burn them onto a new
> disk). All
> Re-writables were never meant for long term storage and shouldn't be
> trusted
> for more than a year.
>
> Since you have found a disk that used to be good but is now showing as
> blank, you may want to try running a recovery utility on it to see if
> any of
> it can be recovered. Unfortunately, I have never tried any of these,
> so I
> don't have a specific app to recommend. Still, here are some you
> might want
> to consider. Just keep in mind that it's an old list. :O)
>
> CDCheck
> CD Data Rescue
> CD-R Diagnostic
>
> The second thing I wanted to mention is that the price of hard drives,
> including externals, has really dropped a lot recently so it may be
> more
> affordable than you're thinking. I tend to do the math to determine
> the
> size that's cheapest in $/GB (cost per GB) and the sweet spot is
> still the
> 500GB models. I'm about to order my second 500GB drive which will
> cost me
> about $90 US. Depending on your space needs, you could go with
> something
> much smaller than that for less. The external models tend to go for
> about
> $10 more, so you'd be getting a $20 enclosure for half price. Just
> make
> sure it uses the best connection method your system can handle (eSATA
> runs
> at the same speed as an internal but still rare on systems, Firewire
> is next
> and not quite as rare, USB 2.0 works fine for most systems and USB
> 1.x is
> way back in last place and almost too slow for regular use). If you
> know
> your specific needs/wants, let us know and we'll locate you some good
> prices.
>
> Peace,
> G
>
> "The only dumb questions are the ones we fail to ask!"
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sammi" <sammi@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2008 11:36 PM
> Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: Burning question--Lil
>
>
>> Not to worry Lil, I was late replying to your message! And yes,
>> there were a
>> bunch of msgs to download. I haven't been online the past couple of
>> days since I am trying to better organize my files.
>>
>> I am still having some problems, but not as severe as they were. I
>> was going
>> to reinstall EZC-6...I dove into my big "pc" box where I have lots
>> and lots
>> of old programs, floppy diskettes, books and all-around OLD pc
>> stuff. I found my backup copy CD for it, but I have not yet found my
>> original. Oh well, I thought...I'll just pop this backup I made a
>> long time ago. I did and I was surprised that it showed there was
>> nothing on the disk! I know I used it when I first got this pc, so
>> at one time it was OK. Now I'll have to
>> go out to the cold garage and see if I can find my original.
>>
>> You asked if I had deleted the original files, no I didn't do that.
>> I'm hoping to save them before something horrid happens. In my big
>> pc box, I did
>> find some CDs that I made with EZC-6 over 2 years ago on this pc and
>> they are good! A few of the files have no extension, but the file
>> size is right;
>> I copied and pasted one onto my desktop and added the .jpg...wow, it
>> worked!
>> I opened it with ACDsee and it was gorgeous. Only the ones with 0
>> bytes are
>> not good.
>>
>> I understand completely about your dogs...and cats, too. We have 2
>> dogs, one
>> is an American Pit Bull Terrier and I will tell you that we have had
>> *many*
>> dogs over our 46 years, but he is the sweetest, smartest most
>> well-mannered
>> dog we have ever had. He is nearly perfect! Gentlemanly but funny,
>> too. Bad
>> owners, bad breeders and the media have given the properly raised
>> dogs a bad
>> name. Our two cats were already established, and they taught him
>> manners early!
>>
>> The bull mastiff has a little red-nose Staffordshire in him, but he
>> too is so sweet, even though he was terribly abused for about 4
>> years. He was so starved that he couldn't stand up. Our grandson had
>> to carry him in, and I thought it was a sack of bones. He is scarred
>> all over, but many of the scars are not as visible any more. His
>> poor ears were a mass of puncture wounds.
>>
>> I never dreamed when we took him on as a rescue, that he would be so
>> sweet.
>> I thought we would really have our hands full...I also thought that
>> he would
>> 'hate' people because of how he was treated. But, other than wanting
>> to sit
>> on my lap, he is pretty good. Like many mastiffs, he is a bit
>> willful, but wants so badly to please that he becomes totally bummed
>> out if he thinks he
>> messed up. And wants to make it up to you by extra kisses, ha-hah.
>>
>> You mentioned a possible problem with the DVD drive, it is possible
>> and I did wonder about that, I have played audio CDs in it teday,
>> with no trouble.
>> But since it is a combo, it might just be.
>>
>> I'll be working on the backup problem. I can't afford it really, but
>> I was even considering an external hard drive. Don't know for sure
>> at this point.
>>
>> Sammi
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