I've been burning quite a few, major clean up. Got to thinking, "is there a better speed, what is it and why?" Also do you think it's better to have the full files instead of .exe and zip.

To hell with CD's get an external backup drive...I store mine off-site...bring it home once a week to backup :) I did the CD route...and I have hundreds...blah. Of course IMHO ;)

CDs? What are CDs? I dumped 30 archival CDs about four year's back for 3 DVDs and that's what I have used for archival backups since. If I could afford a dual-layer writer, I'd do 8.2GB archival backups. For Poser Runtime backups (and stuff that's too large for DVD, like raw video), I use an external harddrive. At the prices for DVD burners and media, CDs are the 3-1/2" floppy disk of today. Do you remember when they were still trying to put large applications on them? 12, 20, 30 floppy disks. What a riot! ;) Robert

I have always read it is best to burn at a little less than the max for your drive (my max is 48x so I burn at 32x). How good of advice that is I really don't know. What I think makes a bigger different is the burning software you use. What Microsoft uses in XP is licensed from Roxi and isn't very good. Not that Roxi isn't good, but this is a "lite" version of an "older" version of Roxi (and I have had more than my share of bad burns from it). I now use Nero and swear by it, but any of the top brands will be much better than the XP default (Nero,Roxi,etc.). I have CD backups of the original exe's and zip's as well as my runtime that has been zip into several files. Both work fine, but the latter is more convenient when I do a reinstall (do need to use WinRar when unzipping really large files). If you are asking if it is better to zip a file as opposed to not zipping....zip will be a lot faster for both reading and writing. SWAMP

i use dvd burner lol many of the models ive created in past umm....... lets just say wont even fit on a cd =S hows that for a computer killer lol 3gb of ram, longest 20 minute import o_o um ouch? next person to say i should get a cd burner, ill cut off your head as for topic, screw cds ^_^ get a dvd burner, and all set

I have and use Nero. I pretty much do the same as SWAMP. I thought I had read some where that higher speeds can lose data. BTW, I'm not rich like some of you seem to be. I cant afford a DVD burner or Photo Shop or anything in those lines. I'm in Canada, money is not worth much and all that kind of stuff is very expensive here.

Well, I noticed the other day that my purchase folder alone houses more then 30 gigs OUCH!!! So putting them on CD would be a little tough to do. I'm going to be burning them to an external harddrive, but right now I only have 80 gigs on that puppy, so when I backup my purchases, it will be half full!!!! As soon as I can, I'm going to get a dual layer dvd burner. My computer is in the shop right now and I checked on the prices and I can get a really nice one from my computer guy for only $78. So it's on my wish list now...that is if they can ever get my baby up and running again!!! Of course also on my wish list are two more external hdcases with at least 120 gig harddrives in them. I much prefer the external harddrive backup route myself. But I like my stuff backed up on two different places anyway. Anyway, if I do use cd's then I burn them lower then the max, I've also been told to do that to reduce the possibility of buffer overruns during the burning process which results in errors and a cd becomes a nice coaster and to reduce loss of data also.

From what I have read ,heard, and experienced, using the max speed is pushing the drive to it's limit and "can" cause data loss sometimes...but why risk it. Backing down just a little (one speed below max) gives a better working cushion.

12x. I have a 40x burner, but I also have a lot of good books and no reason to risk data loss.

Hi Well I burn everything as slow as the disks will allow me to! for cdr's it's usually 4X, for dvdr's I burn @ 1X! Not one coaster and with a dvdr of poser stuff burned @ 4X (my dvd burners max speed - it's old!) it took 3 times as long to read the same thing I burned @ 1X (exact same disk contents) I've always read that the lower speed you burn the better data transfer (onto the disk & off when reading from it). I may be wrong but it works swell for me!! An hour to burn a dvd @ 1X isn't gonna kill me... I have other things to do in life!!!

"I may be wrong but it works swell for me!! An hour to burn a dvd @ 1X isn't gonna kill me... I have other things to do in life!!!" ya......anyone remember sex? the kind outside poser? lol

DVD Burner 2X, as that is all they had when I brought my PC 2 years ago.

I went to burn a cd the other day & was most upset when my copy windows came back with the message that my burner is no longer supported by Windows, thanks Microsoft! thanks for nothing! When I could burn stuff it was at 4x & was always fine afterwards.

A DVD burner is looking a good idea at current prices. I gather that writing at maximum speed means that the switching time of the laser becomes a significant fraction of the time available to burn the mark on the disk. I usually write at a bit less than drive/disk maximum, and it doesn't seem to make much difference to the total time needed. And DVD burners will burn CDs at a good speed.

Attached Link: http://www.cdfreaks.com

They all swear that the type of media you use determines how long your disc will last. DVD's go bad on cheap media pretty fast.

IT's worth a look before you buy anything new.

Message edited on: 02/05/2005 06:44

my 2 cents... i burn cd's at 48x no problems at all as for dvd's i burn at 8x or 16x for data, now for video it is best not to burn at maximum. I have 2 burners, one is a "BackPack" usb burner and works like a charm, so if you don't want to or know how to install a burner, i highly recommend it. That one burns at 4x, but never a bad one in the bunch. Boy was it ever nice to go from loads of poser related cd's to 4 dvd's

P.S. what works for one may not work for you, you're gonna have to experiment a bit, all the comments here can be helpful to you

Well I am burning at 4x lol my CD burner seems to be taking a dump I use to be able to burn at 24x but not anymore so untill I can get a new one will have to burn at a real low speed. My should burn at 32x max.

haven't the scratch to get a DVD burner, but I just pop a CD in the HP burner, hit 'record' (well, you know the drill) and don't worry about it..always a good time to crack open a good book, eat, attend to other bodily needs, etc. Still only have 19,000+ items on 116 CDs..;)
Oh, either .exe or .zip seems to work fine. I've pulled up year-old disks to load things, and have a pretty good track record with it.

Message edited on: 02/05/2005 12:39

FWIW, I back up to CD and DVD depending on what I want where. Committing to a hard drive, without having a hard backup is not a good idea. Hard drives will fail. When? When you least expect it. And yes, i know I'm going to hear 'My so-and-so external hard drive never gives any trouble'. Maybe not this year nor next but it will happen. Check the RTF specs of the hard drive.

My dollars worth.Does anyone use removeable hardrives? I have a 120 gig and an 80 gig.I take them out of my computer and only put them in to add items.I have all my purchased and free stuff on them as a backup.arrow1

I burn everything as fast as Nero thinks it can burn it and I've never had a problem with any disk. I also burn the multisession cds and they have always worked great. I burn DVDs too, but CDs work well for must things. I put everything in folders. All David's stuff in one folder. All Vicki's stuff in another. When I see the size is getting close to what I want to store on a CD, I create another Vicki folder, etc. I think it makes it easier to find things too. I also only touch the discs by the edges and I don't leave them laying around so they can get scratched etc. And I never flip through them like they're a pack of cards either. Maybe that's why I've never had one fail. Also I only use name brands.

So arrow1... who makes your removable drive and how much does it cost and how much does the media cost? Or do you actually open up the computer and hook up an external drive? I know iomega makes a removable harddrive, but I'm a little miffed at them so I haven't really checked them out. I'm miffed because I bought one of their mp3 players because it was on sale and I liked the fact that it used removable media. But then it took a long time for them to ship it. While I was waiting, I changed my mind. (They actually had it in stock when I placed my order, but apparently shipped it to someone else, so I had to wait.) When I called to cancel - and I really didn't want to cancel - just substitute another product for my order, they told me that they couldn't cancel the order. They said that the product would have to be shipped to me and I would have to call and get a return authorization when it arrived. But they would be happy to take a new order. I thought "New order h---!" I don't like your policy so I'm not ordering anything else. When the player finally came, I was concerned that their website listed the product as unavailable and not out of stock. I contacted them to see if they were planning to discontinue the product. They assured me that it was only unavailable because they had sold so many copies. So I went ahead and opened it; I should have returned it as I had planned. About a month later they discontinued it. And not long after that I noticed that their peerless product line (which was a removable harddrive) was disappearing from their store as well. I had one of those as well. I liked the drive but it was clearly overpriced. I wrote to them again, but this time I said "If you are dicontinuing this product, I will never buy one of your products again." They wrote back and said they were discontinuing the line, but I could still by supplies while they lasted. Like I was going to waste any more money. And besided, I thought companies had to supply parts and things for seven years after a product ended. Did that law change? Did it never exist? I'll bet there are no supplies or parts for any of these discontinued products. Oh, well, you probably didn't want to hear all that

First you need to see if you have a blank slot available on the front of your machine to see if there is room for a removeable hardrive.Or you can convert one of your fixed hardrive slots.Cost varies. I live in Australia and items are probably dearer here! My 120 gig drive (which for some reason finishes up at 111 gigs) because of the way drive space is calculated,don't ask me why!cost 25 dollars for the removeable rack and 120 dollars for the hardrive. I installed it myself.I have included a site here Australia which might give you some idea. Cheers arrow1
Link http://www.arc.com.au/