Should I back my photos up on CDs/DVDs or an external drive?

Answer 1

I've found that backing up on CD's or DVD's to be unreliable. Many are the times I've backed up on CD's or DVD's and thought my data was backed up only to find that the discs went bad.

It'll cost a bit more, but get yourself an external hard drive casing (Adaptec makes a good metal one that conducts the heat better) Buy a good hard drive and put it in it. I bought a 300 gig one myself. Back up anything and everything onto that drive, unplug it, and stick it away on a bookshelf. That way it contains everything you need, it's reliable, and it's not plugged it and vulnerable to surges, power spikes, or random deletions.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

I use a Digital SLR (I am a Hobbyist) -- and use BOTH the CDs and the External Drive to back up my images -- AFTER I have already downloaded them to the Laptop, reviewed the .raw files, and grouped them by subject --

The reason I do this is because I was a long-time Single Parent -- and as Such (with long-time learning because when I started my Career the state of the art was Punched Cards and Fortran) -- Hard Drives have a tendency to DIE at the WORST Possible time -- so I ALWAYS Backed up my files (starting with floppies) every other day (at a minimum).

This way I NEVER lost that much of the current effort that I produced (and I have massive spreadsheets -- I am a Cost/Price Estimator).

So now that I'm Retired and taking Images for FUN (and you can do a LOT more with a Digital SLR that was previously cost-prohibitive with 35mm Formats -- and I do Have 35mm SLRs too) -- I take images by the hundreds/thousands when I go anywhere on day trips -- and this summer when I went travelling for approx 5 weeks -- I did have many thousands of images -- and made sure EACH night to pull out not just my Laptop, but also my External Hard Drive (Backup Drive) and blank CD-r Discs == then proceeded to download the images to the laptop. With the viewing of the .raw images -- I could then start the initial review/cut of the images -- categorize them -- and backed them up to BOTH the Backup External Hard Drive and the CD-r discs.

This helped, as when I did make one stop -- I mailed one of the batches back to my home of the CD-r discs and they were lost in the mail -- so my External Hard Drive (which held the files too) was available to re-load the images.

The Laptop has its limits -- and with so many images being taken -- I could only place so many current images on the Hard Drive in order to allow my software to stay, and to be able to process the other things I was working on (like Spreadsheets and Word Processing Docs).

Answer 4

The choice is yours really, although if they're very important to you then it's worth doing both. CD and DVD are a good solution, but only as good as the quality of disc you choose, if you use cheap cr4p then the discs might start to degrade and lose your data after a while. And an external drive is certainly a very convenient and useful back up media, faster and easier than CD or DVD by miles, but it's still a hard drive so is as susceptible to failure as the hard drive inside your machine at the moment.

Answer 5

Both are an option - if its photos, I'd go with separate cds/dvds - if you have home movies, as they take up alot of space, i think it is worth investing in an external drive - as you will still want to go back and edit them - I am about to do this soon. I think the real answer is how long you want the dvds to be valid for - the only downside with backing up to cd/dvd is that some are + and some are - coded, and may not be compatible with all other machines. If you have alot of info, back up your pc onto a hard drive (it's always worth having a back up of the operating system and important files in case it fails) and your photos. And they are coming down in price - pc world are doing a 320 gig one for £79 - i am thinking about treating myself........

Answer 6

CD/DVD is only as good as the care with wich they are stored or handled. They are a good medium for transfering junk, but one drop or misplace in drive and scratches happen. Data destroyed. So Second HDD External or Internal is best. You can partition it and also use it as a System Backup, allways a good idea, but one that is not oft if ever used.
Once you have Imaged your OS onto the second drive, you can then use CD/DVD as Sequential Backup Disks this way all of your settings, stable settings, are safe and free of virus and other nasty junk.

Answer 7

Chris, that depends. How imporant are they 2 U. Many things could play a part in your decision. I can only think of that 4 myself. I no this. If i wanted a permentant copy of them kept 4 whatn ever the reason, witch could B many, I simply would creat a bogas , i.e. {account} W/yahoo or of your prefference. Dummy name. Not U pets name or anything like that. Something only U would no. Nothing U have ever told anybody. or would. All that takes it takes is a little admigation. Now the simple trick.. E-Mail the stuff 2 U self. It's locked in outer spase, that is till U open the can of worms. I'f (I was U} quactily now go. Delite all. If neccessery, Pull U hard drive And melt it with a acetylene tourch. OK? But Yes Save U dirty secertys. Just remember, We are only as sick as our secerts<<<>>>

Answer 8

you should probably do it on a jump drive, because when you dont need the files anymore you can delete them and re-use the jump drive. With cd's/dvd's they can only be used once

Answer 9

You should always back up any of your files on to a separate disk. Photos especially. CDRs are relatively inexpensive now, and you can get them in mass quantities. You'll never know what could happen to your computer, and if you don't back them up, you'll lose all of your precious memories.

Answer 10

CD's are probably better becuase they're easier to store and don't cost as much.