«

Folks,

I have about 12 gig of jpeg images arranged in a variety of directories. I
have a number of image management programs including elements 2, ACDSee 6
and the normal windows xp tools etc. I have a DVD burner and Nero software
as well. I am looking to see if I am better of using something like the
database back up facility of ACDsee or am I better off just copying the
directories to a DVD. I need to do this for safety and will keep a set of
disks of site. I also add new photos to the existing directories as I go so
would need to consider some form of incremental back up or copy. Any
suggestions would be welcome. I also would like to know if the ACDSee back
up of the database actually copies the images separately or does it make one
huge file that needs to be "restored" by ACDSee for access as opposed to
viewing the files with any image viewer.
regards


Don From Down Under

"Don" <> wrote in message
news:1fx0d.26546$...
> Folks,
>
> I have about 12 gig of jpeg images arranged in a variety of directories.
I
> have a number of image management programs including elements 2, ACDSee 6
> and the normal windows xp tools etc. I have a DVD burner and Nero
software
> as well. I am looking to see if I am better of using something like the
> database back up facility of ACDsee or am I better off just copying the
> directories to a DVD. I need to do this for safety and will keep a set of
> disks of site. I also add new photos to the existing directories as I go
so
> would need to consider some form of incremental back up or copy. Any
> suggestions would be welcome. I also would like to know if the ACDSee
back
> up of the database actually copies the images separately or does it make
one
> huge file that needs to be "restored" by ACDSee for access as opposed to
> viewing the files with any image viewer.
> regards

The ACDSee database doesn't contain ANY full images.
"Backing up the ACDSee database" doesn't do anything related to what you
describe as your needs for backing up your image files.

Have a look at archive creator
http://www.yarcplus.com/products/arc...tor/index.html

Alan

Maybe something like Retrospect Backup, using either a multisession disc
burn, or maybe to a seperate internal HD or external HD?

Cheers, Jason (remove ... to reply)
Video & Gaming: http://gadgetaus.com

I bought a usb2 external hard drive. I've come up with creative ways of
naming and backing up my "my pictures" folder, and folders in that folder.
It is fast backup. I bring it back and forth between several computers. I
can bring it to a new machine or a neighbors machine. IMHO this is the way
to go. I recommend it very strongly. I wouldn't go back to another method.
I'd be curious to hear from others why they think other methods are
superior.

"Don" <> wrote in message
news:1fx0d.26546$...
> Folks,
>
> I have about 12 gig of jpeg images arranged in a variety of directories.
I
> have a number of image management programs including elements 2, ACDSee 6
> and the normal windows xp tools etc. I have a DVD burner and Nero
software
> as well. I am looking to see if I am better of using something like the
> database back up facility of ACDsee or am I better off just copying the
> directories to a DVD. I need to do this for safety and will keep a set of
> disks of site. I also add new photos to the existing directories as I go
so
> would need to consider some form of incremental back up or copy. Any
> suggestions would be welcome. I also would like to know if the ACDSee
back
> up of the database actually copies the images separately or does it make
one
> huge file that needs to be "restored" by ACDSee for access as opposed to
> viewing the files with any image viewer.
> regards
>
>
> Don From Down Under
>
>

"Don" <> wrote in message
news:1fx0d.26546$...
> I have about 12 gig of jpeg images arranged in a variety of directories.
I
> have a number of image management programs including elements 2, ACDSee 6
> and the normal windows xp tools etc. I have a DVD burner and Nero
software
> as well. I am looking to see if I am better of using something like the
> database back up facility of ACDsee or am I better off just copying the
> directories to a DVD.

I have first-hand experience of some CD-Rs that were only about 4 years old
being largely unreadable. The second copy I made was made in the same way
and had suffered the same deterioration, though different files were
unreadable. OK, they were cheap CDs and were probably written at the
highest speed possible, but it was a valuable warning. For anything long
term, use good quality media and write at the slowest speed available.

I have just bought some Fuji PhotoDisc CD-Rs which claim to have an
"Ultra-Violet Shield" and to be "ten times more stable than normal". The
discs look black instead of the usual metallic, for whatever that is worth.
Not as cheap as most CD-Rs but worth it if the data lasts longer. I can't
find any mention of a DVD version of this.
http://www.fujifilm.co.uk/recmedia/i...g.html~content
Other manufacturers may do something similar.

I was able to recover the essential parts of the data mentioned above by
going back to one of the PCs I had been using. The hard disc was still
intact and I never delete anything if I don't have to! Hard discs are one
of the cheapest forms of storage and also appear to be one of the most
reliable, given sensible handling. You might consider using a USB hard
drive for your archive, or even two USB drives for some additional safety.

A RAID system should be considered if the photographs represent a commercial
product rather than just sentimental value. For more information on RAID
than most people will ever need, look at
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionar...endent%20disks
or http://sbc.webopedia.com/TERM/R/RAID.html
RAID 0 - spreading out blocks of each file across multiple disk drives but
with no redundancy.
RAID 1 - an exact copy (or mirror) of all of data on two or more disks.
RAID 0+1 - two RAID 0 stripes are created, and a RAID 1 mirror is created
over them.
RAID 5 - uses block-level striping with parity data distributed across all
member disks.

Many motherboards these days support the simpler RAID level like 0, 1, and
0+1. A better solution for a business would be RAID 5, which usually
requires an additional disc controller card. This could add a couple of
hundred $ on top of the cost of buying four hard drives. I'd still feel
happier using CD backups every now and again even if it meant feeding large
numbers of discs to the PC. Tape backup systems are cheap per gigabyte, but
the lifetime of data on a tape is abysmally short.

Also, consider off-site storage in case of something catastrophic like the
building burning down or the PC being stolen.

--
Joe

http://joe.hotchkiss.com

"Don" <> wrote in news:1fx0d.26546$D7.4792@news-
server.bigpond.net.au:

> I also add new photos to the existing directories as I go so
> would need to consid

I think you need real backup software. You can download a trial of
Retrospect from www.dantz.com

I've been using Retrospect for a long time and it works well.

If you don't want to spend the money, the best thing might be to back it
up now by hand, and then in the future backing up the new photos as you
take them.

--
Delete the inverse SPAM to reply

On 9/11/04 1:50 AM, in article
1fx0d.26546$, "Don"
<> wrote:

> Folks,
>
> I have about 12 gig of jpeg images arranged in a variety of directories. I
> have a number of image management programs including elements 2, ACDSee 6
> and the normal windows xp tools etc. I have a DVD burner and Nero software
> as well. I am looking to see if I am better of using something like the
> database back up facility of ACDsee or am I better off just copying the
> directories to a DVD. I need to do this for safety and will keep a set of
> disks of site. I also add new photos to the existing directories as I go so
> would need to consider some form of incremental back up or copy. Any
> suggestions would be welcome. I also would like to know if the ACDSee back
> up of the database actually copies the images separately or does it make one
> huge file that needs to be "restored" by ACDSee for access as opposed to
> viewing the files with any image viewer.
> regards
>
>
> Don From Down Under
>
>
Have you ever considered buying an external firewire drive (like a LaCie
250mb), and use backup software that comes with it to do your backups for
it. I use one on my G5 mac and it does perfect incrementals night after
night. Of course I use it to back up my user directory which catches
everything.

Harry

Don wrote:

> Folks,
>
> I have about 12 gig of jpeg images arranged in a variety of directories. I
> have a number of image management programs including elements 2, ACDSee 6
> and the normal windows xp tools etc. I have a DVD burner and Nero software
> as well. I am looking to see if I am better of using something like the
> database back up facility of ACDsee or am I better off just copying the
> directories to a DVD.

FWIW, I'm in about the same situation.

I have a DVD burner and just do a straight directory copy to
rewriteable DVDs. The DVDs are completely rewritten each backup.

After a year they get tossed and replaced with fresh DVDs to avoid
problems with failure from too many rewrites.

It takes more than one disk so I 'balance' things by putting certain
directories on each disk. I choose the directories by size. That way
the disks are evenly filled.

I keep a table of contents on each CD cover so I know which
directories to copy to that disk when I do the backup.

I have two sets of disks. I use set 'A' one week then set 'B' next
week. I usually back up each Sunday (or close to it , but if I
take a lot of pictures, or have some important shots, then I'll back
up that day after transferring them from the camera.

if you are running XP you may want to try using the backup utility is uses
some compression which may or may not help with jpeg files but worth a try.
If you copy files back from a DVD depending how you copy they may all wind
up read only. You can backup to any location then burn the file or format
the DVD and backup to it.

backup and restore retain the permissions

http://support.microsoft.com/default...&Product=winxp


Wayne


"Jim Townsend" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Don wrote:
>
>> Folks,
>>
>> I have about 12 gig of jpeg images arranged in a variety of directories.
>> I
>> have a number of image management programs including elements 2, ACDSee 6
>> and the normal windows xp tools etc. I have a DVD burner and Nero
>> software
>> as well. I am looking to see if I am better of using something like the
>> database back up facility of ACDsee or am I better off just copying the
>> directories to a DVD.
>
> FWIW, I'm in about the same situation.
>
> I have a DVD burner and just do a straight directory copy to
> rewriteable DVDs. The DVDs are completely rewritten each backup.
>
> After a year they get tossed and replaced with fresh DVDs to avoid
> problems with failure from too many rewrites.
>
> It takes more than one disk so I 'balance' things by putting certain
> directories on each disk. I choose the directories by size. That way
> the disks are evenly filled.
>
> I keep a table of contents on each CD cover so I know which
> directories to copy to that disk when I do the backup.
>
> I have two sets of disks. I use set 'A' one week then set 'B' next
> week. I usually back up each Sunday (or close to it , but if I
> take a lot of pictures, or have some important shots, then I'll back
> up that day after transferring them from the camera.
>
>
>
>