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Forum -> Household Management -> Organizing
Backing up media/files/CDs



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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 19 2018, 11:30 pm
I have a hundred things that I should probably be prioritizing ahead of digital housekeeping, but I've been sucked in and am slowly grinding away at, well, stuff. Also, I got a new computer a few months ago so I wanted to make sense of what was on my old one so I can just completely move over, and the new one doesn't have a CD/DVD drive so I am creating backups of all my disks.

1. Backup method please? In the past I manually created backups of most things, and as a result I have multiple copies of many things, somewhat randomly, in different places, it's been quite a hassle trying to, I guess, centralize them. What should I be doing differently in the future to prevent this from continuing to happen?

2. How many backups do you keep and in how many formats? I'm feeling a little insecure. Right now I've been putting everything onto a Seagate portable hard drive. Mostly I've been migrating from a previous backup hard drive that was very disorganized and possibly buggy. Many of the files I also have on CDs that were created as backups from previous computers or before I got the portable hard drive for backup. Hanging on to the old copies was what got me into this mess in the first place, trying to figure out which are triplicates of what I already have, which one of the same document is the keeper version, etc. On the other hand I have this squeamishness about deleting old files or throwing away old CDs.

3. Speaking of throwing away old CDs. So I'm ripping all my audio CDs because my CD-drive laptop is soon to be history. Do I throw away the original or save them "just in case?" On one hand, just in case what? On the other hand, I'm holding in my hand a Hasc concert CD or the like, it feels wrong to just...throw it out?! But what else can I do, it's copyrighted music, I can't pass it along either, and partly this backup project was supposed to free up space. Though honestly speaking a bunch of CDs don't really take up that much space...

On the same topic, I have a bunch of shiurum on CDs. Anyone know if those have the same copyright rules as music or if I can pass along the CD? Does it matter where it came from (one came free in a magazine, for instance) or whether they're still sold (most shiurim have moved on to mp3 by now, I think?)

4. Now let's talk about DVDs. With my built-in player laptop dying, is there any way to back up a DVD or are those just lost forever? I don't really care about movies because I hardly have any and can easily rent them online as needed, but I have some DVDs that are less replaceable - an expensive movement program, a camp memories video, etc.

I should really move on to more necessary tasks but I'm in middle of a cleaning blitz and have this pile of CDs on my desk NOW, and I'd rather deal with them NOW than have to come back to it and be faced with the same questions, like "did I take care of this yet?"
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naturalmom5




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 19 2018, 11:55 pm
Just copy the the files off the DVD on to the hard drive, unless its a music/movie DVD. Then there is software you can download . Just google backup DVD..
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Feb 20 2018, 12:47 am
How would I know which DVD backup software is legit? I'm wary of downloading software like that...

And yes, I'm talking about DVDs where the files aren't able to just be copied. Some movies and some with proprietary software that runs itself.
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Amarante




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Feb 20 2018, 6:59 am
I can't speak to ripping DVD's because I've never done that.

However, I do have a meticulous backup program that has saved my tuchis on more than one occasion when my computer died - because a computer will inevitably die and having a backup is the difference between a nightmare and a momentary glitch. With a backup, all I need to do is connect my backup external drive to the new computer - lie down and read a book and a few hours later, I am back and running with everything like it used to be - minus the cost of the new computer :-)

I live in a MAC world but I am sure there are Windows/Android equivalents.

MAC has an automatic backup program that copies the entire computer every hour. This is on an external hard drive about the size of an iPhone. I guess if there were a complete catastrophe, I would lose the external drive and so occasionally I think about getting another external hard drive to store offsite

My music is stored on another external drive (I have a HUGE mp3 library) and it backs up to the backup drive so if the computer dies, my music files still live on both the external hard drive and the backup hard drive.

I have the super important stuff automatically synched to the iCloud - I.e. my contacts, my notes (which is somewhat of an Apple memo App); my calendar are there - everything synchs automatically. When I upgraded my iPhone recently, everything was downloaded as soon as I signed into my iCloud account. I am assuming there is some kind of Windows/Android App that synchs and backs up these kinds of things automatically.

Everything I've created/scanned - and I try to scan records digitally, I will occasionally also save to the cloud. Since the file is named the same - creative Documents - it replaces the previous saved Documents file. My documents file is a digital filing cabinet so within it are multiple folders the same way you would have paper folders in a real filing cabinet.

Anyway not perfect but it's worked for many years and multiple computer breakdowns and iPhone and iPad upgrades.
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naturalmom5




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Feb 20 2018, 9:37 am
I have been using HandBrake for years without any problems, bh
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Feb 20 2018, 10:35 am
What's Hand Brake?

My big question is how to set up backup so as not to create multiple copies of the same thing, while always having the most recent of each thing, in case I've worked on the same file in different places.

For some reason when I import pictures from my camera card, sometimes but not always it will re-load pictures that were already imported, taking five times as long and creating a zillion files like "img0678-001"
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enneamom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Feb 20 2018, 10:42 am
seeker wrote:
What's Hand Brake?

My big question is how to set up backup so as not to create multiple copies of the same thing, while always having the most recent of each thing, in case I've worked on the same file in different places.

For some reason when I import pictures from my camera card, sometimes but not always it will re-load pictures that were already imported, taking five times as long and creating a zillion files like "img0678-001"

Seeker, my favorite tech support platform is Google. I Google exactly what I want to know: "how to backup movie files from DVD", "is handbrake safe", "multiple copies of photos on my computer from [camera model]". Sometimes I have to change the wording a little to get good results, but I almost always find the answer, whether on a help site, tech forum, or somewhere else.

G'luck! Wink
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Feb 20 2018, 10:59 am
Granted. Mostly I wanted to know what other people do with regard to keeping/tossing previous copies or alternate media forms. I have like a foot-tall stack of CDs that feel wrong to keep and wrong to toss.
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enneamom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Feb 20 2018, 11:25 am
seeker wrote:
Granted. Mostly I wanted to know what other people do with regard to keeping/tossing previous copies or alternate media forms. I have like a foot-tall stack of CDs that feel wrong to keep and wrong to toss.

Oh, that I can't help you with. I'm terrible at clutter. Confused
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Feb 20 2018, 12:35 pm
Apparently I also have been, but periodically I go on these purging crusades and I finally feel like I'm catching up. I'm pretty much down to the "random stuff" collections that don't fit categories and get dumped in a box when I tidy up, and the computer stuff. And soon it will be time for wardrobe reevaluation but that happens seasonally, it's not in the same clutter category.
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