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June 16th, 2012 09:00
Using CD & DVD+RW disks vs an ext Hard Drive
I recently bought a Dell I620 w/Windows 7. I can erase and reformat old
CD & DVD+RW disks. Windows 7, Live File System, is supposed to
allow editing of individual files on the disk. Say I duped a file, I could just
erase it and reuse that space.
I'm not sure how well this really works. Some of my disks now show less the
original size. I'm just wondering if I should buy more CD & DVD disks, or just
spend the money for a external HD. A Seagate Expansion 2 TB USB 3.0
Desktop External Hard Drive, would cost about $125 w/shipping & tax.
Then I would never have to buy more disks. The process of writing to disks
also is slow and time consuming. I figure a ext HD would be faster.
Windows 7 says I need an NTFS capable storage system for backups. Would
an external HD be faster for writing various files and also work for Windows 7
backup and Restore? With that much HD storage, I could store a hundred
movies and still have plenty of room left. It would also allow portability of big
files.
On the other hand. You buy various types of DVD disks in bulk pretty cheap.
If rewriting and editing work well, than that may be the way to go. For instance,
sense the cost is low, you could mail a disk to someone with files you wanted
to send. Files that were to big to send over the Internet. I have a wireless ISP.
Download speed is good, but sending big files to someone is not so easy. Upload
speed is a lot speed is a lot less. Any ideas on the best way to go?
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osprey4
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June 17th, 2012 06:00
Hi Doug FL,
Just one additional tip. When you replace or erase a file on any RW disc, you do not get the space back. RW discs are fine for temporary storage or testing, but not archiving.
fireberd
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June 16th, 2012 10:00
RW media (CD or DVD discs) is the least reliable for storage. On the surface it would appear, with the RW discs that they could be used like the old floppy diskettes but as their reliability is questionable its not a good practice to do this.
If you are just going to write data to a disc and then either keep it for archiving or as you note to send it to someone, use an "R: disc - it can be written to, but not erased/rewritten.
An external hard drive for backup would be the best option. You can use it like you want to write, erase, rewrite, copy data from one PC to another, etc.
I use Acronis True Image and do full hard drive (all partitions) backups. I don't use the built in Windows backup option as the Acronis application is much more robust and flexible. Backing up the entire hard drive including the Dell Recovery and Diagnostic partitions is a must. If the hard drive failed and had to be replaced, you can restore the entire hard drive including the Dell recovery and diagnostic partitions. If you only had a backup of the "operational" partition on the drive and it failed you would not be able to restore the Dell partitions (which are factory only items, otherwise).
I don't see anything in the Dell documentation for the I620 about USB 3.0, ONLY USB 2.0. You can use a USB 3.0 device, such as the hard drive you mention, but it will only transfer at the USB 2.0 speed. You could add a PCIe USB 3.0 expansion card, if you have an open slot, and get USB 3.0 speed (or near USB 3.0 speed).
Mary G
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June 16th, 2012 10:00
RW disks are unreliable especially after reuse so they should not be used for editing or long term backups or storage. Even write once disks should not be used for long term storage. External or second separate internal hard drives are much better, but nothing is foolproof so you should duplicate backups and system images. CDs and DVDs are probably going the way of floppies and video tapes soon. Many new computers are made without an optical drive. Sending files over the Internet now involves uploading to a site and sending a link instead of huge files.