[Janisum]

This may be a crazy question but I tend to be risky and careless due to not understanding the computer and language. Here's my problem..
I've never backed up my files so I did today but after ejecting the 1st CD-R, it didn't appear to have anything on it. So I closed the back up. Now what???

I just followed the prompts from the action center which was telling me to solve the issue of backing up files. I was asked if I wanted to "make changes to this computer", and inserted my 1st CD-R and it ran 31% and had to eject and insert another. At that point I noticed there was nothing on the CD. It look clean so I stopped the back up. That's where I am.

I've read alittle about backing up and choosing what to back up but it only confused me so I assumed with having Windows 7, it would walk me through the process from the action center and wouldn't need to do anything more.

In advance, thanks to whoever is kind enough to help someone as careless as myself....

[ComputerEngineer]

The CD had nothing on it? You mean you re-inserted it into the drive after an auto-eject, or you have some other way of telling it from the outside? because thats how you sound !

This post has been edited by ComputerEngineer: 05 October 2012 - 03:02 AM

[compnovo]

Janisum, on 04 October 2012 - 10:57 AM, said:

This may be a crazy question but I tend to be risky and careless due to not understanding the computer and language. Here's my problem..
I've never backed up my files so I did today but after ejecting the 1st CD-R, it didn't appear to have anything on it. So I closed the back up. Now what???

I just followed the prompts from the action center which was telling me to solve the issue of backing up files. I was asked if I wanted to "make changes to this computer", and inserted my 1st CD-R and it ran 31% and had to eject and insert another. At that point I noticed there was nothing on the CD. It look clean so I stopped the back up. That's where I am.

I've read alittle about backing up and choosing what to back up but it only confused me so I assumed with having Windows 7, it would walk me through the process from the action center and wouldn't need to do anything more.

In advance, thanks to whoever is kind enough to help someone as careless as myself....

Hey Janisum,
I have a hunch if you check the CD-R you'll find it not only contains data, it's full to the max. You're going to be using a LOT of CDs to do a backup, they don't hold much, so I would suggest at least that you use DVDs. Even better would be a second hard drive, internal or external, or partition on your existing one (although that's risky if the primary drives fails).

[LiveBrianD]

Here's a little trick with CD-Rs and DVD+/-Rs - if you hold them up to the light the right way, you'll see that some of it, starting from the center, will be darker. (The amount that's this way will depend on how much you burned to it. Also, this seems to be more visible on DVDs.)

Personally, I only use CD/DVD media for things that won't change, like picture backups. I also have everything on an external drive that I plug in once a week (yes, I have 3 copies of my pictures), and I have my documents on both machines, the external drive, and dropbox. (Not optical media though.)

[LincolnSpector]

compnovo, on 05 October 2012 - 04:54 AM, said:

Hey Janisum,
I have a hunch if you check the CD-R you'll find it not only contains data, it's full to the max. You're going to be using a LOT of CDs to do a backup, they don't hold much, so I would suggest at least that you use DVDs. Even better would be a second hard drive, internal or external, or partition on your existing one (although that's risky if the primary drives fails).

I strongly recommend against using an internal drive for backup. It doesn't protect your data from hardware theft, power surges, and other disasters. External drives are excellent backup tools. So are online backup services.

Lincoln

[LiveBrianD]

True - if the power supply decides blow up, you're screwed. RAID also doesn't entirely count as a backup - if malware corrupts things, you just lost both copies. I think online backup services are fine for stuff like word documents (I keep all my school docs on Dropbox as a backup), but I wouldn't bother for stuff like movies or pictures. (unless you want to wait a really long time for it to upload)

In my grandparents' case, I'm thinking about backing up one PC to the other, since it's the cheapest option and they don't have any network or external drives. In that case, I don't think theft is an issue (they live up a steep driveway far from the street, and these are desktop PCs - small, light laptops and phones are easier for them to steal), although I guess fire and power surges are still a possibility (no more so than using a NAS or external drive though, for the most part). Personally, I hide my external drive on top of my desktop PC, and only plug it in once a week to run the backup (minimizing the risk of a power surge frying it). For important stuff, having an off-site backup isn't a bad idea (ex. burn another copy of your photos to DVDs, and leave them at a friend's or family member's house). Heck, even putting another copy in a metal box in the storage shed in the backyard isn't a bad idea (aside from the temperature in winter and summer), in case the house burns down or something.

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 05 October 2012 - 08:31 AM

[Janisum]

Actually the CD-R had nothing on it when I removed it. I looked at it under a light even and at all angles because I couldn't believe it myself.

I do have a friend who just got his masters in computer programming but getting ahold of him is almost impossible so I may need to conquer this myself. Any ideas as to why there was no data? Weird..

[LiveBrianD]

What program are you using for the backup? If you burn some files to CD in explorer, does that work?

[ComputerEngineer]

On the contrary I'd suggest you to stick to CD-R, reason(I won't try to be nerdy),
A normal CD has less chances for the "pits" to merge into eachother under unfavorable temperatures, due to the reason that the pits on a CD are placed much apart compared to the micron level density applied on the DVD-R, this way even the scanning velocity can't make much difference...suppose you've old photos stored in a cd and a dvd and you forgot both of them in your car seat on a hot summer day, the dvd would go unreadable and CD would work as it is...its personal experience...

This post has been edited by ComputerEngineer: 07 October 2012 - 01:28 AM

[ComputerEngineer]

Janisum, on 06 October 2012 - 04:57 PM, said:

Actually the CD-R had nothing on it when I removed it. I looked at it under a light even and at all angles because I couldn't believe it myself.

I do have a friend who just got his masters in computer programming but getting ahold of him is almost impossible so I may need to conquer this myself. Any ideas as to why there was no data? Weird..

Merely by looking at the dark thing on the CD you can't tell if the expected data was on it or not, the dark thing you see on a CD is actually like a primer, hard patched on the layer by the burner to make a bit-stream terminal that decides the access, sessional limits...etc why not check it in the same drive you used to burn it?
Try checking the backup instructions on the machine itself, what disc types it asked for?

This post has been edited by ComputerEngineer: 07 October 2012 - 02:03 AM

[Janisum]

I just followed the prompts from my action center in Windows 7. It tells me to use CDs. It was showing the files were being backed up in Windows but when the CD was read full and I looked at it and saw nothing I didn't put in another. How can I check to see if it has anything on it aside from visually? And can I start from scratch again?

I've had my computer for about 2 years and have never backed up files!! I am the only one who uses this and I don't really have anything pertinant on it. I do use CCleaner weekly and back up and save my registry files. My D: drive is getting full though. I'm contemplating getting a laptop so won't have this too much longer.

It's obvious I'm computer illerate. I basically use it only for my advocacy work, emails and some ebay selling. You all have been so helpful and the number of responses is awesome as it always has been on this community. I wish I could give you more to go on in answer to your replys.

This post has been edited by Janisum: 07 October 2012 - 07:53 AM

[LiveBrianD]

When you copied files to the drive, you did remember to actually burn then, right?

[smax013]

LincolnSpector, on 05 October 2012 - 08:17 AM, said:

compnovo, on 05 October 2012 - 04:54 AM, said:

Hey Janisum,
I have a hunch if you check the CD-R you'll find it not only contains data, it's full to the max. You're going to be using a LOT of CDs to do a backup, they don't hold much, so I would suggest at least that you use DVDs. Even better would be a second hard drive, internal or external, or partition on your existing one (although that's risky if the primary drives fails).

I strongly recommend against using an internal drive for backup. It doesn't protect your data from hardware theft, power surges, and other disasters. External drives are excellent backup tools. So are online backup services.

Lincoln

But it is better than nothing.

I agree it is not ideal to backup to an second internal drive, but considering the number of people who don't backup at all, it is better than nothing.

And in reality, unless you are taking that external drive backup off site, it is still potentially susceptible to theft and other disasters just as the computer is. And considering that many people just leave their external backup drive constantly on and connected to their computer so that an automatic backup can run, it might be just as susceptible to power surges.

[smax013]

compnovo, on 05 October 2012 - 04:54 AM, said:

Janisum, on 04 October 2012 - 10:57 AM, said:

This may be a crazy question but I tend to be risky and careless due to not understanding the computer and language. Here's my problem..
I've never backed up my files so I did today but after ejecting the 1st CD-R, it didn't appear to have anything on it. So I closed the back up. Now what???

I just followed the prompts from the action center which was telling me to solve the issue of backing up files. I was asked if I wanted to "make changes to this computer", and inserted my 1st CD-R and it ran 31% and had to eject and insert another. At that point I noticed there was nothing on the CD. It look clean so I stopped the back up. That's where I am.

I've read alittle about backing up and choosing what to back up but it only confused me so I assumed with having Windows 7, it would walk me through the process from the action center and wouldn't need to do anything more.

In advance, thanks to whoever is kind enough to help someone as careless as myself....

Hey Janisum,
I have a hunch if you check the CD-R you'll find it not only contains data, it's full to the max. You're going to be using a LOT of CDs to do a backup, they don't hold much, so I would suggest at least that you use DVDs. Even better would be a second hard drive, internal or external, or partition on your existing one (although that's risky if the primary drives fails).

While I agree that in today's world backing up to CDs can be extremely painful and time consuming since they don't have much room, for some people they might be just fine. If all you have is "true" typical data files (i.e. word processor, spreadsheet files, etc) and no "media" files (i.e. songs, videos, pictures), then using CDs might not be too bad. And the reality is that there some people along those lines.

[Janisum]

LiveBrianD, on 07 October 2012 - 07:54 AM, said:

When you copied files to the drive, you did remember to actually burn then, right?

I have no idea... the CD looks totally clean and unused

[LiveBrianD]

I should mention that the entire disc will be darker if you filled it, at which point the trick I mentioned won't really work.

What tool are you using to burn files?