Questions about computer storage devices

MossRoad · Jan 13, 2007

Bird said:
Will wonders never cease? I finally burned my first DVD! I'm slow, but I'm learning. Of course this external drive says for USB 2.0 but will work on the slower USB 1.1; just slow. Now I asked the young salesman how to find out whether I have 1.1 or 2.0 and he didn't know. Well, I didn't know either, but I've now learned that I have the 1.1 but it works, and actually fast enough for my use.

I finally found that the reason I couldn't get Nero to burn CDs or DVDs was that it was trying to send the stuff to my old original internal CD drive instead of the new external CD/DVD drive. It's taken me forever to catch on to that because it didn't specify a drive; just "my disc" and no indicator lights came on, even on the old drive, and no dialogue box popped up to even tell me there was no disc in the drive.

See, that was easy, wasn't it? Hahahaha.

KubotaSteve · Jan 17, 2007

Bird said:
Will wonders never cease? I finally burned my first DVD! I'm slow, but I'm learning. Of course this external drive says for USB 2.0 but will work on the slower USB 1.1; just slow. Now I asked the young salesman how to find out whether I have 1.1 or 2.0 and he didn't know. Well, I didn't know either, but I've now learned that I have the 1.1 but it works, and actually fast enough for my use.

I finally found that the reason I couldn't get Nero to burn CDs or DVDs was that it was trying to send the stuff to my old original internal CD drive instead of the new external CD/DVD drive. It's taken me forever to catch on to that because it didn't specify a drive; just "my disc" and no indicator lights came on, even on the old drive, and no dialogue box popped up to even tell me there was no disc in the drive.

See Bird you not only were able to burn a DVD but also figured out the issue with the other software. Now just don't get too curious and tear the burner apart to see how it works

.

Bird · Jan 18, 2007

Don't we just love these confounded computers? Day before yesterday, mine seemed a bit slow on changing pages on the Internet. Then yesterday it was really slow. I dumped all the cookies, temporary Internet files, cache, etc., defragmented the drive, and all that good stuff and it was still slower than molasses on a cold morning. Well, after all, it really was a cold morning yesterday, and the rest of the day, too.

Nothing helped. I didn't think that new software for the external DVD drive should have anything to do with it, but being a computer dummy . . . ..

Well, this morning I try to get on the Internet and instead I get a screen that my DSL modem can run diagnostic tests and if it shows anything that fails, run it again, and if it consistently fails, go to the troubleshooting section, follow those instructions, then run the diagnostics again. OK . . ., it failed every time, but I did as it instructed, which was turn it off awhile and back on (three times), reset it with a paper clip in the little hole by the power cord, check all the connections and plugs. Nothing helped.

So I finally concede defeat and call the 800 number, and get a recording . . .. "Customers who live in the Lake Dallas area cannot access the Internet and we're aware of it and working to correct the problem as soon as possible." Guess where I live.

But at least, I'm back to normal speed for now.

chili · Jan 18, 2007

Another question, how long will a CD or DVD last? It seems like i heard somewhere about CD's only lasting a few years. Is this true? Are there different qualities in CD material? I have some old photografts that have been scanned into computer and I want to save them. I am concerned about quality in the coming years on a CD. Does anyone know about these issues?

Bird · Jan 18, 2007

Mark, that's a good question, and one to which I sure don't know the answer, but you can find a lot of information via google. How reliable is that information? I don't know that either, but you might find this site to be interesting reading. I don't know whether the guy is right or not, but it sure sounds logical to me.

MossRoad · Jan 18, 2007

Besides my CD and DVD archives of my photos, I also have all of my digital photos on a hard drive. Since I am unsure of the lifespan of CDs and DVDs, once a year I make new backup DVDs and put them in storage. It is cheap.

Think of it this way...
With film and prints, the print paper can go bad, get burned up, water damaged, etc... and the same can happen to negatives. Or, they can just plain get lost, scratched or damaged.

With CDs and DVDs the same things can happen. Except it is a heck of a lot cheaper AND easier to make backup copies of CDs and DVDs than it is to make backup prints and store negatives in a climate controlled environment.