This is only somewhat list related but I believe it is very important for genealogists to understand the capabilities of their PC storage and how to save their data. So I have a little more to add about the subject. Ever since I have been into genealogy and the history of the German Bohemians I have wondered about how to best save my data and to pass it around to family members and others. I admit I was surprised at the Computerworld article's promotion of tapes as the most reliable and long-lasting backup because about 3 PCs ago I had one with a tape drive. (I have been using a PC since 1983). I hated the results and always had trouble reading the tapes which now sit useless in my file cabinet. I thought that maybe Computerworld had more up to date information but the last list Email on the subject of tape storage certainly blew that away. At this time I have my PC and 2 external hard drives -- one is 80 GB and the other is 200 GB. Between the three of them and the DVDs / CDs I make I am hoping I have some continuity of storage until a better solution appears. I have to tell everyone to whom I give a CD of photos or other family records that they have to back it up from time to time or risk losing all the images. An external hard drive hooks up with a USB cable and works just like an integrated one. They are various prices depending on the size and speed as well as other features. The one thing I would look for is an external hard drive with a on-off switch. That permits you to do your backup or other save and then turn the drive off. The RAID technology referred to in the last Email is something with which I am unfamiliar. All I know is that it requres 2 drives. There is some interesting information about DVDs as media instead of CDs at: http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm Scroll down to the paragraphs about gradual data loss. Karen