Thanks Karen, As someone who moves quite often it is best to store on several mediums. I think with a DVD burner, a CD burner, an internal HD and external HD one could be prepared for almost anything (though this gets costly). The link below also gave an opportunity to save the booklet. The one problem I run into is .jpgs going bad or getting corrupted so now I save my documents as .jpgs and .pdf. Arnold ----- Original Message ----- From: KarenHob@aol.com Date: Tuesday, January 17, 2006 6:51 pm Subject: Re: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] CD storage headsup from Computerworld > 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 > > > ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== > Visit the German-Bohemian Heritage Society Web Page! > http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/ >