At 02:09 PM 3/9/2005, alanjones10@cox.net wrote: >I think you asked is there a reason to prefer CD-RW over a floppy for >back-ups: > >The answer is Floppies hold 1.44 MB, CD's hold 700 MB. >Also Floppies are magnetic so a magnet can erase them, CDs are optical it >would take a laser to erase them. > >I save my files like JONES2005-01-01 and then JONES2005-01-02, etc. They >sort nicely and I can tell by the title what and when it was. > > This is an excellent naming convention. I would even insert an underscore between the file name and the date: Jones_2005-01-02 Regarding floppies vs CD's, there is a concern that I have already encountered. CD devices have become the target of virus creators. There is a known virus out there now that causes a CD device to lock up, and there are other viruses that cause CD devices to force your system to reboot every time you try to eject some kinds of CDs. Also, it seems wasteful to backup a 10Mb PAF file on a CD, so there is a tendency to backup many versions on the same CD. That can be a disaster if the CD becomes unreadable because you can lose a whole lot of backups all at once. Since a CD does not come in a permanent protective case as does a floppy, it is very easy to scratch one and render it unreadable. Furthermore, there are several different CD read/write formats. And you have the issue of leaving the CD open for adding more files to it or closing it off to further additions. All these issues make CD's something that can and will cause confusion. So what's the best way to backup? It really depends on how you work, how big your file is, and what kind of system or systems you use. I recommend using a mixture of several different methods to cover your bases. The little USB thumb drives (flash drives) are coming down in price so much that I strongly recommend using them. Unfortunately they are hard to label since they are so tiny, but a 64Mb device can be purchased for under $20 in quantity. The major advantage is that there are NO moving parts and they are fast and reusable. I am considering buying them in bulk and making them available to members of the Silicon Valley Computer Genealogy Group at cost. Richard Rands