Bless you, Barry! You are the only one from the SR-NEWBIE group who responded to my query. And it appears that using a lens cleaner in the CD drive took care of all of its problems. We ran the cleaner and then were able to burn a test CD-RW, and then added more to it. So it is working great. Not only that, but the DVD drive, which wouldn't even open before, now opens. I haven't tried to actually use the DVD drive, but it might be OK now. Does it share a laser beam or some other tool with the CD drive, so that they would both work after cleaning the CD drive?? Just wondering. As you can guess, I don't do much with DVDs, but do quite a bit of burning CDs ... my PAF genealogy records, plus photos, e-mails and other documents that go with the genealogy and family history. I wasn't aware of any backup software for OE, so I'll have to look into that. My husband's PC is about 30 ft. from mine in another room. Neither of us relishes the idea of moving his PC close enough so we could use a USB bridge cable to transfer data. We have very limited space in our home, and that would be quite unworkable. Besides that, he says his PC is acting strangely at times and he's wondering how long it'll hang together! :-( So probably backup for OE is the better choice. The main reason I've been forwarding my files, etc., to Bob is so he could burn CDs for me, because my CD drive wouldn't work. Well, you resolved that problem for me, it seems. If I burn my own CDs and get OE backup software, I think I'm home free! :-) BTW, before I heard from you, as a test, I forwarded about 20 e-mails to my husband (Bob), but he was unable to find a way to save them to a folder in his My Documents. Got any hot tips on this step? Or is it even feasible? Otherwise, it's save one file at a time ... if we ever need to do that again. Yes, I have always been a proponent of preventive maintenance ... keep the disaster from happening in the first place. But sometimes my limited knowledge of PCs, peripherals, and all their idiosyncrascies prevents me from being pro-active in this area. My PC still has other issues, so at this point, I'm still planning to back up everything I can and do a System Recovery. I've never heard of a USB Thumb Drive or an external hard drive. I'll have to look into those possibilities, too, just to do a thorough job and be sure I'm not missing out on the best method. I have 8,000 miles of travel, plus research time, and computer time invested in this genealogy, besides which I'm almost 74 with a heart condition and deteriorating vision, so I can't afford to waste any more time than absolutely necessary on extraneous efforts. After all, I never know when my vision will go totally, or what date God has stamped on my ticket to eternity, and I'd really like to wrap up my genealogy and life story for my son and his progeny before I go to Heaven to live with Him forever. I do so appreciate you taking the time to offer your help and advice, Barry. You are a tremendous blessing! And I pray that God blesses you for it. Grace Inman P.S. -- I'm leaving the two previous msgs intact, which makes a rather long msg. Would you have preferred that I delete?? I don't wanna cause any problems with download time. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Barry" <barry@yobunny.co.uk> To: "Grace Inman" <Grace@eufaula.rr.com> Sent: Sunday, June 05, 2005 6:56 PM Subject: Re: [SR-NEWBIE] Forwarding e-mails > Hello Grace, > > Sunday, June 5, 2005, 4:13:27 AM, you wrote: > > GI> Hello, friends. My HP Pavilion 7955 with WinXPHome has been > GI> diagnosed as needing System Recovery. Among other things, the CD > GI> drive doesn't work right. It apparently will "read" a CD, but it > GI> won't "burn" one. When a CD-RW is inserted into the drive, it > GI> causes a rather loud high-pitched "whine" over my speakers. The > GI> DVD drive doesn't work at all, and there are also other issues > GI> with the PC. I mention all that just to give you an idea of what > GI> I'm dealing with. > > Oh dear ! You do have a sick PC there :-( Many times with a CD-RW that > will read discs OK but won't write it's down to nothing more than a > bit of dust on the lens. CD lens cleaners are cheap and easy to get so > it may be worth trying one of those. Also, does it do the same with a > blank CD-R in the drive ? > > GI> My plan is that before I do the System Recovery, I will send my > GI> genealogy e-mails to my husband's PC. He will Save them as files > GI> in his My Documents, so he can burn them onto a CD. Then after we > GI> do the Recovery on my PC and get it re-programmed, I plan to run > GI> my e-mails back into my PC from his CD. (They will then be files > GI> in my My Documents.) I have already sent my PAF genealogy record, > GI> photos, and other genealogy-related files from my present My > GI> Documents to my husband's PC, and he has already burned a CD of > GI> them. The main issue now is my genealogy e-mails. > > Good plan, and to make it easier you would be advised to invest in an > OE backup program. There are free versions that are time limited so > would allow you do take a backup then restore onto your newly built > system, but if you are going to keep all your important e-mails in OE > then some sort of 'disaster recovery' is essential. Using a backup > program regularly and transferring to CD and/or your husband's PC > would be a sensible precaution. > > GI> Some questions: 1) Will my plan work? > > Yes - with a little modification. Instead of e-mailing the backup file > ( it will be very large ), and assuming the two PC's are physically > close, or can be moved together, you could try a USB Bridge Cable. > These are excellent for transferring files between two PC's and aren't > expensive. I use one regularly to backup customer's files before > working on their PC's :-) > > Alternatively, a USB thumb drive or external Hard Drive will do the > job. There are lots of ways of saving data that isn't then kept on the > main PC it came from - depends on how much you can afford to spend to > save your data. > > GI> 2) Is it possible the CD drive will be able to "read" and install > GI> the System Recovery CDs, even though it can't burn a CD? > > If the drive is on the way to failing then you may find it won't, but > try the CD Lens Cleaner before deciding the drive is dead - you never > know and it's a useful thing to have around as it'll help with audio > players as well as DVD players ( perhaps the one on the PC ?? ) > > GI> 3) Is there a way to forward large quantities of e-mails at once? > GI> Or will I need to do each one by itself? (I have 200-300!!) > > Believe it or not, but 300 e-mails isn't a great deal <lol> I've got > over 135,000 here, and they are automatically backed up every 24 hours > onto another PC along with all my important documents and files. If > there's one thing for sure - at one time or other I'll be needed them > when the Hard Drive in my main PC is replaced ... note I say *when* > not *if* - as sure as night follows day your Hard Drive will die at > some point in the future. > > Hope this is of use - but whatever you do, think more in terms of how > do I protect my important data from the day when my PC dies. > > BTW - sorry if there's been too much emphasis on PC's dying but I > think that not enough people realize just how fragile their PC's are > and how easy it is for them to fail with little or no warning. It > doesn't matter how much you paid for your PC either - they all use the > same technology for storing data ( the Hard Drive ) and that's the > weakest link by far. > > -- > Best regards, > Barry mailto:barry@yobunny.co.uk > MicroSoft Free Zone running Xandros 2.0 Deluxe > >