Backing up photo files??

[Jen Blackburn]

i am starting to realize that i REALLY need to back up all of the files in the "My Pictures" folders on my computer. if something should happen to our computer, i would lose almost ALL of the pictures i have of our youngest child, who is almost 6!

so i tried using Ahead Nero and creating a data disc. i only put about 300 mb on a CD-R that should hold 700 according to its label. i was going to space them out to make sure everything was fine.

after the disc burned, i re-inserted it to check the files, and most of them are inaccessable, and if they ARE accessable, they are all messed up.

sooo... what do i do? how should i back up all my photos? please make it simple enough that i can figure it out ;)

thanks for any ideas!

[Christine Josephson]

Please back up your photos. I have lost mine for about four years worth. Luckily I had saved some of them in other places such as Picture Trail, Yahoo etc., and still had some of them on diskettes.

I will be watching this thread to find out how to store them to cd. I don't know how. I just know I won't be putting any more in MY Picture.

[Dana Grant]

i am starting to realize that i REALLY need to back up all of the files in the "My Pictures" folders on my computer. if something should happen to our computer, i would lose almost ALL of the pictures i have of our youngest child, who is almost 6!

so i tried using Ahead Nero and creating a data disc. i only put about 300 mb on a CD-R that should hold 700 according to its label. i was going to space them out to make sure everything was fine.

after the disc burned, i re-inserted it to check the files, and most of them are inaccessable, and if they ARE accessable, they are all messed up.

sooo... what do i do? how should i back up all my photos? please make it simple enough that i can figure it out ;)

thanks for any ideas!

I back up all of my important files to an external hard drive. They are not very expensive these days. That way I have them in two places. I'm slowly but surely getting all of my family photos printed so I can put them in scrap books. Hopefully, TWO hard drives won't crash before I get that done!!!

Dana

[Gina Stevenson]

Please back up your photos. I have lost mine for about four years worth. Luckily I had saved some of them in other places such as Picture Trail, Yahoo etc., and still had some of them on diskettes.

I will be watching this thread to find out how to store them to cd. I don't know how. I just know I won't be putting any more in MY Picture.

Little "secret" I learned when losing a lot in the last crash, last fall. While most pictures had been in "My Documents-My Pictures-etc," somehow (not no purpose at that time) some had ended up in "Shared Documents-Shared Pictures-etc." Learned after the crash, and doing a "Recovery" (XP has that feature), that all those in "MY...." were lost, but those few in "SHARED...." were still there. WHY? Who knows!? [Bill G & his buddies, & God?]

So, what I've found myself doing is putting just about everything under "Shared," other than what I might not want to be "public" (a few written documents/letters is all), which then go into the "My...." section. That way, if someone is borrowing the computer, signed in as another user, they can't get to the "My...." under my name, but can still see all the pics kept under "Shared...." but that's no big deal at all; pictures are for sharing! ;)

Also did, tho', like Dana suggested, get a small external hard drive after that awful crash (it was 40GB for $30 at the time, after rebate). NOW, I just have to remember to occasionally copy stuff to that other drive, which plugs into a USB slot/port.

Still puzzles me as to why "SHARED" things would not be gone, when the entire computer is started over, while things in separate profiles, such as "MY ...." are gone. 'Seems like they both would either be ... or not. :fav03

[Bob Woolley]

i am starting to realize that i REALLY need to back up all of the files in the "My Pictures" folders on my computer. if something should happen to our computer, i would lose almost ALL of the pictures i have of our youngest child, who is almost 6!

so i tried using Ahead Nero and creating a data disc. i only put about 300 mb on a CD-R that should hold 700 according to its label. i was going to space them out to make sure everything was fine.

after the disc burned, i re-inserted it to check the files, and most of them are inaccessable, and if they ARE accessable, they are all messed up.

sooo... what do i do? how should i back up all my photos? please make it simple enough that i can figure it out ;)

thanks for any ideas!


Personally Jen, I have an external hard drive as well. But you might want to try Gmail by Google. Gmail has a lot of space for storage and you would simply send your photos as an attachment to that Gmail account and archive them by date. Gmail has an "archive" button at the top...and a search button. You can place them in "Labels" which are really "folders" in Gmail but the simpliest way would be to archive them. If you remember the date of the picture that was taken, just put the date in the Subject line of your email. When you search for a photo in Gmail you would search by date you filed it under in the Subject line.

All this would depend if you have high speed internet because you would need a fast line to send large files of photos. If you don't just disregard what I said! :basic05 and purchase an external hard drive that plugs in your USB slot but even they crash at times. Just remember that an unfamiliar noise from the hard drive area could mean that it is wearing out and will eventually crash.

Having a Gmail account will also allow you to download Picasa which is an online Photo Album. Picasa has a feature whereby you can upload directly from your Gmail account or regular email client. It puts your photos online for either public display or private display whichever you set it up as. Of course, family members from away can see your photos online and even make comments in the Picasa Photo Albums. Yes, you can create more than one. You can download and install Picasa by clicking [HERE] (http://picasa.google.ca/intl/en/#utm_source=en-all-more&utm_campaign=en-pic&utm_medium=et)

Here is one of my photo albums you can look at to get an idea of how it works. click here>> [MY PHOTOS ONLINE]
(http://picasaweb.google.com/trentonnazarene/PictouCoPhotos)
At the top of the opening page click on "slideshow" and the photos will be become larger. Or one click on the smaller photo will allow you to download and save or add a comment.

If you want to try and need help in using Picasa you can email me.

Bob W.

[Norayr Hajian]

...But you might want to try Gmail by Google. Gmail has a lot of space for storage and you would simply send your photos as an attachment to that Gmail account and archive them by date.

Yes, and if you are using Firefox, you can use the Gspace add-on to automate the transfer of files to and from your Gmail account.

[Jen Blackburn]

i'll try g-mail to start with ... thanks so much, Bob!

and i'll probably get an external hard-drive too... we really should have a backup of everything. i've seen too many people close to me lose their entire hard-drives within the last couple of years. i fear i'm skating on thin-ice!

i appreciate the tips, everyone :)

jen