I have been backing up my files to DVD using Photoshop Elements 5 but have started to question if all of the files are really being backed up. I use The File Copy/Move offline command. This looks at the files then determines how many disks are required and supposedly divides the files up between disks. The fact that is allows for spanning of disks is the reason I'm still using it. When I select the files I want to backup in Photoshop Elements is says I have 4,778 items selected. When I select them on the hard drive it says I have 8160 files selected. When I add up the totals from the individual backup disks it says there are 5582 files and when I select the same files in Widows DVD Maker it gives me a total of 6199 files.
Does anyone have an idea what is going on?
Is there a better program that I should be using to backup to DVD.
I also have them backed up on a second drive and will likely be getting a third drive given the issues.
Online isn't an option because I have sloooow internet.
I've never used any of the features you're describing Phil, so can't help on the varying counts question.
I wanted to toss in that I use 4gb card specifically because they will fit on DVDs with no crossover, so it's just a matter of dragging and dropping a folder into Toast. There are always a couple of small extra files on each DVD that I assume have something to do with formatting.
Good move on the multipled drives, though. And store them in separate "safe" places. When traveling as I do 5 months a year, I back up to two portable drives in addition to the drive on my laptop, plus I burn DVDs and mail them home to myself. At home I keep the DVDs in a safe deposit box, and one of the two backup drives lives in another state. I live in the land of volcanoes and tsunamis, and I travel in regions where folks have been known to steal things.
Philip, you might want to try another strategy for replicating your data to multiple drives - I use two - one to manage my own internal "stuff" and another to allow others to share files.
Syncback from www.twobrightsparks.com will, in its free and most basic form, sync data between multiple drives, computers on a network, and other storage devices. You simply designate which folders are to be sync'd and how often you want to sync them, and as long as the devices are both on line they contents will be mirrored. In the event of newer files overwriting older ones, you can set a rule that will ask you what to do.
Although online is not an option for large-scale replication, Dropbox may provide some usefulness. Dropbox is a pretty cool utility that creates a shared public folder on your computer with a direct link to an offsite server via secure socket layer. Any time you place a file in that public folder it is copied to the server. The beauty of this is that if you have mulitple computers loaded with dropbox, the contents of your dropbox will be copied to the other computers. Additionally, right clicking on the flilename will give you a url that you can give to others to access that specific file (and no others). Removing a file from your dropbox folder will result in that file being removed from all dropboxes in your account. The freebie version allows up to 2 gb in size, the pay versions offer up to a 100gb dropbox. You can access your dropbox from anywhere you have an internet connection, which helps when you are traveling. The paid versions also provide for rollback, versioning and other possibly useful features.
To answer your first question, I do not use those applications so I have no clue what's going on in your system.
Discussion
2 repliesDoes anyone have an idea what is going on?
Is there a better program that I should be using to backup to DVD.
I also have them backed up on a second drive and will likely be getting a third drive given the issues.
Online isn't an option because I have sloooow internet.
I wanted to toss in that I use 4gb card specifically because they will fit on DVDs with no crossover, so it's just a matter of dragging and dropping a folder into Toast. There are always a couple of small extra files on each DVD that I assume have something to do with formatting.
Good move on the multipled drives, though. And store them in separate "safe" places. When traveling as I do 5 months a year, I back up to two portable drives in addition to the drive on my laptop, plus I burn DVDs and mail them home to myself. At home I keep the DVDs in a safe deposit box, and one of the two backup drives lives in another state. I live in the land of volcanoes and tsunamis, and I travel in regions where folks have been known to steal things.
Syncback from www.twobrightsparks.com will, in its free and most basic form, sync data between multiple drives, computers on a network, and other storage devices. You simply designate which folders are to be sync'd and how often you want to sync them, and as long as the devices are both on line they contents will be mirrored. In the event of newer files overwriting older ones, you can set a rule that will ask you what to do.
Although online is not an option for large-scale replication, Dropbox may provide some usefulness. Dropbox is a pretty cool utility that creates a shared public folder on your computer with a direct link to an offsite server via secure socket layer. Any time you place a file in that public folder it is copied to the server. The beauty of this is that if you have mulitple computers loaded with dropbox, the contents of your dropbox will be copied to the other computers. Additionally, right clicking on the flilename will give you a url that you can give to others to access that specific file (and no others). Removing a file from your dropbox folder will result in that file being removed from all dropboxes in your account. The freebie version allows up to 2 gb in size, the pay versions offer up to a 100gb dropbox. You can access your dropbox from anywhere you have an internet connection, which helps when you are traveling. The paid versions also provide for rollback, versioning and other possibly useful features.
To answer your first question, I do not use those applications so I have no clue what's going on in your system.