Who knows about computers?

[ramseytheii]

Today I woke up and saw a message on my computer, it was sort of in limbo, and it said an imminent failure of my hard drive was detected and I needed to back up information. 

What is the best way to compress a ton of data?  For instance should I put it into .rar files, or WinZip?  Should I have the computer back thjings up for me, or should I just copy my data onto CDs?

Most programs I don't need to backup, I will either let them go or reinstall.  But I have tons of .pdfs, .wavs, .mp3s, and other things of that sort.  I would greatly appreciate advice on this matter!

Walter Ramsey

[henrah]

I think .rar is more compressed than .zip, but I don't know about quality issues with those compressions. Just stuff it all onto a bunch of CD's (which will take a long time) or DVD's if you have a DVD writer. If you don't, I suggest getting one because it'll make the task a lot less painstaking. You could probably buy an external one and just plug it into a USB slot and get going from there, as long as you have some blank DVD's of course

[rebby]

i know about this much. https://www.goodtricks.net/hand.jpg

[anodibu]

I advice you to get an external harddisk and backup all your data to there.
Also I wouldn't compress it, certainly not in combination of putting it on cdroms! Cdroms aren't that reliable as backup medium. If you put compressed files on it and the cd has a tiny fault or gets scratched, you risk losing a lot of data because it can't be uncompressed correctly no more.
If you want to compress some of it, better to make different archives instead of one big. Bear in mind that compressing mp3s and pdfs isn't that useful because these are already compressed and you will gain little (if anything at all).

[Bob]

There's a thread about backing up stuff somewhere on this site.

I would use an external hard drive, maybe even two or three, because it's easier to load the info onto another computer.

You can also create an exact image of your computer's hard drive so you don't even have to reinstall programs.  I like the idea of everything being freshly installed though -- not carrying over some type of corruption from another computer.

I liked CDRs and CDRWs until I realized some of them chopped file names on me and others told me they couldn't copy all the info from my computer. 

I'm not an expert on compression -- the original question.   Duh on me.  I don't like to compress things -- because some time in the future if I want that back, I want it back easily.  I don't want to have to have a certain program (and older computer that is the only thing that runs that software) to uncompress it.

For me, external hard drives are the way to go.  They're not extremely expensive considering what you're saving/backingup.  And you can usually connect them with USB or firewire so they move data pretty quickly.

Flashcards are another way to backup quickly I suppose.

[counterpoint]

I advice you to get an external harddisk and backup all your data to there.

Very good idea!

About packing methods: most mp3, images and videos are already in high compressed format, so you will have only very little (if any) size advantage if you compress them a second time.

For the system partition, it's always the best to make a backup, that can be copied back from the backup media (CDs or DVDs) directly - without the need, that the system is running already. Norton Ghost or Trueimage are very good programs of this sort.

[rimv2]

Today I woke up and saw a message on my computer, it was sort of in limbo, and it said an imminent failure of my hard drive was detected and I needed to back up information. 

What is the best way to compress a ton of data?  For instance should I put it into .rar files, or WinZip?  Should I have the computer back thjings up for me, or should I just copy my data onto CDs?

Most programs I don't need to backup, I will either let them go or reinstall.  But I have tons of .pdfs, .wavs, .mp3s, and other things of that sort.  I would greatly appreciate advice on this matter!

Walter Ramsey

Run chdsk /r and defrag. Keep it alive (but for how long). Mine gave me that message 3 weeks ago.

I installled Linux last Friday

[ramseytheii]

New problem: every time I try to burn a CD into iTunes, my computer shuts down after a while.  It is overheating, because for some reason the fan in back doesn't work at all.  Is there any way to get that fan back to operating?

Walter Ramsey

[pianistimo]

kick it?  just an idea. 

[quantum]

kick it?  just an idea. 

I would so do this 

[Bob]

An overheating computer is not a good thing.  If you can, take it apart and oil the fan or just see what's wrong with it.  Otherwise get it checked. 

You can use any external fan, or add extra ones inside the computer, to help keep it cool.  Anything that moves the air.

And defintiely back up everything.

[soliloquy]

Yuppers that's the fan.


Let me guess, athlon processor?  Do you have your tower in a poorly ventilated area, like in a corner under a desk or between your bed and desk or something like that?  Either way, if you're using an athlon processor which I assume you are, you need to get a larger case and add additional fans, and remember to not block them.  For now you can just use a desk or table-top fan with one of the sides of the shell pulled off.  That should work temporarily while you back your files up.  You should probably take it to a computer repair shop and have them apply new heat-resistant sealant to your processing chip, because yours has probably burnt to a crisp by now.  And I would use blank DVD's, and I would also burn everything twice, because when you're burning soooo many files you'll often lose a few, and going by murphy's law, they'll be your favorite porn/piano videos

[thalbergmad]

they'll be your favorite porn/piano videos

A greater truth has rarely been spoken.

All the Schumann will be saved and the porn lost.

Such is life.

Thal

[ahinton]

A greater truth has rarely been spoken.

All the Schumann will be saved and the porn lost.

Such is life.

Thal

I have to confess that I've never thought of Schumann and porn as having the potential for any kind of meaningful co-existence within the same sentence. One learns something new every day on this life. "Such is life"...

Best,

Alistair

[soliloquy]

I have to confess that I've never thought of Schumann and porn as having the potential for any kind of meaningful co-existence within the same sentence. One learns something new every day on this life. "Such is life"...

Best,

Alistair

What about Widmung?