Backing up Mac to DVD+RW

[RossJarvis]

Okay, now I've got all worried about getting my computer wiped by various viruses and e-infections, I thought I'd try to copy some of my important files to DVD. That has caused several hours of gnashing-of-teeth and complete failure. I am well and truly confuzzled now. I am using OSX 10.9 Mavericks (or Mountain ****wit as I'm going to call it) and haven't got the faintest idea what I'm doing. Reading the on-line unhelp and forums I've tried to create "disc images" via Disc Utility. Generally I'm getting unreadable discs and messages that any additional data will erase previous data on the disc.

Anyone got an idea how to save a folder of documents and a mailbox from Mail to a Kodak DVD+RW? Particularly so that I can add additional info or update the files in the future. Windows machines were never this b****y confusing, even if they tended to stop working frequently.

I'm not even 50 yet but have found that computers, bicycles, potato peelers and planes have all stopped working lately, is it some kind of plot ?

 

[Hivenhoe]

Can't help with DVD ( Apple don't seem that keen on them anymore) but if you have a spare hard drive Mac's have Time Machine as part of their set up, although it's Marmite to some it's an option. There's also Apple's iCloud again part of the os, failing those there are many online services which you can upload docs, pics etc: e.g. google & microsoft . Google drive is really simple once you open an gmail account.
Hope it's a start?

 

[MMUK]

Last thing I shall ever do is store any personal files on iCloud or Google drive where any hacker can get to them.......

 

[RossJarvis]

Last thing I shall ever do is store any personal files on iCloud or Google drive where any hacker can get to them.......

I'd have to agree with you there. The emails are on iCloud as well as my mac, but I'd like to have them somewhere I have control over them.

I don't have an external Hard Drive (yet) and that may be an option. It's just very frustrating not being able to work out how to save to disc if such a thing were possible. It seems it was possible an update or two ago of the OS but Apple seem to be taking more and more control away from their users. Unfortunately we don't have any twelve year olds around to do it for me

I can burn my pictures to DVD easily enough, so why can't I do it with anything else?!?

 

[MMUK]

Do you have any flash drives/USB memory sticks?

 

[RossJarvis]

Do you have any flash drives/USB memory sticks?

Ah, like tape measures I've bought loads and can't find any of the b*****s......Nope, found one in the box for the camera, I'll try that. Whether I'll ever find it again is another matter. Might find a few tape measures trying though.

 

[RossJarvis]

Right then, job done, all on the SD Card. Can't see the point in a DVD writer if you can't use it for anything. Are these going the same way as floppy discs, tape cassettes and gramophones?

 

[JustBen]

I think they are.
I can't remember the last time I saw or used a cd.
I've got some DVDs/blurays but 99% of the time I use a hdd or flash drive.

Soon even they will be gone and you will be plugging your finger into the computer.
Mnemonic devices are the future... :?

 

[petermillard]

Can't see the point in a DVD writer if you can't use it for anything. Are these going the same way as floppy discs, tape cassettes and gramophones?

My main computer is a ~4 year old MacBook Pro with a DVD writer that I've never used (for reading or writing) so for me, sure, it's a dead technology.

Given the above, it's been a while obviously, since I used an optical drive! but FWIW I think the issues you were having earlier we're due to the way that writable optical discs are created; to make the disc readable in anything other than the drive that created them, you have to finish the 'session' which stops them being writable any further...

Cheers, Pete

 

[MMUK]

I still use my DVD drive on the gaming rig but that's purely for installing/running games or software. I've been using USB sticks for about 8 years now for everything else. I've got hundreds of the little buggers.

 

[RossJarvis]

I still use my DVD drive on the gaming rig but that's purely for installing/running games or software. I've been using USB sticks for about 8 years now for everything else. I've got hundreds of the little buggers.

Ay Caramba!! I am becoming more of a Luddite every day, this computing nonsense does my head in :x . I'm getting more sympathetic to the Amish as well, particularly when you see what fun they get up to;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2TKQma7ijw

 

[MMUK]

I still use my DVD drive on the gaming rig but that's purely for installing/running games or software. I've been using USB sticks for about 8 years now for everything else. I've got hundreds of the little buggers.

Ay Caramba!! I am becoming more of a Luddite every day, this computing nonsense does my head in :x . I'm getting more sympathetic to the Amish as well, particularly when you see what fun they get up to;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2TKQma7ijw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOfZLb33uCg

:mrgreen:

 

[tekno.mage]

I still use DVD for archival off line backups of music and photos - so it still has a place. I also use CDs to give files to other people as in rural Mid Wales the broadband is rather slow (and in some places non-existant) so not an option for file transfers! CDs and DVDs are a lot cheaper than USB sticks and far more appropriate for sending files to the local printer (for instance) or sharing photos with other people in the turning club.

Regarding burning your files to DVD on the Mac - at version OSX 10.4.11 and 10.6.8 there is an option to burn files to CD or DVD in the finder (I image it is still around in later versions?) Just open the folder you want to back up in the finder and look at the menu bar on the top of the window that opens. Click the little icon that looks like a multipoint star with little down-arrow next to it and you see a "Burn to Disk" option displayed. You will need to select the folders or files you want before clicking on this option to burn the files and folders you selected to a DVD or CD. I think it will prompt you to insert a blank media disk at the appropriate time.

 

[RossJarvis]

I still use DVD for archival off line backups of music and photos - so it still has a place. I also use CDs to give files to other people as in rural Mid Wales the broadband is rather slow (and in some places non-existant) so not an option for file transfers! CDs and DVDs are a lot cheaper than USB sticks and far more appropriate for sending files to the local printer (for instance) or sharing photos with other people in the turning club.

Regarding burning your files to DVD on the Mac - at version OSX 10.4.11 and 10.6.8 there is an option to burn files to CD or DVD in the finder (I image it is still around in later versions?) Just open the folder you want to back up in the finder and look at the menu bar on the top of the window that opens. Click the little icon that looks like a multipoint star with little down-arrow next to it and you see a "Burn to Disk" option displayed. You will need to select the folders or files you want before clicking on this option to burn the files and folders you selected to a DVD or CD. I think it will prompt you to insert a blank media disk at the appropriate time.

I tried that but it wasn't recognising the disc. The disc wasn't showing up on the desktop or in finder. I was probably doing something wrong at some stage, but using an SD card has worked. Bah!! To quote someone else "I hate Macs and PCs, for totally different reasons".

Thanks for the advice people.

 

[Harbo]

I use a 1Tb external drive and Time a Machine for back ups on my MacBook.
They are relatively cheap these days?

You can access Disk Utilities in Applications and move files to that.

Rod

 

[Eric The Viking]

Time Machine is probably the pain-free way to go.

The most important consideration is probably not ease of use but popularity. I've tried many backup packages in the past (I used to market backup hardware), and none of them are perfect, BUT in a crisis the backups that can be most easily recovered are those included in the operating systems - Microsoft and Apple.

Wikipedia says Apple themselves wrote Time Machine (Seagate software did the one in XP - it's a cut-down version of BackupExec), but it doesn't matter: if you have difficulty restoring important data, those are the ones that the recovery companies know most about. There's no point 'backing-up' data really easily if you find you can't restore from the backups when you need to. Robustness has to win over ease of use.

For Linux I can't recommend anything from personal experience at the moment, although we do have one Time Machine repository (protecting a MacBook) on a Linux box - it seems to work very well. I'm going to try "fwbackups" for linux - we'll see how it goes.

E.

 

[Jonzjob]

Try another DVD if you haven't already done that. I have found that some do and some don't, just like females in suppose :twisted: :twisted:

Then go to 'Finder, select the files/folders you want to back up. Open the 'File' drop down menu at the top and near the bottom is a 'Burn itens to disk. taht should do the job for you. The problem with DVDs and CDs is that they are slow and if you have a load of files to put on there it will take an age. With the ridiculus low prices of external HDDs it really is a no brainer not to go that way. Get as bigger one as you can afford and spend a little more and get Carbon Copy Cloner, it's well worth it just for the peace of mind.

If/when you get an HDD this may be useful, about USB2 & 3.

 

[RogerS]

TimeMachine and SuperDuper.

 

[Jonzjob]

Silly me forgot to put the link in

http://mac-external-hard-drive-review.t ... views.com/

One of my 'hereafter' moments. Go into the workshop and think "what the hell am I here after".