Buy an internal cd burner and swap it out with the cd-rom. It should come with software. Get blank CD-Rs and start making data CDs. You should be able to pick up a cd-rw drive at wal-mart or best buy for $59.

Alan,

> One minute I think I should get and external hard drive and the next I think I should backup on CD. I know I will eventually do both

Yes, you should ultimately do both, or back up onto multiple hard drives. I have a second 80 GB drive in my computer for backing up the first one, which makes backing up very easy and very fast. I also have two external 80 GB Firewire drives which serve as backups. One is alays kept at a friend's house in case of a castrophe like lightning or fire, and I swap them about once a month.

My recent three part series in Keyboard magazine explains a lot about backing up, as well as other related issues. It's now listed on my Articles page:

http://www.ethanwiner.com/articles.html

--Ethan

This has always been a discussion as to which is the best way to go for backing data up.

Some people have dedicated machines that have a program called Retrospective Back Up by Dantz, that does a secheduled back up to a hard drive. It will only copy new data as well so it doesn't back up everything all the time. Just looks for new data and saves that only.

Some people go out and get DVD RW's since this way they can burn 4.7GB worth of data on one DVDR/W!

Some people back up on extra hard drives. The way to do that is install a removable drive bay system that you can swap drives(Not hot swappable, but a good alternative to opening the machine to do this)

Other people just simply use a CDR/W and burn multiple CD's or just one depending on the amount of data needed to be burned.

In your case a CDR/W would do just fine as you are under the amount that a CDR holds. Todays CDR's are 700MB which is good. Just remember to make sure you take care of the CD's and not scratch them. Store them in a CD Folder or jewel cases.

Me, I got a DVDR/W burner and I love it. I also have a server machine that I will eventually think about doing the retrospective back up program. I also have two removable drive bay systems as well so I can swap out drives.

I haven't implemented a dedicated drive for backing up but drives are fairly cheap now and this can be done quickly too. As depending on the speed of the CDR/W it may take a while for it to burn. Dragging data to one drive from another is a lot faster.

Also DVDR machines take a long time to burn and then to be verified.

I do second the recommendation to get an internal CDR/W as it's a good thing to have regardless. Even if it's just for burning audio CD's of the mixes you have done.

They're cheap as well. you can get yourself a 48X CDR/W for about $60 bucks or so.

Let us know if you have any other questions and welcome to RO :D

Thank you everyone. Installing stuff like removeable drives in my PC tower scares the crap out of me. Before getting into this homerecking a few months ago, all I knew how to do on a computer (at work) was open my email and work in Excel! I know I will be able to do it eventually.

For the moment then,I have one last question regarding a CDRW drive. As well as for making my backup Data CD's - - could it also serve as the Burner for making my final product Audio CD's (for test mixes on different stereos, and for the final product I take to the Mastering House)?

I heard that Windows XP already has Burning software and that I don't need to get Nero, etc...but,

But what if I'd like to find the highest quality External Burning unit I can find and the best Burning software I can get? Of course I don't want to buy a Rolls Royce for a job I could do with a Hyundai. What are the key differences between cheap and expensive units? (I am searching our Forums now for those opinions too)

Thanks alot really

Yes, you can burn audio or data cds.
Cheap ones do an excellent job.
If you're looking at an external drive because you don't want to open the computer, then be ye not afraid, my friend.
Unplug the power cord, open the case, remove the screws holding the cd-rom, slide it out enough to remove the cables from the back, and install the cdrw in reverse order.
The cables are pretty much idiot proof. They will only go where they're supposed to and can only be turned the way they're supposed to. They include a ribbon cable, a power cable, and an audio cable.

Just remember that with the audio cable that comes with a CDROM or CDR/W you don't need it if running Windows 2000 or XP!

I would not recommend using the XP built in CD burning program. It's crap!

I use Nero for data CD's and Wavelab for my audio CD's

Opus