Using
CDs To Backup Your Computer
Although
computers only had floppy disk drives
for many years, the CD-ROM was eventually
added to computers. This allowed
computer users to add information
sources to their computers that
were up to 700 MB in size instead
of the 1.44MB limits that existed
on most floppy disks. As you can
imagine, this had a substantial
effect on the quality and visual
effects of programs that were sold
on CD-ROMs.
From
there, it was only a matter of time
before computers were equipped with
CD writers so that you could store
the music and video data that you
were finally experiencing on your
computer. This gave the capacity
to store up to 700MB of data in
one small CD, and most people began
to back up their computers onto
CDs instead.
Even
though there are better ways to
store your data now, the CD-R is
not a bad option, especially if
you do not have large amounts of
data to store. If you only have
a few hundred MB or a few GB of
data, you can very effectively back
up your entire computer.
Additionally,
even if you use DVD-Rs to do full
system backups, the CD-R can be
used to store small portions of
data that get edited on a regular
basis.
What
does 48x mean?
48x
(and the other numbers) are simply
speed markers for the drive or CD-R.
Different CD writers will write
to the CD with speeds that depend
on the numbers listed on the drive.
Therefore, a 48x or 52x drive means
that the CD itself is rotating 48
or 52 times per minute inside of
the drive. As you can guess, these
are high speed drives! You can also
get slower speeds.'
Slow
speed CD writers usually have fewer
write errors. However, they will
take longer, and may not be ideal
if you have to back up a lot of
data.
What
is a CD-RW?
There
are two types of CD that are important
on a day to day basis. These are
the CD-Rs and the CD-RWs. The CD-R
is just a basic blank CD. They are
usually marked with speed numbers
(like 48x), which is how you can
tell whether or not they are perfectly
matched to the speeds that your
CD drive will write at.
The
CD-RW on the other hand, is a blank
CD that you can write to more than
once. This is good if you are looking
to change your backup, or if you
are just using the CD for transferring
data from one computer to another.
Stick
to brands you trust! Even the best
drive will have some write errors,
but if you purchase a good drive,
you'll have fewer errors and will
waste less time and fewer CDs. These
drives are also likely to come with
software that will allow you to
write to CD-Rs or CD-RWs.
Using
CDs to backup your computer data
is still an option for many computer
users. Learn more about how to backup
your computer at BackupAdvice dot
com.
