Brutally Slow..what a mistake...

[HBOC]

Ok, so back when (still do) i first started getting into digital photography, i would shoot only shoot RAW, no matter what. I "archived" my TIFF files (most of them) onto CD-Rs. :mad: The rest are onto DVDs. I am going through them again, to re-back them up onto new (and better quality) DVDs, getting rid of the "bad" TiFFs that i WILL NEVER use.

Anyways, what a painful process! The CD-Rs are so slow to load and transfer to my computer. Is this normal? or just my computer (i am assuming it is normal...).. anyways, i need to buy a smaller external to just store these on, lol.

[MisterMe]

... The CD-Rs are so slow to load and transfer to my computer. Is this normal? ...How much data are you transferring?

[pdxflint]

I can imagine it's a pain to reload all those images off of cds. My days of cd archiving are definitely long over, but I also have a lot of old images on cds, but I just copied them to an external hd one night (just copied the entire contents of all the cds one at a time at first - will sort them out later from the external hd.) At least now when I go through them I won't have to sift through a pile of cds again. Once I eliminate the never-to-be-used ones, and organize the rest, I'll duplicate the backups on a second hd for safekeeping. Thank heaven for cheap, relatively fast storage these days.

[akadmon]

For down the road, get yourself one of these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153071) and a few of these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284). I maxed out my MP's 4 drive bays long ago and this is by far the most economical/fastest solution. Cheaper and much faster than CDs/DVDs, and cheaper (and potentially faster, if you use eSATA) than external drives (you don't have to pay for the enclosure and circuitry).

[jessica.]

Having bought very expensive DVDRs and CDRs in the past, backed up photos in duplicate and formatted drives only to find out that the DVDs and CDRs were not all good (read errors though burned and verified after the fact) I stopped opting for CDRs and DVDRs. It will be hard drives to which I will copy and then copy to a second drive. To the extent I lose the image off both drives I will have to concede to the fact that perhaps I shouldn't be in possession of my images after all.

[HBOC]

How much data are you transferring?

well, uhhh, i have like 20 or so CD-Rs. lol. Not fun. I also noticed that some of my files were archived as CR2 files, and they weighed in at 7MB or so, loaded instantly, whereas the TIFFs took a lifetime.

I know i need to just transfer them to an external.

[Flash SWT]

I feel your pain. I hate when I have to pull old photos off CD or DVD at the paper, takes for freaking ever!

[motulist]

Copying an entire 700 MB cdr onto your hard drive should take at most 6 minutes. If it's taking any longer than that then there's some sort of problem.

[HBOC]

it takes about 7-10 minutes, but the cd-r disks probably arent the best quality. They are TDK and i have had bad luck with them in the past. I only buy Sony DVD or verbatim DLs now. I know it cant be the MBP. It has a ton of free memory and lots of HD space.

the nightmare is almost over

[miket019]

well, look at the good side things, it could have been a lot worst. Those cd-r or dvd-r could have been damage or not work at all.

glass is half full.

[Razeus]

CD-R and DVD-R's are so last decade. With cheap hard drive storage these days, there's no excuse NOT to be using external harddrives. Especailly when combined with wonderful software such as Lightroom 2, that organizes all the photos for you.

[chrono1081]

I never archive to dvd or cd. Reason why...

They are NOT permanent storage, and dont let anyone tell you otherwise.


When you get a cd/dvd in the store such as a movie, it is a pressed metal layer in between the plastic layers (yes theres more to it but bear with me for simplicity sake)

When you buy cdrs or dvdrs its an organic dye layer inbetween the plastic. This dye layer disinigrates over time and older cdrs you can actually hold up to the light and see missing patches. (I just threw a bunch out like that or else I'd take a pic and show you).

Archival cdrs or the kind with gold backs are made different but thats a whole other topic.


For storage I prefer the harddrive method. Make sure all data is backed up and run a check disk on your drives once and awhile. Most drives give telltale signs of problems before they die. (IE needing to frequently repair sectors, etc.)

[Abstract]

Even flash drives are more reliable. I'd rather use a bunch of those than a DVDR.

Harddrives are good too, although just as bad as CDs and DVDs (unless you buy ones specifically made for archiving). The benefit of harddrives is that they're not expensive, and it's quick and easy to transfer files to them. They may not last many years, but they hold a lot of data.

[HBOC]

i was thinking of the flash drive method, but i would rather get a cheap (er) external. Right now they are archived on CD/DVD (remember, these are from like 3-6 years ago) and i am just going through them and getting the "good" shots off of them and re-archiving. I know for future reference i will be archiving in CR2 (or the like) files, as they open instantly and quickly on even the CD-Rs. Maybe i will by a passport or something like that, that is less than $80.