Storing PTE Slide Shows

[giljones]

I now have about 30 slide shows some scanned from original slides and some made from digital images. I regularly give shows in the area to a variety of groups and need to access the shows easily. At the moment all the programmes are in one file I call my av shows (I also have a back up cd for reference purposes) I find this method easy to handle but realise that the size of the AV file is growing quite large. What are the experiences of members with this. I want to avoid the use of a CD for shows as it is quite fiddly with my laptop, and as I have reached an age where such things are important I am wondering the best way forward. Gilbert

[Lin Evans]

I now have about 30 slide shows some scanned from original slides and some made from digital images. I regularly give shows in the area to a variety of groups and need to access the shows easily. At the moment all the programmes are in one file I call my av shows (I also have a back up cd for reference purposes) I find this method easy to handle but realise that the size of the AV file is growing quite large. What are the experiences of members with this. I want to avoid the use of a CD for shows as it is quite fiddly with my laptop, and as I have reached an age where such things are important I am wondering the best way forward. Gilbert

I'm confused Gilbert,

Do you have a .zip file containing all these slideshows, or are you referring to a "folder" as a file? There is no practical limit as to how many files you can have in a folder. As far as saving all the files in a single zip file, that doesn't make too much sense. Probably it would be better to zip up shows according to some criteria in groups rather than including all in a single zip file.

Of course if what you are really referring to as a "file" is a "folder" then it really doesn't matter. You "could" make multiple folders to contain slideshows from different subject areas if you liked, but there is no penalty for having large numbers of files in a single folder other than the inconvenience of locating them.

Lin

[Ronniebootwest]

Why don't you consider using the 'PTE Organiser Menu'? This will allow you to organise your slide shows into separate categories with each category running 39 different slide shows. Perfect for what you seem to need.

It is available on my website - take a look here:My Webpage

[alrobin]

Gilbert,

Good to hear from you again and to hear that everything seems to be going well with your slide-show production. Running out of storage space is a good sign of success.

I download all of the Beechbrook shows, as well as shows from some of the European sites, and periodically find that I am running out of space on my hard-drives.

I solve the problem by offloading all of the Beechbrook shows to a DVD (not as movies, but just the straight "exe" files.) Then when I want to view a show, I copy it back to the hard drive (either on my laptop or my desktop pc). I rarely run a show directly from the CD or DVD.

I also have an external hard drive, but I tend to use this mainly for backup of my own shows, documents, and images. Best of luck!

[Conflow]

Hi Gilbert,

It seems to me that you have 2 problems,viz:-

1)

Archival Storage Problem.

Where one 'archives' an item for posterity not intended for retrieval except in dire circumstances.

2)

Library Access Problem.

Like a real Library you find an item by 'index' - borrow it - use it - return it to an 'indexed' location.

Here at Conflow Services we have struggled with these problems for some years because we have to 'Archive'

Digital Data (as well as PTE) whilst making available, working 'Libraries' which we can access on daily demand.

For Archive purposes we have used CD's and DVD's but we have found that the mechanical stability of these

over time has not been the best. We have some discs where after a years' storage simply did not work on demand.

We were surprised and started to research the problem and got on to various Manufacturers and found out that

Commercial Copy CD's are manufactured by (layered) Laser Printing and not by 'burning' but they did advise if you

are 'burning' for archival purposes, always keep the 'burn-speed' below 16x preferably 12x for images and 4x for Sound.

The fact being the slower the speed the deeper the burn,the better the archive.

Not really trusting this Technology any longer we are now switching over to 'Memory Cards' and 'Memory Sticks' and

simple 'USB.2 Hub Devices' to record to the Cards and read from them into any USB.Port on any PC or Laptop with very

simple software. Available in Compact Flash Cards and XD-Cards and variants these will soon replace Hard Drives within

a few years.They are available from 128.Mb all the way up to 8.0.Gb starting at $5 to $150.

8.0Gb will hold a lot of PTE Shows, but to be realistic the cheap 1.0Gb or 2.0Gb Card is more than ideal for 'Indexing'.

These are much faster, cleaner and less prone to essoterics than CD's as there are no moving Mechanical parts and so

far we can't fault them. For serious hard work we use the 'Compact Falsh Card' its larger than the XD.Card and easier to handle.

Als 'Indexer' would be appropraite for your work.

Hope this gives you some ideas....

Brian.Conflow.

[Ronniebootwest]

Hello Brian,

Your comments on using Flash Cards for storage rather than DVD's, concern me a little - no they concern me a lot. From what you say CD/DVD's are not reliable as storage media after only 1 year of storage. I find that hard to swallow!

I use DVD's for all of my archiving now, so it is important to me that I have faith in the media. I am interested to learn that the discs should be burned at a slow burn rate though.

Perhaps other members would care to comment and let me know what they are using to archive thier data?

Ron West

[alrobin]

Hello Brian,

Perhaps other members would care to comment and let me know what they are using to archive thier data?

Yes, Brian is correct - definitely burn them at a slow burn rate to reduce errors. The fewer the errors that the system has to detect and correct, the longer the data will be readable (other problems notwithstanding).

As far as only lasting a year, none of my archived disks are unreadable yet, and some have lasted over 5 years so far. However, the information does deteriorate, as Brian says, so a routine copying of at the least the most important disks is advisable. It's a good idea to use high-quality disks, though, preferrable the "gold" ones, if you can get them.

[Conflow]

Hello Brian,

Your comments on using Flash Cards for storage rather than DVD's, concern me a little - no they concern me a lot. From what you say CD/DVD's are not reliable as storage media after only 1 year of storage. I find that hard to swallow!

I use DVD's for all of my archiving now, so it is important to me that I have faith in the media. I am interested to learn that the discs should be burned at a slow burn rate though.

Perhaps other members would care to comment and let me know what they are using to archive thier data?

Ron West

Ron,

Please read my Post in 'detail' ~ I said that we had SOME CD-Disc failures and I certainly did not infer that there were 'Global Failures' with this method of Archiving excepting that under certain circumstances a number of Disc's failed to 'Boot-Up' and indeed some became impossible to open at all.

It all depends on the CD Quality and which way you 'burn' them and is the Burn-Software good enough ??

Don't tell me you never had this problem, because most people have experienced this at one time or another !

I was specifically talking about "Archiving" ~ Thats an non-erosion method of retaining Data and from our experiences the 'Home-Made CD-Disc' leaves a lot to be desired compared to its Commercial counterpart particularily if one wants to Archive non-replaceable Data. Consequently we have moved over to Compact Flash Cards which we have found to be surprisingly reliable.

In Gilberts situation the 'Memory Stik' or 'Memory Pen' would provide an ideal stable solution for 'Portable Storage Media'.

So much better than a 'fussy' CD-Disc and temperamental Laptop-Drives. The 'Flash-Card or Memory-Stik' is more reliable and much faster to load into any Windows.PC fitted with a USB.1 or USB.2 Port and can be 'downloaded' hundreds of times ~ Try that with a CD-Disc where the slightest scratch makes it 'unservicable' and OUCH that hurts !!

It's also the reason that the Worlds Photographic Industry is moving towards this Technology and as I write this there are 'Industrial Grade Laptops' out there with 'Solid-State Hard Drives' ~ No moving parts ~ there must be a reason for that ?

My intent was to help Gilbert in the context of 'Archiving Data' with the knowledge of New Technology thats currently available. So let a little light be cast upon advancements in Technology....nothing stands still, neither did PTE !

Brian.Conflow.

P.S

Unknown to me as I was writing this Post, I just read a Post from Al Robinson who more or less simply vindicated what I was saying although I was trying to be more explicit in detail...Thank you Al.

[Ken Cox]

but this is like selling a 80 yr old man a lifetime guarantee for for a new roof:))

http://dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html

[3.12] How long do DVDs last?

DVDs are read by a laser, so they never wear out from being played since nothing touches the disc. Pressed discs (the kind that movies come on) will probably last longer than you will, anywhere from 50 to 300 years.

Expected longevity of dye-based DVD-R and DVD+R discs is anywhere from 20 to 250 years, about as long as CD-R discs. Some dye formulations (such as phthalocyanine and azo) are more stable and last longer, 100 years or more, compared to 20 or 30 years for less stable dyes.

The phase-change erasable formats (DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW) have an expected lifetime of 25 to 100 years.

In all cases, longevity can be reduced by poor quality. Poor quality pressed DVDs may deteriorate within a few years, and cheap recordable DVDs may produce errors when recording or may become unreadable after a while. (See 1.24.)

For more info see Lifetime of KODAK CD-R Ultima Media and <www.ee.washington.edu/conselec/CE/kuhn/otherformats/95x9.htm>.

For comparison, magnetic media (tapes and disks) last 10 to 30 years; high-quality, acid-neutral paper can last 100 years or longer; and archival-quality microfilm is projected to last 300 years or more.

Note that computer storage media often becomes technically obsolete within 20 to 30 years, long before it physically deteriorates. In other words, before the media becomes unviable it may become difficult or impossible to find equipment that can read it.

[Conflow]

but this is like selling a 80 yr old man a lifetime guarantee for for a new roof:))

http://dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html

[3.12] How long do DVDs last?

DVDs are read by a laser, so they never wear out from being played since nothing touches the disc. Pressed discs (the kind that movies come on) will probably last longer than you will, anywhere from 50 to 300 years.

Expected longevity of dye-based DVD-R and DVD+R discs is anywhere from 20 to 250 years, about as long as CD-R discs. Some dye formulations (such as phthalocyanine and azo) are more stable and last longer, 100 years or more, compared to 20 or 30 years for less stable dyes.

The phase-change erasable formats (DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW) have an expected lifetime of 25 to 100 years.

In all cases, longevity can be reduced by poor quality. Poor quality pressed DVDs may deteriorate within a few years, and cheap recordable DVDs may produce errors when recording or may become unreadable after a while. (See 1.24.)

For more info see Lifetime of KODAK CD-R Ultima Media and <www.ee.washington.edu/conselec/CE/kuhn/otherformats/95x9.htm>.

For comparison, magnetic media (tapes and disks) last 10 to 30 years; high-quality, acid-neutral paper can last 100 years or longer; and archival-quality microfilm is projected to last 300 years or more.

Note that computer storage media often becomes technically obsolete within 20 to 30 years, long before it physically deteriorates. In other words, before the media becomes unviable it may become difficult or impossible to find equipment that can read it.

Hey Ken,

Wait up a moment ~ the life-data they give out are 'hypothetical' Lifespans based on the degradation of the Laser Dyes where CD's are stored under 'ideal conditions' which are simply not-practical in the modern Home ~ unless you want to install a Temperature & Humidity controlled Room with non-UV Lighting ?.

Then again we must examine the CD-Drive which operates in a very warm and dusty athmosphere within a PC ? So the Laser could be reading Data from a dusty Disc..it happens all the time, because the Disc creates 'static' from rotation. Also you know how hard it is to keep a CD clean and how hard it is to prevent micro-scratches. Its worse than maintaining and storing LP.Vinyl Records but these as 'Archival Media' have stood the test of Time, will the CD ??.

Then we have "iffy" Laptop-Drives which seem to let us down when we least need that!! ~ do we really need all that agro, when we know in our heart and soul that the CD is nearly obselete ~ need I say more ?.

The practical facts of the matter are that 'Home-Made CD-Discs' do deteriorate over relatively short periods of time compared to a Vinyl LP and in that 'era' we were led to believe that the CD-Discs had a much superior lifespan...So now where is this claimed 50-250 year life?...rubbish, sales 'blurb' is fictitious, it always was and we still believe it ! Not withstanding that, the CD-Disc does provide a 'mid-term life' solution provided they are maintained...but as a long-term Archival Media solution,thats debatable !

I do appreciate your point about the.. "80.year old Man and his New Roof" (thats a good one)...but you are missing the point, Archives are meant to be refered to in dire circumstances where you want to retrieve good Data without erosion effects.

I rest my case, the hunt is still on for a reliable, stable, Archival Media suitable for Home use that doesn't become obselete and doesn't erode.

Thats why we have gone for 'Compact Flash Disc' ~ it's pure Digital Data on a Chip, no moving parts, and so far the Computer Industry has proved to me that 'User Memory Ram' is ultra-reliable as are Earoms and Earams in my Industry the fore-runners of the 'Flash Disc and Memory-Stiks' at least you can retrieve the Data off these things if they are not physically damaged and in my opinion they are going to be around for a very,very, long time unless some Einstein comes up with a replacement for the 'Silicon Chip Industry' ~ so lets see !

It still amazes me that IBM and Professsional Studios & TV.Stations worldwide are still using 'Streaming Tape Storage Media' for Archives...instead of the more compact CD-Disc.

They must know something we don't ?

Brian.Conflow.

[Ken Cox]

Brian

we are not "hollywood"

we dont have unlimited resources like you seem to have to buy unlimited qty's of memory sticks -- they are +- $50/gb canadian

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetai...347&catid=10485

http://www.futureshop.ca/search/searchresu...d=EN&search=KWS

all the cd's i have made still work and i had the first HP cd burner -- terrible piece but it did burn using adaptec software moved on to the next version of hp and it was a bit better-- the cd's still are readable -- consumer cd burning came along early win 98 -- i had a cd player on my win 3.1 system but my first office suite was all on that queer ms formatted floppy -- they still can be read as well

ken

[dagrace]

I now have about 30 slide shows some scanned from original slides and some made from digital images. I regularly give shows in the area to a variety of groups and need to access the shows easily. At the moment all the programmes are in one file I call my av shows (I also have a back up cd for reference purposes) I find this method easy to handle but realise that the size of the AV file is growing quite large. What are the experiences of members with this. I want to avoid the use of a CD for shows as it is quite fiddly with my laptop, and as I have reached an age where such things are important I am wondering the best way forward. Gilbert

I just bought a 180 GB (not MB) USB hard drive for $99 (after rebates). The only trouble I've noticed is that it's USB powered. It came with a "Y" cable that you can use to plug into 2 USB ports and connect to the drive. They say one needs this for connecting to laptops. My (old) laptop only has one port. Also, I have a non-powered USB splitter (hub?) on my dektop, and if I use the hub, I need the Y cable. If I plug directly into the PC's USB port, a single port works fine.

All this to say that while the problems do have resolutions, it makes me a bit nervous that this device right on the edge of the power requirements for USB. But 180 GB for $100 is pretty good price performance. That's a lot of slide shows!

[Conflow]

Brian

we are not "hollywood"

we dont have unlimited resources like you seem to have to buy unlimited qty's of memory sticks -- they are +- $50/gb canadian

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetai...347&catid=10485

http://www.futureshop.ca/search/searchresu...d=EN&search=KWS

all the cd's i have made still work and i had the first HP cd burner -- terrible piece but it did burn using adaptec software moved on to the next version of hp and it was a bit better-- the cd's still are readable -- consumer cd burning came along early win 98 -- i had a cd player on my win 3.1 system but my first office suite was all on that queer ms formatted floppy -- they still can be read as well

ken

Hey Ken,

Come on be fair ~ Whats all this talk about "Hollywood" and bundles of expensive 'Compact Flash Cards'

at $50 'bucks' a throw ??...Is it that you want to suppress New Technology because you have invested heavily in CD's...Well if you have, thats fair enough, but don't knock the other Guy because he brings in a

new idea in 'Portable Data Storage' and good 'Archival Storage' at reasonable prices.

If you add the Costs of your Storage Hard Drives + Your Cd's you can buy a hell of a lot of 'Compact Flash Cards' for what you have already paid out...

I buy mine on E-Bay at about Euro.6 to Euro.15 a throw.

See "Attachment" for recent Price Lists.

I rest my case.

Brian.Conflow.

Expand Attachment to Full Screen.

[alrobin]

Brian,

$20 for only 512 Mb of storage? Price-wise, the CD's still win, hands-down. And we're not even comparing DVD's yet.

[Conflow]

Brian,

$20 for only 512 Mb of storage? Price-wise, the CD's still win, hands-down. And we're not even comparing DVD's yet.

Al,

What's your Canadian conversion rate to the Euro and the Pound Sterling ?...I have no idea ?

Sure the CD is cheaper (even I know that) but that's not what I was talking about....

If you pop back to the beginning of this Thread where Gilbert had 2 problems:-

1) Reliable 'Archival Storage' and he certainly indicated 'Long Term'

2) Portable 'Temporary Storage' where he wanted to get away from CD's with Laptops (below).

Quote Pasted

I want to avoid the use of a CD for shows as it is quite fiddly with my laptop, and as I have

reached an age where such things are important I am wondering the best way forward.

Gilbert.

Answer

If he wants to avoid CD's then the 'Memory-Stik' is the answer ~ No Moving Parts ~ Plugs into USB

No Power needed ~ Extremely Reliable ~ Can be downloaded hundreds of times ~ Does not suffer

from 'usage-wear' like a CD ~ Avoids the CD-Burning process completely,and there's more...

As to Long-Term 'Archival-Storage' I guess that debate will rage on forever. It all depends on one's

own criteria, Whether to live with the CD or get completely away from Mechanical Systems and I'm

afraid whether we like it or not, that's the way Technology is heading.

Hope this explains things a little better.

Brian.

[Ken Cox]

http://www.x-rates.com/calculator.html

keep a s/c on yor desktop for quick referral

ken

[Conflow]

http://www.x-rates.com/calculator.html

keep a s/c on yor desktop for quick referral

ken

Hi Ken,

Thanks for that Exchange Rate Calculator Link ~

Brian.

[alrobin]

Al,

What's your Canadian conversion rate to the Euro and the Pound Sterling ?...I have no idea ?

Sure the CD is cheaper (even I know that) but that's not what I was talking about....

If you pop back to the beginning of this Thread where Gilbert had 2 problems:-

1) Reliable 'Archival Storage' and he certainly indicated 'Long Term'

2) Portable 'Temporary Storage' where he wanted to get away from CD's with Laptops (below).

Quote Pasted

I want to avoid the use of a CD for shows as it is quite fiddly with my laptop, and as I have

reached an age where such things are important I am wondering the best way forward.

Gilbert.

Answer

If he wants to avoid CD's then the 'Memory-Stik' is the answer ~ No Moving Parts ~ Plugs into USB

No Power needed ~ Extremely Reliable ~ Can be downloaded hundreds of times ~ Does not suffer

from 'usage-wear' like a CD ~ Avoids the CD-Burning process completely,and there's more...

As to Long-Term 'Archival-Storage' I guess that debate will rage on forever. It all depends on one's

own criteria, Whether to live with the CD or get completely away from Mechanical Systems and I'm

afraid whether we like it or not, that's the way Technology is heading.

Brian,

In theory, I agree with you. Solid state is the way it's heading. But we ain't there yet, at least in practical terms, as Ken pointed out.

My solution to Gilbert wasn't a CD, either, but a DVD, to avoid all the finnicky handling and keeping track of what shows are on which CD. And, today, it's probably the least-expensive solution, with the exception of external hard-drives, which are very affordable, but unfortunately, are bulkier and are probably less reliable for working storage than DVD's would be (they are OK for backup in case one loses one's primary source).

On a final note, memory sticks and CF cards are not infallible, either. They are easily broken, and I have had difficulties reading to CF cards from my camera at times, too.

I guess it all boils down to a matter of preference - for me, the DVD is the way to go at the moment.

[Conflow]

Hi Al,

Well as I said in my previous Post..."its all a matter of one's own criteria" whether one goes for Mechanical CD-Memory Media or the next alternative being Solid State Memory Media or the top end being Dat-Recorder Memory Media.

Most Hotels and Legal Offices and Small Business who have their own Servers always use 'Dat-Tape Recorders' for Archiving - and there are millions of such enterprises - they can't all be wrong.

I agree with you, that for the man in the Street, the -DVD Disc is the least expensive, but it's still Mechanical and very prone to 'usage-wear' like a standard CD, and not all Laptops like that Media.

We at Conflow are moving away from CD & DVD Media Storage because its prone to 'logic-errors' and real world 'usage-wear' which causes inappropriate failures when we least want it ~ particularily in the middle of an Engineering Conference. We have no such problems with Memory-Stiks nor Compact Memory Cards.

I guess Gilbert will have to experiment for himself as to which Archival Media and Portable Media best suits his needs...

Best regards,

Brian.

[Ken Cox]

Brian

i have my Living will etc on a USB 2 Memory-Stick but last time i was in hospital i think they were still using DOS

and when I asked the Nurses at my Dr's office if they knew how to use USB they thought i had swore at them

hopefully they will get up to speed before the ol reaper approaches

and

i carry a 1 gb sd card cw a usb reader + a 1 gb usb 2 stick in my camera bag

and

my camera uses CF cards

so i am not against using them, wish i had a pocketfull

In Gilbert's case he should try the various things we have mentioned -- he says he dosen't want to diddle -- if he feels comfortable with a stick and the laptop will run the show from the stick/card go for it -- running the show from a cd or dvd has caused other people numerous problems all one has to do is search the forum read the cry's for help

ken

[Conflow]

Hi Ken,

As I replied to Al..."it's all a matter of one's own criteria"...and I do agree that -DVD is a good economic choice for 'Archiving' for most people, but I would stop stone-dead at using ordinary CD-Discs.

The thing's that pushed us over to using Memory-Stiks (Pens) and Compact Cards were as follows:-

Last year we had to give 2 Engineering Presentations about failures in 'IGBT Motor-Controllers' for a Client. These Units cost about $175,000 each and we can repair them for a fraction of their cost. We prepared a 'PTE Project CD' and duplicate which were prior-tested, all was O.K. till we went on Site.

The initial 'Demo' was O.K on our Laptop but "heck" would they work on their PC's ~ nada, no, not a peep ~ and boy was there 'Egg on our Faces' and we supposed to know about these things. This happened twice with different Technical Groups. Afterwards we found out what happened...Greasy Fingers..it was as simple as that. Over time we also had problems with 'micro-scratches' on CD's, so we abandoned "live" CD.Presentations in favour of the Compact Card and Memory-Stik, we never looked back.

1) They work with every PC that has a USB.Port whether thats USB.1 or USB.2 ~ as you well know.

2) No "CD-Burning" required ~ and no 'fussy' pre-preparation of the Media and they accept Non-Iso Files.

3) You can run directly off the Card or the 'Stik or download these to HD, well you know that also.

4) If the Host PC has no Card Program we load 'Flash Ranger Manager'(450kb) its on the Card and Stik.

5) We also us a few "25 Card Hub-Combo Readers" with 3.USB.Ports. They are powered from the PC/Laptop.USB or 5.Volt.

6) For the CD-Cards we use a 'Pluggable Card-Carrier' which gives great protection to the Card.

7) We don't have to leave Copy-Cd's with the Client ~ the Program is already on his PC.

Here in our Workshops they are an absolute 'godsend' for transferring data between the PC's and our Laptops, some of these are old robust '98 Se.Machines which are proverbial work-horses for us.

As you see we learnt the hard way - thankfully our Client was more forgiving than most.

Brian.

[alrobin]

Ken & Brian,

I have had my share of trouble with CD's, too, but mainly when I tried to play them on other peoples' pc's. I had a slideshow prepared on a CD once, and couldn't play it at all on our Club's pc on the night of the presentations, either directly from the CD or by transfering to the HD.

I have also had problems with memory sticks - my first one was an early Sony version, and I found that I could not read it on my wife's pc until I downloaded a Sony driver for it (even though she had a USB port on her Win Me pc. Another time, I was taking our Club's contributions to an AV meet at another Club on the memory stick, and when I got there I found that their pc didn't have a USB port at all. Fortunately, it was only a matter of a half-hour drive to go back home and pick up my laptop and take it back to the meeting.

Now, for important presentations, I usually try to use my own laptop.

In Gilbert's case, he would likely be using the storage device mainly in a controlled environment (i.e. his own), and he would have the opportunity to test each DVD immediately after creating it to ensure it was intact, and that his drive was reading it successfully. (This is a very important step, as it allows one to repeat the process if there happens to be a glitch and the disk is unreadable for some reason or other). I have had this happen with CD's but not lately with DVD's. Of course, I haven't burned as many DVD's as CD's, either.

I would also suggest that in the case of important data one should burn two or more copies of the DVD, one to use for day-to-day access of the data, as required, and one or two as backups in case the day-to-day usage results in scratches, making it unreadable. However, if one burns the DVD at the slowest speed, on the best material, it should be pretty rugged, and able to correct most oft the data affected by the odd scratch. This has been my experience, anyway, so far. But you are right, nothing is perfect. And since we are on the "bleeding edge" of all this new technology, we have to expect some unpleasant surprises, and try to be prepared for them.

[Ronniebootwest]

This thread has gone from a simple request for help to highly technical detailed information and I reckon that has beem a real 'switch off' for most members on this forum. Let's remember that the majority of people reading these threads are just ameteur folk who enjoy photography and creating slide shows with Pictures To Exe. All this in depth technical talk will leave most people stone cold - I advocate the use of the KIS(S) principle "Keep things simple (stupid)".

My thoughts go with the use of DVD storage and to make things as simple as possible use a good program to keep track of what you save on each DVD, e.g. ARCHIVE CREATOR.

Ron

[alrobin]

..............snip................

I advocate the use of the KIS(S) principle "Keep things simple (stupid)".

My thoughts go with the use of DVD storage and to make things as simple as possible use a good program to keep track of what you save on each DVD, e.g. ARCHIVE CREATOR.

Ron

Archive creator, eh? How does that work?

[JohnFeg]

This thread has gone from a simple request for help to highly technical detailed information and I reckon that has beem a real 'switch off' Ron

Ron,

other than for your conclusion that DVD is probably the most practical solution for "the dedicated amature"; I have to disagree that this discussion has been a "turn off".

It is not, after all, compulsory to read every line of every thread.

In this ever more complex, challenging and stimulating world it is seldom possible to "kiss".

Wherever, or, whenever there is an attempt to "Dumb down" the result is never inspiring. Ergo, the damned awful system of education this country is now saddled with.

John