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[jwhiskers]

I would like to backup my entire file collection of mp3 files. Problem is that I do not want to drag and drop each individual file to a burn folder. I want to be able to span from disk to disk of the whole collection. It would also be great if the program did not compress the files. Basically, allow the program to figure the combination of files to copy to the disk and just copy files from disk to disk without compressing into an unaccessible large file. I really like using Media Center but it looks like it's library backup system only backs up the library, not the files. Any ideas. Thanks.

Jeff

[modelmaker]

How many files?

[jwhiskers]

How many files? About 15 gigs. I would prefer to burn to a dvd versus a hard drive backup.

[LonWar]

Have you tried Nero?

[Alex B]

I would like to backup my entire file collection of mp3 files. Problem is that I do not want to drag and drop each individual file to a burn folder. I want to be able to span from disk to disk of the whole collection.

How many files? About 15 gigs. I would prefer to burn to a dvd versus a hard drive backup.

I would simply make four playlists of the files and after that burn the lists one at a time. It is easy to check the playlist size from the Status Bar and keep the total amount below the disc size.

If needed, a search expression or a smartlist can exclude the files that are already included in the playlists.

It would also be great if the program did not compress the files. Basically, allow the program to figure the combination of files to copy to the disk and just copy files from disk to disk without compressing into an unaccessible large file. It would also be great if the program did not compress the files. Basically, allow the program to figure the combination of files to copy to the disk and just copy files from disk to disk without compressing into an unaccessible large file.

Check that you have the MP3 conversion option disabled. Otherwise you'll be transcoding the files. That will slow down the process and lessen the audio quality. The conversion option is meant to be used only if the original files are not in MP3 format and MP3 files are needed for player devices or other software setups.

[modelmaker]

Another option, (which is my preference), would be be to copy to  another hard drive, a backup drive, (you should be able to pick up a 20 or 40 gig hard drive pretty cheap) and use something like Karen's Tools' "Replicator" to backup your mp3s automatically,  (or manually).

With DVDs you'll have to keep track of what has already been burned. You'll also have to keep track of the DVDs. And they don't last forever.

I think you would find this method of backup in the long run more economical and definitly more convenient as many of us do.

[jgreen]

I agree, Modelmaker. 

By today's standards, a 40gb drive seems small.  But it's light years larger/faster/more reliable/cheaper(as rewritable media) than a dvd.  Of course, they don't make good coasters, so there's that.

Since MC isn't quite there for systematic backup, I created custom fields for each backup, which I populate with the media ID (DVD number or drive name).  Then I select the appropriate chunk of tracks and either burn a DVD or do a "library tools/copy disk file".  The custom fields allow me to see the overlap of my global and incremental backups.  While everthing is backed up at least once, I make sure my 4 and 5 star tracks are backed up multiple times.

It's a shame that this process doesn't give you the option of creating a link back to the original track, so that MC would always know where to look for the correct backup file.  But Alex B's suggestion of writing library info back to the file tags should help MC find most of the files.

 Whiskers, if you're determined to use DVDs only, there's an option within the MC burn dialogue to preserve original directory structure.  I recommend you try that, although I just learned about it myself.  The one thing you don't want to do is rebuild your library when you go to restore your data.  A hard drive backup, basically an image of your entire library, avoids this.

[modelmaker]

From jgreen:

By today's standards, a 40gb drive seems small.  But it's light years larger/faster/more reliable/cheaper(as rewritable media) than a dvd.  Of course, they don't make good coasters, so there's that.

The size of the drive you start with kinda depends on how fast you're adding files to your library.

I happened to start with an 80g backup drive, I grew my backups in stages and presently have 2 internal 200g primary and 2 200g external backup drives to store nearly 50k mp3s and about 10k ape files.and I started this about 3 years ago. Unfortunately I don't have any coasters to put my drinks on