Cd-rw

[Slasher]

Am thinkin of getting an external CD-RW to act as a backup boot disk to the main HD, apart from the usual file backup. My brand new puters have come with W-98SE but I have both USB and Firewire ports.

Does anyone else do this too? Any probs? Would a Firewire-connected external burner be better than USB?

Thanks.

PS not havin had exp in CD-burning Id be grateful for any CD-RW model recommendations too.

[What_does_this_button_do?]

Slash;

Excellent idea about the external CDRW drive to backup your hard drive to and Firewire is better than USB (the Firewire port will power ther CDRW device whereas the USB needs external power and should have greater throughput).

Not sure what laptop you have got but are you aware that you can probably purchase a CDRW that fits into the laptop?

Also there is a site called xdrive.com that you can use for "on line" backup of your machine and recall/restore on demand (obviously this assumes you can connect to the net).

As for choice I have just checked http://www.usbmax.com/usb-max/Products/USB_Hard_Drives.cfm and there are a few there as well as USB external hard drives.

B

[ORAC]

1. Check the handbook/BIOS of your PC to see if the motherboard supports either USB or Firewire as a boot device.

2. Not a lot in it regarding CD-RWs these days. But see Toms Hardware for reviews/recommendations.

CD-RW Comparison (http://www6.tomshardware.com/storage/01q4/011213/index.html)

[Captain Gidday]

Slasher,
Whatever you do, don't buy a CD-R/RW without buffer underrun technology. I got suckered by a cheap price into buying an obsolete Ricoh burner in Sim Lim [Singapore] about a year ago without buffer underrun. After a lot of frisbees and coasters [about every third burn, and I never got a good burn onto RW media] I finally did some research.
Do some here (http://pcbuyersguide.com/hardware/storage/BurnProof-JustLink.html) before you buy.
I eventually threw out the Ricoh and bought a LiteOn 24102B [internal] for about $A150 [from Strathfield Car Radio in Sydney, should you happen to be in the area] which does have the technology and have not made a dud copy yet. It is just fantastic and streets ahead of the Ricoh. Probably not Ricoh's fault, just technology marching onwards. A 2Mb buffer is all you need.
Installing a CD-RW internally into a PC is quite easy, except for one plug which can go either way. One way is right, the other wrong. Damned if I know why industrial design after all these years still gets that wrong, but aircraft still do also, as we know.
Unless you have a laptop which might require you to use an external plug, I'd go for the internal, save money and cut down on the inevitable complications of data transfer through a USB or similar.
Oh, and if your chosen model comes bundled with an operating program, look for one with Ahead Nero burning software, instead of Easy CD creator. IMHO Nero is streets ahead of Easy CD these days in terms of ease of use. This is one case where you want software bundled so it is specifically optimised for the writer. It saves a lot of hassles compared to trying to match a shrinkwrapped unit to a cheap CD from BKK or Johore, if you understand. Not that any of us would do this, of course.

[Tinker]

As far as external cd burners go, I can recomend the usb iomega zip that I use. It gets used between several pc's and laptops, it's robust and is definately supported by winME/2000 and XP. It is widely available and has come down in price a fair bit since I bought mine.

[fobotcso]

Hi Slasher,

Excellent idea. Consider Freecom Lightweight Traveller.

I've only made one coffee mug coaster in 18 months and that was using Roxio EZ CD Creator. None with "ahead Nero".

For home base use with Desktop PC there is a lead that connects from the drive to the Firewire port but it does not power the drive. Need a power unit for that or - use the drive's internal battery.

For travelling notebook use (Sony Vaio), there is cable that interfaces into the PCMCIA slot and that provides the power as well. And again you can use the battery in the drive if you wish.

I've got Version One; assume Version Two is better; ie faster.

Costly, however. Miniaturisation always costs and the three different methods of powering it also cost. Interestingly both Freecom and ahead are both German.

One warning. Two Appliations I tried to put on the Desktop could not live with the ahead CD writing software. One was Norton Utilities. I preferred the ahead package and put Norton back in the box.

Curious that "new" PCs came with Win 98SE. Must have been clearance bargain!