Allotments 4 All
General => Computers / Internet => Topic started by: tim on March 02, 2008, 16:49:31
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Cancelled - sorry!
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What I wanted to say was why can Daughter next door download a CD but I can't??
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'Download'......? need a bit more, Tim. Is it music, pic's - a programme? A family CD? What's on it?
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Sorry - thanks for replying.
It's 'Bulkpak' recordable CD with 200 photos on it.
Downloaded fine on her DELL, but not on ours??
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Quite possible it's not auto-running, Tim.
Put the CD in, click 'start, click 'My Computer' then click on the drive letter of your CD drive.
That should start it up. If not, shout again or if I havn't explained that well enough.
Ken.
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What actually happens when you insert the CD, Tim? Any prompts at all or nada?
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No joy, Ken -
Says Blank CD...Burn CD..open Writable CD folder etc...
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Daft thing to say, but try cleaning the cd. Might have one fingerprint on it or something that stops the pc reading it :)
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Tried that - no joy!
And it works next door on the same PC??
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OK, does your CD drive have the DVD symbol on it.
It could be that disk is burnt as a DVD.
Try putting it in your DVD player, see it works in there
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....to add to S'bok'y's bit. Do you have one or 2 CD drives?
Ken.
PS. I'm also wondering if the disc has been 'closed'......?
PPS. How about your daughter making a copy for another A4A'r to have a try at?
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Tim. First task Click Start. Then click My computer and look to see if drive D is DVD/CD - RW or DVD/CD + RW If the disc you are trying to open is a + and your drive is Minus - it wont open as the drive can not read it
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So far as I can see, it's CD.R
DVD symbol - yes. Tried it on the DVD & it says unreadable - or words to that effect.
Reckon we'll just have to mail all the photos from Daughter.
Thanks for all that!
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Tim, Are the photo,s on your computer
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They have been downloaded onto Daughter's PC next door.
We have started to mail selected ones to me.
Nothing lost, but would love to know why.
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They have been downloaded onto Daughter's PC next door.
We have started to mail selected ones to me.
Nothing lost, but would love to know why.
Do i take it you would love to know why the disc would not work in your PC, if so, its probably because of the disc format, plus or minus. If your DVD/CD reader/writer drive format is plus it will not read a minus disc and vice versa.
If your daughter has a programe like Nero 7 she could make a Photo Slide Show ( VCD ) which will play in any DVD but not a computer unless you have the the codec to support it.
If the photo,s have just been copied to disc from the computer as files, you will only be able to view them on your computer if they are in the same format (plus or minus disc) as your DVD/CD Reader/Writer but not on a DVD Player as they are are in a different format.
Hope this was the info you were wanting to know and not meaning to teach you to suck eggs Tim.
Davy
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If both computers are made by Dell & the same model they will contain identical components so there will not be a compatability problem with the optical drive.
I suspect Kenkew was right when he wondered if the disc had been closed it is the first thing I would check. The software used to record the disc should still be able to close it or if not then another copy can be made & as long as that is closed it should work fine on your computer.
Just for reference.
A Bulkpaq cdr usually looks like this:
(http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/site/images/userfile/BULKPAQ044.jpg)
A Bulkpaq dvd usually looks like this (colour may vary):
(http://www.dvd-recordable.org/wwwimgs/media/bulktang.jpg)
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Don't know about sucking them, Davy - I used to blow them in my younger days!
As I mentioned, I can only see CD.R. Where else might one find + or -?
You've lost me on the closing bit - who would close it, when & why?
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+ or - is only found on dvds you are clearly using a cd so it is not an issue.
The words "Finalising" and "Closing" are used interchangeably by most recording applications. To "Finalise" or "Close" a disc means that no additional data can be written to it. This is done when the last session's lead-in is written. The option to close a disc is usually selected after all of the data that will be written has been placed in the project window, and the user knows that no more data will be added to the disc in subsequent recording sessions. The next writable address on the disc is not recorded in that lead-in, so the CD recorder, in subsequent attempts to write, has no way of knowing where to begin writing.
In simpler terms it is a checkbox that says finalise or close disc in the recording options which needs to be ticked when the cd is recorded in order to close it.
Most of the time it is not that important to close a disc if it will only be read in a cd drive but occassionly you find you can only access the contents of a cd from the drive it was written on if the disc is not closed.
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What a mine of expertise we have on the Alottments!!
I just hope this all helps others as well.
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QUOTE (+ or - is only found on dvds you are clearly using a cd so it is not an issue.)
Sorry i have to dissagree -- and + are found on both CD and DVD check it out next time you are at the shops.
Finalizing and closing a disc does not aply to copying pictures using the CD wizard, it only aplies if you are using a programe like Nero, Copying/Ripping a CD or DVD or making a VCD and such like
I love this sight we all learn
Davy
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Steep curve!!
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QUOTE (+ or - is only found on dvds you are clearly using a cd so it is not an issue.)
Sorry i have to dissagree -- and + are found on both CD and DVD check it out next time you are at the shops.
I am familiar with CD+G discs but I have never seen nor had a request for CD+R discs. As far as I am aware there is no CD plus R format. For CDs, the separator is just a hyphen. For DVDs, the ± denote two different formats.
http://dictionary.zdnet.com/definition/CD%252BR.html
Coincidentally I am the local shop round here when it comes to blank media several thousand blank discs pass through my hands each week.
Finalizing and closing a disc does not aply to copying pictures using the CD wizard, it only aplies if you are using a programe like Nero, Copying/Ripping a CD or DVD or making a VCD and such like
How the disc was created has not yet been established so it is still the first thing I would check.
Tim you could always post the disc to me & I will get it working then send it back in the next post if it would help.
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I have to agree, if the disk was not closed, and written with a program like nero, it would read on the pc that it was burnt on originally, but not neccessarily another machine.
Experienced this program myself. :D
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BACCY MAN, I will stand corrected and i am saluting you now sir. As we say, learn something every day, and i just have. I have always thought that dash reprisented a minus sign, but then i have never gone looking for anything else.
My appologies
DavyW
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No apology necessary.
Labelling is often misleading & as I build & repair computers for a living I have an unfair advantage in these matters.
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No apology necessary.
Labelling is often misleading & as I build & repair computers for a living I have an unfair advantage in these matters.
Well i feel they were, and i don,t find any hardship in addmiting i was wrong.
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Baccy Man - helpful as ever - but, since it works on Daughter's machine, we'll get there in the end, & I can only hope that all these contributions are of help to others.
Just wish I knew WHY!!
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the software that was used to create the cd/dvd isn't to blame - what is probably missing (on your computer Tim) is the appropriate driver to play it - it is the drivers that allow for the playing to happen - solve that and bingo :)
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Come & hold my hand??
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would love to and I'm sure there's more you could teach us Tim than what we could ever teach you :-*
I'm a mac person so I'm just translating my knowledge the best I can and I'm sure a PC expert will help as well, most of what has already been written is a possible cause as well - you should have had some kind of message to say that a driver is missing or needs updating (a mac would do this automatically) but if you use a search engine and type in cd dvd drivers and see what comes up you should be able to download and update or install all the necessary drivers to run whatever you need - should be free as well I think
the oddity here is the fact that it works on your daughter's pc - good luck :)
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Only just came back to this - smooch & thanks to you too!!
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I'll have a dance with you when it actually works, which is soon I hope 8)
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It's almost certainly the disc not being closed by the burning software.
Can I recommend a 1GB USB memory stick, such as http://www.ebuyer.com/product/117004 for the physical transferring of photos from computer to computer. If you're an SD user (which I think you are not Tim - Compact Flash and xD), best device I have found is http://www.ebuyer.com/product/126448. Basically a USB memory stick that you stick your SD cards in - great device.
I can't think the last time I burned a CD for someone? I think potentially if someone uses audio CDs in their car.
Tim
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With the size of photo files increasing all the time I'd actually go for a 4 Gb
Prices start at around £9.00 - here are some examples:
Dabs (http://www.dabs.com/productlist.aspx?&NavigationKey=11152&NavigationKey=4294955237&CategorySelectedId=11152&PageMode=1)
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So much less than I paid for mine.
Such a great site. SO helpful. To be more explicit -
1. Crash a year or so ago lost most of painter Daughter's life's work.
2. Yes - we had a back-up disk, but that failed on the same day. We don't do things by halves!!
3. For £400 we retrieved a few dozen photos.
4. So, belt & braces, I got a stick to back up our currently operative external hard drive. And that's now corrupted.
5. No great loss, but I don't want it to happen again. Was it the fault of the stick or, as suggested, an interfering download?
Great blog - the other Tim!!
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Yes - I think mine was over £40 just a year ago! Anyway you're obviously up to speed on USB sticks. You also probably know about these as well...
I'm now looking at USB portable hard drives - no need for mains power - just waiting for them to get a little cheaper!
dabs usbdrives (http://www.dabs.com/productlist.aspx?&NavigationKey=11157&NavigationKey=47210000&NavigationKey=48950000&NavigationKey=47160000&CategorySelectedId=11157&PageMode=1&PageOffset=0&RecordOffset=0#Paging)
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Thanks Tim
Home backup is always a tricky one to decide what to do. I've pondered many an hour trying to justify different solutions. But, at the end of the day, it doesn't make you money, but they are precious - where do you draw the line?
My personal strategy, is to have a copy of everything. I have two hard disks of 500GB one external, one in a desktop computer. Everything is mirrored between the two. What it doesn't account for though, is if I accidently delete something off the backup disk, or archive disk I like to call it. It's not so much of a problem if I realise I've deleted it in error, where the recycle bin come is handy. But, forget and you're in trouble.
Also, God forbid, but what if my house were to burn down to the ground - and everybody is OK. Material objects can be replaced through insurance. But photos can't, and that even applies to celluloid negatives and prints. What to do then?
Well, I publish quite a lot of my favourite photos to Flickr. I 'could' upload full res images, but I choose to just go large - about 1600 x something. This in it's own way is a little bit of an archive, if the absolute worst happened. I could theoretically store the full size images, but at 12MP+ and one of the cameras shoots RAW, it's not that possible - well, yet!
It won't be long until online storage is a reasonable cost. At the moment, it is available, but it's either small - say 1GB - still quite handy though. But, not quite big enough for archives of digital lives. Now, some bright spark may come up with a solution that involves a family member, or trusted person, friend etc. It could act in sort of a peer to peer manner, where you upload to thier house on a disc, and vice versa. House burns down, items stolen, you've got all of your stuff. The only problem with that scenario is bandwidth. If the initial sync is done at each others' houses, then it's only doing a delta which won't be incredulous amounts - although still quite large. So, you'd need a good ISP without very restrictive data caps.
I use a provider call BeThere. They offer ADSL 2 for £22/month. That gives me roughly 20Mbs download, and a very useable 2Mb upload.
Cheers
Tim
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Yes - I think mine was over £40 just a year ago! Anyway you're obviously up to speed on USB sticks. You also probably know about these as well...
I'm now looking at USB portable hard drives - no need for mains power - just waiting for them to get a little cheaper!
dabs usbdrives (http://www.dabs.com/productlist.aspx?&NavigationKey=11157&NavigationKey=47210000&NavigationKey=48950000&NavigationKey=47160000&CategorySelectedId=11157&PageMode=1&PageOffset=0&RecordOffset=0#Paging)
Hey Barnowl
When I'm on the road, I use what they call a camera buddy. It's a USB portable hard drive with flash memory card slots built in. It runs it's own little bit of software, so you can put a card in it - without a computer - hit the play button, and it copies the contents of said memory card to the hard drive. This can then be connected with USB to computer later on for all your memory cards.
This can be used for either a backup, or offload storage to free up cards so you can carry on shooting.
http://www.storagedepot.co.uk/Digital-Photo-Storage/sc889/p17.aspx
Tim
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Very interesting. Thanks.
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You can create as many gmail/googlemail accounts as you want and upload 6GB for storage to each account. All you do is email your pictures to another account and they're stored on Google's servers. Whilst I have everything that matters to me backed up on a couple of external drives, things like my sons wedding pics are also on my gmail account.