topic Re: Pictures question in Community Chat

Pictures question

Shorty2U — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 04:49:59 GMT

Do you back up your pictures and if so what do you back them up on? Does anyone miss hand held pictures?

Follow me here;

I had a scare the other day when my (only 4 yr old) laptop crashed. I wasn't keeping up with backing up pictures for the past year and I love pics. I am the family photographer at gatherings etc (as a hobby).

Well after a few hours of not being able to bring windows up at ALL, finally my laptop had a message asking if I want to do a system restore. So I hit the button and after some time, it worked and windows came up.

Yes! My laptop AND pics were saved!

So now Im backing up the ones I have been slacking on the past for the year! And I will NEVER slack on backing up pics again.

So the point of this thread is; I always backed up pics on discs (cd type). Well, I am hearing that as computers get smaller soon there will be no cd DRIVES in computers.

So Im wondering then how will I view them later on if this happens? (I must have a couple of hundred DISCS, with I don't know how many pictures!)

Also call me old fashioned, but lately I am missing pictures you hold in your hand, put in photo albums, etc. So now I am going through pictures that are my favorites and I intend to get them made into real pictures. These are pictures from the past 3 or 4 years.

I don't know if I will go back further it would probably take me forever to go through all the discs I have.

So do you think about how you will view your pics if cd drives become obsolete? Do you print out your pics? Back them up on?

PS) have a friend that puts them on dvds, so she can view them in her dvd player instead of on the computer only.

Re: Pictures question

Snowpuppy — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 05:07:54 GMT

I'm Old School but I have a $10 jump drive I store precious items on. Pics, music, documents. It's my life.

I also have a separate $10 jump drive that I use as a backup. I prefer things in my hand.

I think The Cloud is a world class hack waiting to happen.

Re: Pictures question

hckynut — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 05:21:58 GMT

On 9/12/2014 Shorty2U said:
Do you back up your pictures and if so what do you back them up on? Does anyone miss hand held pictures?

Follow me here;

I had a scare the other day when my (only 4 yr old) laptop crashed. I wasn't keeping up with backing up pictures for the past year and I love pics. I am the family photographer at gatherings etc (as a hobby).

Well after a few hours of not being able to bring windows up at ALL, finally my laptop had a message asking if I want to do a system restore. So I hit the button and after some time, it worked and windows came up.

Yes! My laptop AND pics were saved!

So now Im backing up the ones I have been slacking on the past for the year! And I will NEVER slack on backing up pics again.

So the point of this thread is; I always backed up pics on discs (cd type). Well, I am hearing that as computers get smaller soon there will be no cd DRIVES in computers.

So Im wondering then how will I view them later on if this happens? (I must have a couple of hundred DISCS, with I don't know how many pictures!)

Also call me old fashioned, but lately I am missing pictures you hold in your hand, put in photo albums, etc. So now I am going through pictures that are my favorites and I intend to get them made into real pictures. These are pictures from the past 3 or 4 years.

I don't know if I will go back further it would probably take me forever to go through all the discs I have.

So do you think about how you will view your pics if cd drives become obsolete? Do you print out your pics? Back them up on?

PS) have a friend that puts them on dvds, so she can view them in her dvd player instead of on the computer only.

I have all the things I do not want to lose backed up on an external hard drive, in fact 2 of them. The real important ones to me are also backed up on DVD's. I ain't going to live long enough to see "the digital format of CD/DVD" become obsolete, and I doubt many here will live that long.

Follow technology closer than most and I see nothing coming down the pike that even suggests that the CD/DVD media is in any danger of becoming obsolete any time soon. Sure, you can store things on "the cloud" and other mystic sources, but I don't see them ever replacing having these things on a digital media.

Some people save things on a "thumb(usb)drive". Now that would be more likely to disappear much sooner than any digital media like the silver or gold platters.

If you have things that are really important to you? To me your most secure what of storing them so you can retrieve them is on a DVD.

Re: Pictures question

LaterGator — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 05:44:47 GMT

All my photos are backed up on SD drives. They can hold a lot more than a CD. My iMac does not have a CD drive or DVD drive on it. If I want to load a new program, I download it from the internet or buy it from iTunes. Simple.

Re: Pictures question

Shorty2U — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 06:45:19 GMT

Thank you for the answers! Your answer Hckynut made my day, because I hope CD drives don't disappear in my lifetime..lol.. But I think I should have backed up on dvds (like my friend). BUT I have so many pics though it will take forever. lol. For now Im going to get fairly recent pics made. (just my favorites). I want to do some collages too. Then maybe I will go back on my old discs and go through them and get older ones made too.

Re: Pictures question

gidgetgh — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 11:57:58 GMT

I use an external drive- ""My Passport"". I got it from Amazon. I have it plugged into my computer via USB cable and it stays plugged in all the time and automatically backs up a few times per day (with no intervention from me- does it automatically).

It makes absolutely no noise and is a little bit wider than a deck of cards.

Re: Pictures question

Photo Donna — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 12:34:00 GMT

I have two external hard drives. I back up to each one -- photos and documents.

CDs are becoming obsolete -- there are many newer computers with no CD drive.

Re: Pictures question

hckynut — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 17:12:48 GMT

On 9/13/2014 Photo Donna said:
I have two external hard drives. I back up to each one -- photos and documents.

CDs are becoming obsolete -- there are many newer computers with no CD drive.

Hi Photo Donna,

Most new computer do not come with CD/DVD burners nowadays. I see that as much different that them becoming obsolete. Much more information can be downloaded from websites and thus people need a CD less for this same information.

New computers used to come with "install CD's", while the computers nowadays have all this built into them or put into them before they are shipped. Many computers used to come with "How to operate CD'S", but now most require a person to go to a website to download a .pdf file with the "Owners Manual Information".

While SD cards and other similar cards are now being used as a method of saving information, I don't see them as replacing the CD or DVD being used for the same reasons. It is well documented, from years of studies, how long information will last on a CD or DVD. These SD type of cards have not been around long enough to know for sure if the length of time they retain information is the same or even close to that of the silver or gold platters.

I can tell you for sure there is no way I would buy any computer that did not have a CD/DVD drive/burner. Sure I could buy an internal or external drive/burner, but I prefer having one built into my computer as I already have enough peripherals sitting around on my very big office desk.

Good to see you,

Re: Pictures question

lolakimono — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 17:18:25 GMT

Join Photobucket- it's free!

Re: Pictures question

chickenbutt — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 17:33:18 GMT

I keep all my important pics and docs on at least two computers and at least one external hard drive and flash drive.

I have some stuff that is saved to two external hard drives and two flash drives. I've lost stuff in the way past and I learned my lesson. Anything can fail, so I want to have the stuff I REALLY don't want to lose in a few places.

I would not use some online service as stuff can happen there too and you have no control anyway. You can get portable external hard drives for pretty inexpensive now and if you watch Amazon, you can get killer prices on new flash drives, even USB3 ones now.

ETA - CaseLogic makes a nice little external hard drive case. You can fit one hard drive in it, the USB cord, and several flash drives.

Re: Pictures question

Photo Donna — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 18:12:17 GMT

On 9/13/2014 hckynut said:
On 9/13/2014 Photo Donna said:
I have two external hard drives. I back up to each one -- photos and documents.

CDs are becoming obsolete -- there are many newer computers with no CD drive.

Hi Photo Donna,

Most new computer do not come with CD/DVD burners nowadays. I see that as much different that them becoming obsolete. Much more information can be downloaded from websites and thus people need a CD less for this same information.

New computers used to come with "install CD's", while the computers nowadays have all this built into them or put into them before they are shipped. Many computers used to come with "How to operate CD'S", but now most require a person to go to a website to download a .pdf file with the "Owners Manual Information".

While SD cards and other similar cards are now being used as a method of saving information, I don't see them as replacing the CD or DVD being used for the same reasons. It is well documented, from years of studies, how long information will last on a CD or DVD. These SD type of cards have not been around long enough to know for sure if the length of time they retain information is the same or even close to that of the silver or gold platters.

I can tell you for sure there is no way I would buy any computer that did not have a CD/DVD drive/burner. Sure I could buy an internal or external drive/burner, but I prefer having one built into my computer as I already have enough peripherals sitting around on my very big office desk.

Good to see you,

I understand your position. When I was shopping for a new laptop over a year ago -- many did not have a CD drive. I chose one with it -- but next time -- who knows? Likewise, I don't see a lot of CDs available for purchase to burn to like I used to.

Files are more secure on external drives anyway -- a CD is not the best place to keep files you are looking to save for a long time.

I do not choose to use a cloud type service since I am unsure of the compression on photo files.

Re: Pictures question

Mominohio — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 18:19:49 GMT

I can tell from all the answers in this post, I'm a little to the old fashioned side. I have lived long enough to remember when (for our family anyway) photography was a bit of a luxury. Film and developing were expensive, and pictures in the 50's and back were pretty much only holiday/special event affairs.

In the 70's, when the instant gratification Polaroid cameras came out, we did that, but learned quickly that the lasting quality wasn't there, and expensive too.

As a young adult, I got a nice SLR camera, burned through lots of film and developing, and the results were always dependent on a certain amount of luck that you go the shot just right.

Digital photography!!!! My kid was the first generation of what I refer to as "the most overphotographed generation in history". We could take millions. And I went digital only for awhile.

But I got tired of the various format changes in technology (with video especially) and wanted back that picture in hand. What I have done, is every time my SD or XD card is full, I head off to Walmart, develop the stuff I really love, write on the back (I actually spent two years going through pics given to me from 4 generations of family and noted people, places, dates, etc. on the back of EVERY photo) and make a CD of the entire card to keep for reference.

We keep no pics on computer. we don't have phones that are any good for pics. I make albums chronologically , and like having that actual pic much better, with the CD back up , than any other way I could think of. I don't mind more electronic forms of storage, but the pics that really mean something to me, I want a hard copy!

Re: Pictures question

chickenbutt — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 18:19:57 GMT

Remember the floppy drive? ha! I had some floppies and, fortunately, on my last computer that had the drive, I was able to convert those to CDs and later moved them onto external drives.

Re: Pictures question

Elstongunn — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 21:02:25 GMT

I use mostly thumb drives (aka flash/jump).

However, to me there is nothing like thumbing through old individual pictures stored in a shoebox! Some from the 40s and 50s came in little paper folders. I love the feel of the photo paper, the dates stamped on the bottom of the margin or on the back, or the name of the photographer and city/state printed on the back if it was a professional photo. I am a very tactile person, and the sense of feel is important to me as part of the enjoyment of a book or old photos.

Guess I'm old fashioned, too!