Archiving really large files to CDR

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 2:40 pm

What's the best way to get a really large file (bigger than will fit on one CDR disc), onto more than one CDR? Is it even possible? Is there some software out there that will break one big file up into a couple of smaller files so you can burn a couple of CDR's and then put them back together at a later date?

I would like to backup a couple of Ghost files. Thanks lads.

Nestor · Post by **Nestor** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 2:58 pm

Hi...
You can actually overburn CDs with Nero Burning Rom. I have not used it yet, but the app that came with my new ASUS CDWR drive, has it. I think there may be several more, but Nero definetely does it.

ChrisWerner · Post by **ChrisWerner** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 3:02 pm

Hm, I don´t know if Win on CD 6 wil ldo the job on very large files, I haven´t tried it yet.
But it works with smaller files.
Maybe you can give it a try?
A other way that came into my mind is the use of the program HJsplit, search the net for it, it is free and you can split large files to any size. When you play back the files to your system you simply can join them with the HJsplit again.

darkrezin · Post by **darkrezin** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 3:04 pm

Ghost itself should allow spanning to more than one file. Ideally, blow the Ghost images back and then image them again using spanning. Otherwise, you could try a program like WinRAR which will archive and span across files. Either way will be slow, the advantage of the first one is that there is no archiving of an archive.

Alternatively, buy a DVD burner, they are shockingly cheap now, and in my opinion is the best option available to you.

peace

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 3:06 pm

Thanks guys. Probably should have checked before I posted this thread. I found a program called Chop which does what I need. These things are called file splitters. You can find Chop (if you need it) easily by searching for it on the web. It's shareware. There are others but Chop looked like a good one and the registration cost was under $10.

darkrezin · Post by **darkrezin** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 3:10 pm

Just make sure you verify that the split files can be put back together without corruption before you delete the originals!

peace

Nestor · Post by **Nestor** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 3:16 pm

Sorry, it seems I did not understand well the question, or something...

Here I go again:

If what you need is to spleat your files cos you are going to do an image of your C drive or the entire system, just let the progam do it. All image programs will. Norton Gohost does, DriveImage does it as well and of course, TrueImage.

If I were to recomend one that would be TrueImage. I have it myself and it is just perfect. It works reliably and does the job in just a coumple of minutes for a fair amount of files I have in drive C.

TrueImage is also cheaper than other apps, I don't understand why, perhaps cos they are trying hard to position themselves into the market.

TruImage asks me, every time I burn an image, what do I want to do: ¿Do you want TrueImage to burn it as a whole, or do you want TruImage to burn it into spleat sizes? I just choose the option spleat it, then I choose the exact amount of megabites I want the files to be spleat into, and then the program will for instance, spleat, 3GBs of space into 5 files of 700mbs each, so you can burn them into CD inmediately after, or if you preffer it, in the process itself.

I preffer and recomend to burn the files inmediately after, i.e., burn your image first into your HD, cos it's faster and less likely to have any problems, then you get your pieces into your CDs, and you'll be ready to save yourself in the event of any serious problem.

dbmac · Post by **dbmac** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 3:19 pm

Trouble with Ghost, it will only backup disks or partitions. For file backup you can use winzip to create your backup then split the finished zip into 650/700 Mb size files for burning. Probably any other file backup utility has a similar provision.

/dave

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 3:30 pm

WinZip is probably a good choice. Never read anything bad about it in this context.
For large files I'd turn the copmpression completely off (processing time / amount reduced isn't worth the effort) and just use the .zip segments as an envelope for the data.

cheers, Tom

purator · Post by **purator** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 5:04 pm

On 2003-11-25 15:30, astroman wrote:
WinZip is probably a good choice. Never read anything bad about it in this context.
For large files I'd turn the copmpression completely off (processing time / amount reduced isn't worth the effort) and just use the .zip segments as an envelope for the data.

cheers, Tom

I think WinRAR is much, much better for large stuff (ie. 1GB+) cos WinZip gets all sluggy when browsing a large zip file :/

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 5:37 pm

Hey thanks for all the tips guys. I didn't think to check if Ghost has some feature to do that automatically. Anyway, it would have been too late because I had created Ghost files for my XP partition at various stages of tweaking. I want to keep those Ghost images secure just in case I have to rebuild. I shudder to think about having to call Microsoft to re-register my OS (or is that just a myth?)

In any event, Chop worked like a charm. And yes, I did check to make sure it could put the pieces back together again

The program is has a 30 eval period and only costs 6 or 7 bucks to register. Not bad. I recommend it if you're looking for something quick and dirty.

Note: I did check and Ghost does support a feature called spanning that allows you to break the Ghost image up into smaller files for saving onto a CDR or ZIP disc (or whatever). Should have used that from the start. Oh well, we learn as we go along

[ This Message was edited by: krizrox on 2003-11-26 07:32 ]

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 6:40 pm

On 2003-11-25 17:04, purator wrote:
... cos WinZip gets all sluggy when browsing a large zip file :/

I thought there wasn't anything at all to browse in a multi-segment-non-compressed-archive

never tried it though
but I agree that it's almost useless above a certain filesize with compression on

cheers, Tom

Counterparts · Post by **Counterparts** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 4:20 am

krizrox wrote:

What's the best way to get a really large file (bigger than will fit on one CDR disc), onto more than one CDR? Is it even possible? Is there some software out there that will break one big file up into a couple of smaller files so you can burn a couple of CDR's and then put them back together at a later date?

Windows? I use a nice little utility called..."Split File Shell Extension"

http://space.dolphin.free.fr/Windows/split.html

Very Ronseal

Royston

edit: it's freeware by the way

[ This Message was edited by: Counterparts on 2003-11-26 04:22 ]

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 10:14 am

winrar would be a good choice.

Post by **garyb** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 12:23 pm

cdrs are unstable.use them for archiving at your own risk.

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 1:55 pm

On 2003-11-26 12:23, garyb wrote:
cdrs are unstable.use them for archiving at your own risk.

There's a risk with any format I suppose. I've been using CDR's to backup data for at least 6 years now. Don't recall ever having a problem. I try to minimize the risk by using good quality CDR's and I always enable error checking during the burn process to make sure the data I've saved is intact.

What do you use? Just curious.

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 3:17 pm

on my usual track for bicycle exercises I once noticed a CD in the grass beneath the road, blinking in the sun.
Well, obviously nobody took notice and it kept laying around there for quite some time, exposed to sunlight, wind and rain.
After only 4 weeks (or so) there was no more blinking, but you could look right through it

So keep them protected in a proper place.

cheers, Tom

Post by **garyb** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 11:16 pm

usb hd.nothing is 100%,but cdrs are a pain.

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Thu Nov 27, 2003 9:11 am

I've been using hard drives for 12 years. On rare occasions I have had a hard drive fail. Usually they work fine again after I reformat them. Only once when a new hard drive was defective did I have a meltdown.

In the 6 years since I have been using CDRs (and I have made hundreds of them), I have *never* had one of them fail in any way whatsoever. I seriously dispute Gary's claim that they are unstable. In fact given the choice between using a hard drive, a tape backup or a CD, clearly a CD is safest. I am not saying they last forever.

[ This Message was edited by: braincell on 2003-11-27 09:13 ]

Counterparts · Post by **Counterparts** » Thu Nov 27, 2003 9:21 am

We use CDRs for most of our (company's) project archiving.

My understanding is that they are pretty stable for at least 5-6 years, whereas CDRWs are more flakey (we don't use those at all).

Royston