Is there any burning software that will automatically span disks?

[Des]

Hi all,

Often I have to copy 1+ gb memory cards to CDs and am wondering if there is any software out there, preferably free, that I can dump the files into, will burn the first disk and then ask me for a 2nd disk, etc. to continue burning the rest of the files onto.

Would be great if this can be done for data DVDs too.

My current method is to dump the files into a folder, draw a selection box around the files and when it hits about 650mb on the status bar in the folder window drag the files into Imgburn or Nero. This works well, but today I was doing this with two completely full cards, one was 2gb and the other 4gb and decided there had to be a better way.

Is there?

Thanks.

--dES

[Krispy Kritter]

There isn't much difference in the cost of CD's and DVD's, why not just burn to DVD in the first place?

The only software I've seen that will span discs, is backup software or you could make archives such as RAR files using WinRar.

[bendixG15]

Its been a long time since I used Nero, but if I remember right, Nero backup will do this.

[Shocker Milwaukee]

DVD media = best solution

[jman98]

Its been a long time since I used Nero, but if I remember right, Nero backup will do this.

You are correct. Since the original poster said he has Nero, this is probably the best solution for him, although burning to DVD discs would obviously be better. He could get 4 cards onto a single layer disc without splitting anything.

[Des]

Hi all, thanks for the responses.

Homestly I didn't check to see if about the back up options in Nero, I just use the full burn window and little else.

Most of the back up work on cards is for customers who prefer CDs because they have older machines and aren;t sure if they have DVDs. These folks are generally not computer literate so rather than make them run around to find out I give them what they know works. I would prefer DVDs as well since it's less work for me.

Saving as RAR or even ZIP is not practical as the jpegs and video files need to be easily accessed without having to unarchive it.

I'll try to check Nero later and see if it does it.

--dES

[Des]

Just tried Nero Back it up and it did exactly what I needed! I just have to remember to copy the cards to a folder at the root so as not to include the exact subfolder structure if I save to the desktop.

Anyway, Nero told me how many disks and when to put in the next one and allowed me to turn off any compression.

Perfect!

Thanks.

--dES

[oldfart13]

In Canada there is a special tax on CDs, so they are more expensive than DVDs. A good DVD blank like Verbatim is 30 cents while a Verbatim CDR blank is 50 cents, so why would I burn 1 Gig archive files to CDR?

[thecoalman]

There's a similar tax on CD's in the U.S., it's the ones labled as "audio" CD's. Probably also the primary reason you don't see cheap CD burners because they too have the "tax" applied and will only write to CD's with the "audio" lable on them. Same goes for DAT recorders, its been suggested this tax was one of things that killed the format as a consumer format because of the excessive price. From my understanding this "tax" goes right into the RIAA's pocket which they ditribute to their members. Even if you are recording your own music you're paying them to do it, by your own I mean music you have created let alone purchased from a store..

They RIAA also tried but were unsuccessful in getting these restrictions applied to regular DVD/CD burners in your computer and portable devices like MP3 players....

[oldfart13]

They are still trying up here in Canada. New rules have been proposed but not passed (yet). In many cases, the performers themselves don't want the tax. The one on CDR blanks has never been distributed to performers since the powers that be have not been able to figure out a fair way to share out such revenues. The latest proposal wants taxes on any recordable devices as well as all flash memory cards. The latest batch of CD recorders I have seen all use regular CDRs and not those Audio CD ones. This is why many people I know that do their own music use the CD record function of the Liteon DVD recorders. Way cheaper than going the CD recorder route...

[jman98]

There's a similar tax on CD's in the U.S., it's the ones labled as "audio" CD's. Probably also the primary reason you don't see cheap CD burners because they too have the "tax" applied and will only write to CD's with the "audio" lable on them. Same goes for DAT recorders, its been suggested this tax was one of things that killed the format as a consumer format because of the excessive price. From my understanding this "tax" goes right into the RIAA's pocket which they ditribute to their members. Even if you are recording your own music you're paying them to do it, by your own I mean music you have created let alone purchased from a store..

They RIAA also tried but were unsuccessful in getting these restrictions applied to regular DVD/CD burners in your computer and portable devices like MP3 players....

Dude - did you go to sleep 7+ years ago and just now wake up? Man, your post is full of so much outdated information!

DAT recorders? Good grief man. Those things were already on the outs in earlier part of this decade. Does anyone even make them anymore? DAT long ago went out of fashion for home use. I've seen DAT used for computer back and other uses, but I don't know anyone who seriously uses it for home audio now that CD burning it cheap and practical. Why would they?

Standalone CD recorders are almost completely dead. I found ONE, yes ONE, model for sale here in the USA. http://www.crutchfield.com can hook you up with a Sony model for the sweet "low" price of $299.95. I haven't seen the discs for sale anywhere in years, but I guess somebody still makes a few. Verbatim does list them in their USA product list on their website, but they seem to only make 25 packs of these (branded as "music" CDs by the way) and almost nobody sells them. I have one of these old CD recorders. Mine is about 8 years old. For those who don't know, they will only work with CD-R and CD-RW discs branded as "music" or "for music". There's something in the data on these discs that lets the recorder know that the tax was paid and these are "music" CDs, so they will write to them. These recorders will refuse to write to any normal CD-R or CD-RW discs you can use in PCs. Yes, you are right that the tax goes to the RIAA and probably there was some kind of tax on DAT recorders, but at this point in time everybody except the poorest of the poor in the USA has at least least 1 PC at home with a burner and nobody cares about this tax anymore because almost nobody has DAT and CD recorders.

[hech54]

CD Recorders and Minidisc Recorders still come in handy IMO.

[thecoalman]

Dude - did you go to sleep 7+ years ago and just now wake up? Man, your post is full of so much outdated information!

Ummm in case you aren't aware this a forum for discussion. Whether information is old or not is irrelevant as long as it's accurate. The poster mentioned a tax a CD's in Canada so I followed it up with comment on the tax in the US, so WTF is your problem with that? You may be aware of it but others may not be. What I really find humorous is your commenting on my "outdated" information then follow it up with your own "outdated" information.

...Standalone CD recorders are almost completely dead. I found ONE, yes ONE, model for sale here in the USA. http://www.crutchfield.com can hook you up with a Sony model for the sweet "low" price of $299.95. I haven't seen the discs for sale anywhere in years, but I guess somebody still makes a few....

Which is actually the point I was trying to make in case you missed it, if the tax wasn't applied both of these formats as home recording devices might have been viable consumer devices. You wouldn't have to go looking for a CD recorder because the typical CD player would also be a recorder a long time ago.

As far as DAT goes it may very well have been the next format instead of CD if it wasn't hobbled by the tax but that's debatable. It is a better format as far as quality goes...

[Krispy Kritter]

In Canada there is a special tax on CDs, so they are more expensive than DVDs. A good DVD blank like Verbatim is 30 cents while a Verbatim CDR blank is 50 cents, so why would I burn 1 Gig archive files to CDR?

I haven't used this in quite awhile, but unless I'm mistaken the files aren't "easily accessed" this way either, as the backups need to be restored before you can access. But I could be wrong...like I said, it's been awhile.

[hech54]

As far as DAT goes it may very well have been the next format instead of CD if it wasn't hobbled by the tax but that's debatable. It is a better format as far as quality goes...

He also may have been confusing DAT(digital audio tape) and DCC(digital compact cassette).
DCC died right out of the gate while DAT was around for quite some time.

[oldfart13]

Never had a problem either on a computer or on a video/music playback device that was compatable with the discs ever not let me access them. DVD players like the Philips line and Oppo line will accept the data files burned to DVD-+R as long as they can play the files back. I don't have an audio player that will accept DVDs but I'm betting some car units will. These days though most have external ports for Ipods and other such devices. For data storage/transportability I was using DVDs up until the recent fall in prices for flash memory. Now I use those and cheap external HDDs for storage and/or transport.