Pioneer DVR-650 HDD Backup Project

[elling]

I have a Pioneer DVR-650H-K which I have been using to archive VHS movies etc. I now have 350+ titles on the HDD, many with important edits like chapter marks, thumbnail, title and so on. The drive itself appears to be running fine (no clicks) but I want to prepare for the worst - HDD failure. I was thinking about copying titles to rewriteable DVDs (either - {dash} or + {plus}) and then putting them in my computer's drive and ultimately transferring the movies to an external hard drive. Does this sound like a good approach? Any better ideas?

Update: I just did a test burn of 2 short movies onto a -RW disc (I initialized it - did I have to?) in VR mode. My Windows 7 computer will not play the disc (presumably b/c it's in some type of Unix format - ?).

[usually_quiet]

Video mode is a better choice for playing in something other than the original recorder. For one thing, VR-mode discs lack a menu and the standard DVD file structure that most hardware and software players expect.

If you can't see any files or folders on the disc, did you finalize the DVD-RW disc in the DVD recorder? DVD+RW doesn't require finalization but DVD-RW does.

The other possibility is your installation of Windows XP does not have an appropriate UDF reader. [Edit] Sorry your computer details confused me, since they specify an XP machine. Windows 7 shouldn't have this problem.

[elling]

Video mode is a better choice for playing in something other than the original recorder. For one thing, VR-mode discs lack a menu and the standard DVD file structure that most hardware and software players expect.

Thank you, that is great info! I had read and still have the manual for the 650 but I have just moved and can't find it yet.

If you can't see any files or folders on the disc, did you finalize the DVD-RW disc in the DVD recorder? DVD+RW doesn't require finalization but DVD-RW does.

The 650's copy menu did not give a finalize option. Maybe this has to do with VR mode (I typically use Video mode when burning a copy that is to be played on another standalone).

The other possibility is your installation of Windows XP does not have an appropriate UDF reader. [Edit] Sorry your computer details confused me, since they specify an XP machine. Windows 7 shouldn't have this problem.

Yes, I have Win 7 Pro. So, to be clear, this is what I am doing:

1. Take a video that I already have, .flv, .wmv, what have you;
2. Using either DVD Flick + ImgBurn or Windows DVD Maker, convert the file to DVD format for my standalone player;
3. Copy the movie onto my 650 and make the changes that I want;
4. Copy the movie from the 650's HDD and burn it to disc again (preferably a RW, I have both + and -), for playback on my home PC;
5. Save a "final" version of the movie to my home PC's external hard drive.

Does this process make sense? I know that I am being a bit obsessive but I have invested a lot of time and money in this project and I want to have an archival copy somewhere (and I do NOT want 200+ discs floating around my house! ).

Thanks again for your tip (I had forgotten the exact differences between VR & Video modes - I last read the manual 2+ years back).

[jman98]

Hard drives go bad. You're going to need a backup hard drive to copy your external hard drive to or you're going to be yet another guy who comes here crying to us because his ONLY copy is on a hard drive that is now defective. Note that your 650's hard drive will eventually go bad too. I'd suggest that you prioritize your videos and get the most critical ones off it first. It's impossible to say what will happen but it could die half way through your project for all you know.

Most Americans hate clutter and you can make fun of having 200+ discs all you want, but my old DVD discs that I've made years ago STILL work and it's not hard to find someone who's hard drive has failed catastrophically despite being younger than my discs.

[elling]

Hard drives go bad...Note that your 650's hard drive will eventually go bad too. I'd suggest that you prioritize your videos and get the most critical ones off it first. It's impossible to say what will happen but it could die half way through your project for all you know.

I should have been more clear but the entire purpose of this project is to get my edited videos off of the Pioneer ASAP, or before it's HDD goes bad.

Most Americans hate clutter and you can make fun of having 200+ discs all you want, but my old DVD discs that I've made years ago STILL work and it's not hard to find someone who's hard drive has failed catastrophically despite being younger than my discs.

Call me lucky but I have never had a hard drive fail, to date. I'm not making fun of having 200+ discs (I have at least 1/2 as many right now) but it would be so nice to just be able to look in one HDD location. The most critical movies I would burn to DVD but the majority could live fine on an external drive.

[usually_quiet]

The 650's copy menu did not give a finalize option. Maybe this has to do with VR mode (I typically use Video mode when burning a copy that is to be played on another standalone).

Perhap so. My DVD recorder doesn't allow VR-mode except on DVD-RAM discs, so I can't say what is normal regarding finalization for VR-mode on DVD-RW. I was under the impression that the session had to be closed for the files and folders on a DVD-RW to be visible on something other than the DVD recorder used to create it.

Yes, I have Win 7 Pro. So, to be clear, this is what I am doing:

1. Take a video that I already have, .flv, .wmv, what have you;
2. Using either DVD Flick + ImgBurn or Windows DVD Maker, convert the file to DVD format for my standalone player;
3. Copy the movie onto my 650 and make the changes that I want;
4. Copy the movie from the 650's HDD and burn it to disc again (preferably a RW, I have both + and -), for playback on my home PC;
5. Save a "final" version of the movie to my home PC's external hard drive.

Does this process make sense? I know that I am being a bit obsessive but I have invested a lot of time and money in this project and I want to have an archival copy somewhere (and I do NOT want 200+ discs floating around my house! ).

Thanks again for your tip (I had forgotten the exact differences between VR & Video modes - I last read the manual 2+ years back).

That isn't at all close to what I do. My process is PC-centric. I do all my editing and final authoring on a computer. Since I don't have an HDD DVD recorder, I have to store video on DVD or a PC drive. When I finally get a HDD recorder in a few weeks, its HDD will only be used for temporary storage.