Hi Zep, I went ahead and upgraded to mp10 for my system. It seems nice so I'll go with it thanks. Unfortunately I still can't get the songs onto my pos mp3 player, there must be something wrong with it is all I can figure. I am able to rip songs from my cd's fine but the whole transfering them thing just isn't working. I am going to try the mp3 player in another computer at work tomorrow and I'll go from there. Remember we've had this thing for a few years just sitting in a closet with how to speak german on it so its no big loss. I'll go get another simple yet fairly inexpensive model at w-mart to learn on. I'm not giving up on this because I'm tired of listening to the boring elevator music the local station plays here in the middle of nowhere. Thanks, Neal

Hi, back again, having gotten sidetracked researching a new computer system. I bought a Maxtor external Drive but I am taking it back after reading many many posts suggesting they fail more often than others. I also am finding that even when you use an external drive, that most people recommend that you back up to DVD/CD as well. So I am wondering if you have to back up the external drive, then why have one at all? I didn't want to spend the money on small flash drives to 'store' my data on, because it would not be cheap in comparison to much more storage space on an external drive for the money. But I think I would like to use ONE flashdrive? memory stick? [Are they the same, btw?] just to transfer my data from the old computer to the new. They can be written over repeatedly, correct? After I am finished transferring, I would like to use the flash drive to put my most valuable docs and photos onto the flash drive and use it to store in a safety deposit box. Is that possible? I am thinking that once I get onto a new machine with a new DVD player that would also allow me to write to a DVD, that I could back up that way. Am I making sense? Any experiences that would suggest I should think of doing something else? Oh, btw, I do have a wireless home network and two laptops use the network. One is a Macbook and at the moment one is a PC. Is there anything I should know about formatting my data so it can be used by both Win/PC and Mac? Any storage media I can get that will allow me to use it on both? Thank you all for the input... :-) pm2

I wish I could find that fix and cant remember where I got it ie what forum. I googled and cant seem to find anything there either. Re: burning; The system which I had been using was, to put a CD/DVD in the optical drive, I would get a prompt as to what I wanted to do with the disk. I selected "Burn with windows" and drag and drop whatever I wanted to burn into the empty box to the right. Then, click on the burn icon in the menu linewhich also contains "Organize", "Views". However, that burn icon is no longer there

zep516...you are right, calling Apple is a good place to start. Thanks. owbist....Not sure I am following you. Is the DVD-R the one that records things permanently and the DVD+R the one that can be repeatedly recorded over? When you say you didn't perservere with the DVD+R, was there something more difficult about using it? Were you recommending to buy the DVD-R because they are cheaper? urlee....first of all, thank you so much for that link. I did not have a good website to go to with audio/visual questions and that looks like a good one. Not sure how you managed to copy/paste the 'visual' directions for where I needed to go, but it is sure impressive! No, I don't need directions on how to do it, because I am probably never going to do that myself, but amazed that someone can...lol. I did a google search on Pioneer 640 and found references to 'not available' any more as you state. That is too bad. Do you know if there is another comparable Recorder on the market? Right now I am renting a Box from Comcast that records TV programs and I have just loved it since I have gotten it. It is so easy to use and fairly reliable. The problem is that you are not 'saving' anything permanently and you can't take anything on the box off and transfer to dvd. Obviously I can't use it to transfer home movies to dvd either. That is a long thread on the Pioneer 640, if I read the whole thing will it answer the question about whether I can actually buy one or will it point me in the direction of a substitute for it? I am just not a person who understands Audio/Visual very well. I can manage most of the time to connect and learn to operate a new piece of equipment by just following along with a manual, but connecting all the equipment and getting it all to do what you want it to do together...well, it is just very intimidating. It is like learning a whole new language and I just don't have the interest, time or energy to do it. If I knew someone who was proficient in it, I would be asking them to come and just set it all up for me and cooking them dinner...lol. But alas, I don't. I could very easily and quickly get to the point where I will throw up my hands and just take the vcr home movies to Ritz camera and spend $30 per vcr tape to have them do the transfer for me. So what I am looking for is easy and simple. That is why I love my comcast box, it was easy to rent it, they installed it and all I have to know is how to work the remote and set up the recording schedule etc. That I can handle. Maybe I should find an Audio/Visual school to send one of my kids to? [g]