If you play these programs on your computer you can record them and make cd's. One way is with the free program Audacity. Press the record button start the program and press the stop button when it's over. Export the file as a .wav file to the folder of your choice then use your cd burner to record it.

If you click on the link and start the audio player you'll see that it's playing some music and not my voice file, so evidently I've done something wrong.

I reformatted the My Book - which went smoothly. The copied a short video. Again - worked well. Now I'm copying a whole bunch of videos - and it's taking time. I'm copying about 10-15 hours of standard definition tv shows. So far, it's been over an hour. I have no idea how long it will take via USB2 connection. The 30 minute video took less than 5 minutes. I have follow-up questions. I wonder what the best way is to back up these files. I just opened up My Documents and right-clicked one at a time - then chose the option to "send to" and selected drive e: my book. I'm sure there's a better way to do this, but I don't know what it is. I tried to highlight more than one file at a time (using the shift key) - but it didn't seem to want to let me highlight more than one at a time. I also wonder if I send a file to MY Book - does that mean it's moved to My Book and the original isn't on my PC - or is it copied there? Raven - I know I should know this by now, but I don't. How do I find my firefox profiles and bookmarks files so I can copy them to the external drive? Lastly, is there a way to copy files to the external drive in such a way that I can get prompted if the file already exists? so I don't make a copy and have 2 copies in there? with many files (like pictures), I may get a prompt that says the file already exists - should I overwrite it or skip. Is there anything like that when copying files to the external drive? At some point, should I bite the bullet and buy a software program to do this. Western Digital tries to give trial periods for the following software : Memeo Autobackup, Memeo Autosync. Any reason to get these? Or any other software? Also, when I reformatted the drive, it wiped the drive clean. Is there anything (drivers, software?) I would need to download from Western Digital (to replace anything I might have erased). I know that the proprietary software that's sometimes loaded with these things (like cameras, printers) may not be necessary at all. Thanks. Lynn.

After working for UCSF for 7 years (not all full time and a maternity leave in there), I moved to another state after doing careful calculations about being "vested" in the Univ of CA retirement plan. "Vesting" was based on 5 years of 40 hr/wk work and I worked 36 hr weeks (3 x 12 hr) and took some time off for grad school and a baby. After I left I was told that I was not vested due to inadequate hours; this was apparently due to a clerical error I had suffered for the first few months I worked there, when they erroneously put me down as a "per-diem" (as opposed to "benefitted") employee. In order to prove that that was in error, I had to provide those paystubs including the one with the "correction". I'm so glad that I had obsessively filed those paystubs for direct deposit in chronological order and was able to put my hand on it, copy it and mail it to them. As a result, I will have several hundred dollars each month in retirement that I wouldn't have otherwise. Retirement's a long way away, but not something to be toyed with. Besides, I'm sure my daughter will laugh at the "measly" $18/hr I was being paid at the time as a new nurse. When my father died, I found sheets of yellow legal paper in his files accounting how much money he had found on the street since the 1950's: "1972 79 cents, 1973 $10.41" etc. Although amusing, it wasn't needed, but all his files were exceedingly better maintained than mine. I am nervous about going to "paperless" systems in case I were to be hit by a truck tomorrow. My mother would need an extensive list of passwords and websites to access my retirement plans (to even know about them) and other accounts. My ex is not a reliable source of info, and doesn't have a clue about what accounts I now have (and wouldn't help her if he knew). You're not supposed to write down those passwords after all. My mother has been made the beneficiary of my retirement accounts, because I know she will properly use the money for my daughter. I will change all of that in 10 years or so when DD is old enough.