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

One possible issue When you add files or folders to a disc that already contains data, some files are lost. This may occur if one or both of the following conditions exist: A file is added to the disc, and the name of the file is the same as the name of a folder that was already on the disk. -or- A folder is added to the disc, and the name of the folder is the same as the name of a file that was already on the disk. Here is a link that might be useful: support.microsoft

First, is your CD player able to play MP3s? If not, you need to be sure you are burning audio CDs rather than data CDs full of MP3 files. And in that case, I prefer ripping my vinyl to WAV files to avoid the loss of data the compression in MP3s does. Plus, I've been copying vinyl to CDs since I did it on an old Win98 machine that had trouble converting MP3s at all, much less on the fly. Second, I would avoid multisession burning and rip all the tracks you want for your compilation before starting to burn your CD. I am not clear if you are using Nero to burn the CDs. If so, when you are starting, select "Audio CD" as your project type. Add all the tracks you want to the layout, then burn in one session, letting Nero close the CD at the end. See if that works and if the CD plays in regular players. Anne

If your cds will play in a regular household player, and the player does not say "mp3/cd-r/rw compatible" chances are your cds are formatted as regular cds not mp3 disks - does that sound right? Did you convert the files to be regular cd type files, or did you just burn the mp3 files to disk as is? Some car cd players won't play burned disks at all, most newer ones specify that they can; and what formats. I had a 99 VW Golf, and some played, some didn't but mostly it was ok but that was not so much by design. The disks you use make a difference, avoid heavy/dark dye/base layers, the more silver looking (like commercial cds) the better. Ipod or similar may have to be your workaround. The slightly reduced quality (mp3 is a lossy format) you get used to, and having the range of songs, random play and eliminating need to change cds probably make it worthwhile.