Tommy Logic™

One of the new benefits of a DVD Burner being included on almost every computer you purchase these days has to be the ability to back up large quantities of data on a single disposable disc. The DVD format is capable of holding 4.7GB of data, thats about 120 minutes of video. This is wonderful news for those who want to burn their personal videos to play on their home DVD players, but what if you want to use it to backup files and folders? 

Using the "multi-session" feature within your software, you can do incremental back-ups of your system data. By using this feature only the data the has changed gets re-written. This update feature is wonderful for saving time on large back-up operations. 

In this tutorial, I'll use the software that I provide on each of my custom built PC's to show you how to use a DVD-RW (a re-writable DVD) to back-up and store your files. If you do not own this software, a demo version is available online.

Using Roxio Nero Express | Nero Burning ROM (PC Only)

1. Launch Nero Express from the Start Menu - Go to Start, All Programs (Programs in Windows 98), Nero, and Nero Express - or use the icon on your Desktop. This will bring up the Nero project page.
2. Nero Express will ask, "Which recorder would you like to use?" Be sure to select your DVD-R/RW and not the CD-R/RW.
3. Click the Add button to select the files you would like to burn. A window will appear that looks very similar to Windows Explorer and from here you are able to choose the files you would like to record and save on disc.
   • Navigate to the folder that contains the files you wish to add.
   • Select one file by clicking on it.
   • Select several random files by clicking the first one, and then holding down the CTRL key while clicking on the additional files.
   • Select all of the files, by right-clicking on one of the files, and then left-clicking on Select all.
4. Once you have selected your file(s), click the Add button. Repeat this process until you have added all of the files you wish.
5. Click the Finished button. This will return you to the previous screen. A gauge at the bottom of the screen will tell you how close you are to filling the DVD. As long as the bar is blue, you are okay.
6. Once all your files have been added, click "Next" to prepare your disc for burning.
7. Choose your burn settings:
   • Current Recorder - The supported burners you have connected to your PC will be displayed and the Image Recorder if you chose to save to your hard drive.
   • Disc Name - Select a title for your disc.
   • Writing Speed - Select the speed in which you would like to burn.
   • Number of Copies - Select the number of copies you would like to burn.
   • Allow files to be added later - select Yes.
   • Verify data on disc after burning - It is a good idea to tick this box.
8. Click the Burn button. As you are burning, you will see a moving status bar indicating the progress of the recording process.
9. Wait patiently for the blank disc to be written. When finished, Nero will inform you that the process is complete. Click OK.
10. After the successful recording, you will be returned to the recording window. Click "Next" to move forward to a window that will ask what you want to do now that you have finished this project. In the meantime, Nero will eject the newly created DVD.

Curious about Mac OS | BurnAgain DVD 1.2.2

Get the Demo Version | Download: BurnAgain DVD

About BurnAgain DVD

An easy to use CD/DVD multisession burning tool for Mac OSX.
BurnAgain DVD simply adds files to a CDR,CDRW or DVDRW several times without creating an individual volume for each session. If items are burned again BurnAgain DVD automatically adds only new or changed files saving space on the disk. BurnAgain DVD allows to change the title of the disk at each burn, supports hiding of previously burned sessions and preserves all HFS specific attributes (resource forks). It supports the use of Aliases and Tigers “Burnable Folders”.

Note:

"This is not possible with Toast. Multi-session DVDs are not supported by the Mac OS so Toast won't write them. Multi-session CDs are supported but not using packet writing which is what's described in your post. I know that Retrospect does packet writing to CDs and DVDs but it uses its own file system that requires accessing any burned data from within Retrospect. A Retrospect disc cannot be read by the Finder."

Best of Luck,
Tommy Logic