Digital Photo Storage

• Jun 14, 2009

• #1

letsgohuntin

Senior Member

Do you guys store your digital photos on an external source? What's the best way to do it... online host, CD, flash drive?

All of my pics from the past several years, including ALL of my son's photos, are on my hard drive so I'm afraid of losing them in a crash or computer breakdown.

Your experiences or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

• Jun 14, 2009

• #2

KDarsey

Senior Member

I don't have many right now but I have been putting them on a flash drive. I am hoping to buy an external hard drive and maybe putting them there too.
I wonder the same thing though,if it is the best.

 

• Jun 14, 2009

• #3

contender*

Senior Member

I have a Toshiba I ordered from wally world to store my music and pics. It's easy and it keeps your computer hard drive from getting cluttered. Mine is about the size of a large cell phone. It's this one:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=9209834

 

• Jun 14, 2009

• #4

quinn

Senior Member

I like doing several different things so I have plenty of back up.Flash drives are nice cause they are easily toted from one place to the next.You need to figure out a way to mark yer flash drives so you know which one has what though.

 

• Jun 14, 2009

• #5

Mel82

Senior Member

I store mine on an external hard drive and get prints of ones I really want to cherish.

A word of note to those using thumb drives. My uncle works in the computer biz and says to always have 3 because they malfunction often and easily.

 

• Jun 14, 2009

• #6

Lightninrod

Senior Member

Why not a site like photobucket.com?

 

• Jun 14, 2009

• #7

Hoss

Moderator

Multiple locations is a good idea, cause they can all fail.

 

• Jun 14, 2009

• #8

T

Twenty five ought six

Banned

I sort them out.

The really important ones, I put on a CD, maybe two. For example I have close up pictures of all my guns and other valuables on a CD in a lock box. God forbid that anything happen to them, but I have photographic evidence that they exist.

I even break down CD's by subject matter. CD's are incredibly cheap, so I don't get torn up about not filling one up.


Here's another good use for CD's --- my mother for example, is not a member of the WWW. I did get her a digital picture frame. So when I take a few hundred pictures, I can send her a CD, she can decide which ones she actually wants prints of, and go to Wally World where she can get prints.

Then, I use the Google on-line service that is part of Picasa. Primarily use if for specialty prints that I want to share with a select group --for example, pictures of the hunting club.

I have to agree with Mel82 about relying too much on jump drives for permanent storage.

 

• Jun 14, 2009

• #9

georgia357

Senior Member

Hoss said:

Multiple locations is a good idea, cause they can all fail.

Click to expand...

The best answer in my opinion. Even online backup sites, which are the most dependable way, can go out of business.

 

• Jun 14, 2009

• #10

P

polaris30144

Senior Member

If I only have a few, I use a CD. If I want to back up all of my pictures, I burn a DVD and give a copy to my son as well as the one I keep. I also keep records that are important on a couple of CD's in different locations just to have a better chance of them surviving a catastrophe at my house. I use jump drives for portability, but realize they are not good for long term storage. I never use any online storage for anything since it can and will be compromised at some point, it is under someone else's control. In my opinion, online storage is the least dependable long term, any business is subject to be gone without notice in the economical environment we live in today. A CD or DVD is the most dependable since you can cheaply burn many copies to be stored independently and storage life is indefinite.

 

• Jun 14, 2009

• #11

georgia357

Senior Member

polaris30144 said:

... storage life is indefinite.

Click to expand...

Not quite sure about that. The commercial dvds and cds might last quite awhile. Home made ones are burned differently and don't last too awful long. You could always re burn them every couple of years and be pretty safe.

 

• Jun 14, 2009

• #12

S

sjbl62

Senior Member

I use Google's Picasa, it is easy to use, lots of storage...

 

• Jun 14, 2009

• #13

S

sjbl62

Senior Member

...Also, it is easy to share photos and make videos that are easy to up load to YouTube.

 

• Jun 14, 2009

• #14

P

polaris30144

Senior Member

georgia_357 said:

Not quite sure about that. The commercial dvds and cds might last quite awhile. Home made ones are burned differently and don't last too awful long. You could always re burn them every couple of years and be pretty safe.

Click to expand...

Really? I never knew that since I have CD's I burned in 1998 that still work fine. It might have a lot to do with how often you handle/play them. I guess eleven years and counting is indefinite for me since I have never had one fail. A music CD that you play and handle all of the time would probably have a much shorter life than one that is properly stored as a back up copy.

 

• Jun 14, 2009

• #15

D

dogboy

Senior Member

With hard drivers and flash drives is is not a question of if it will fail, but when it will fail. CD/DVD is the most bang for the buck. If they are taken care of and not scratched or warped they are good for life, or at least till the drives that support them are no longer made.

 

• Jun 15, 2009

• #16

letsgohuntin

Senior Member

dogboy said:

....at least till the drives that support them are no longer made.

Click to expand...

which brings up another question...lord knows what we will be working with 25 years from now. the CD's may be like 8 tracks are today lol! might not even be able to view them