Re: Save (backup)

["J. R. Fox" jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

Michael Norman wrote:

> Does anyone do this now -- use a CD-RW for to "save" data files as one would
>
> with a floppy. And has anyone coordinated the packet writing software with
> XyDos? In other words, can you put a save routine on a key for the CD-RW?

Just my opinion, but I think using a RW cd as a "super-floppy", via packet
writing
s/w (which is what you'd need to use) is massive overkill for most situations.
I don't
know anyone who's doing that, or, more significantly, anyone who has tried it
and
continued using it. The packet writing programs, to my experience, were very
flaky,
to say the least. There was one that came with Adaptec (later Roxio) Easy-CD,
and
one that came with Nero. I don't recall which was which, but the one that came
with
Easy-CD was the prime offender. (It might have been IN-CD.) It clashed with a
lot
of things. I have seen this seriously destabilize several W2K machines, to the
point
where all traces of it it had to be removed, in order to restore the system.
The one
in Nero is probably better.

But hey, regular cd's in bulk are about ten cents apiece these days, so who
needs the RW's ?

> I don't know what software comes bundled with the Thinkpad, but if anyone
> has used both Nero and RSJ and can compare the two, that would also be most
> helpful.

Hmmm, how do you know about RSJ ? It's the only game in town for OS/2 (unless
you
don't mind "major assembly required" s/w), and a rather good program, but I
thought the
Win-32 version was pretty obscure on that side of the fence. Nero is a breeze
to use, and
RSJ isn't difficult. They seem to have different advantages vis-a-vis each
other, mostly
in the UI area, according to how you are accustomed to working. The Nero
design is
apt to be more immediately familiar to Win users. The Wizard holds your hands
and
guides you through cd creation, in a GUI sort of way. RSJ makes the cd appear
to be a
WORM device, which facillitates using *other* programs (such as the ZTree file
mgr.,
which I use often for this purpose) to set up and revise the contents / layout
of the cd
you are burning. Be warned that -- to the best of my knowledge -- RSJ's
handling of
RW cd's is strictly via Command Line commands, which you'd need to brush up on
in
their manual.

Jordan