over 700MB CDRom archives

[Lin Howard]

I am trying to archive projects larger than
700MB with no luck. Using Easy CD Creator, I can
make data files less than 700MB on a blank 80min
CD no problem, it's the larger projects that I
can't do.

If I make a 74 minute CD using MicroCD, it
works fine. This uses approx 777MB, thus it's
over the dread 700MB limit Easy CD Creator (ECDC)
has. I tried backing up a partition with just one
project on it using ECDC Take Two. First test
using 500MB file used one CDR worked fine. I
restored it to a vacant partition. Second test
using 1384MB project used three CDRs. I made the
back up ok, but couldn't get them to restore.

I tried MicroEditor's split project command,
but it leaves that big old sf2 intact.

Any help would be appreciated.....Lin Howard

[geezer]

---It's been awhile since I did something like this, but it seems like, after splitting the project and/or saving under a new name, isn't there then a command that copies all the samples into the default file?.....You would need enough hard drive space to have double the file size for a bit, and then would need to be able to dump the old file without destroying the project, but I think this works. Anybody else done this?

My solution for this was, frankly, to avoid this mess and buy a 2 gig Jazz drive a few years ago. This is vastly more expensive, though, than the best current solution: removable or multiple IDE or SCSI drives. I think you could probably pick up 2 80 gig fast IDE drives for the price of the Jazz and a couple of 2 gig disks....Even with an older computer, you can usually put a really big and really cheap IDE on there and partition it. ....I have done this for friends with an old PI 166, and it took them an awful long time to fill up a drive that cost $130.

[admin]

Lin, is the SF2 that is left behind the default SF2 for the original project? This means the SF2 filename is identical to the project .mix filename, with the extension different.

It is my understanding that the Split Project command will also split the SF2 default file for that project.

[Lin Howard]

When I do a split project in V5.3, it ask for new
names for the now two mix files, but doesn't do
anything to the sf2 file. If you got to explorer
and check what's on your hard drive, it shows the
original mix file, the two new mix files, and the
original sf2 file untouched.

I am now trying out a few freeware splitter
programs to see if I can find one that will split
the large sf2 file into smaller files to copy to
CD as a data CD. tnx...Lin

[Lin Howard]

Thanks Geezer for the reply, but I think I
have found just the thing. It is freeware called
Splitit32. It will split a file that is up to
4 gig into pieces the size of which you determine.
Just split the sf2 file, then copy the pieces and
the mix file to CDRs. Then when you want them
back, copy the CDRs back onto the hard drive and
double click on the batch file it creates and,
sheezam, there's your sf2 biggie file back intact.
......tnx....Lin

[geezer]

---Once you've actually successfully done the operation, let us know how it went and where to get the software.

Jim Smith
Muddy Hole Studios, LLC
570 Poor House Rd.
Martinsburg, WV 25401
304-261-9426
mudsmith@earthlink.net

[Lin Howard]

To whom it will help: go to this link:
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/U...plitIt_95.html (sorry,
don't know how to make this a link) Download JLC
SplitIt 95. Read the "readme" file.
You can split the sf2 file on the same drive
or send it to another drive. Copy the 2 (or more)
split files to CDRs using your CD burning program.
Copy the ".mix" file and the ".bat" file also to
one of the CDs.
When you want to restore the file, copy the
CDRs back onto your hard drive. When you run the
".bat" file, it will reassemble the sf2 file on
the same hard drive. If there is not room on that
HD, you can open the ".bat" file in notepad and
edit it. On the line that starts with "copy",
add *:\ just before the "filename.sf2". The *
indicates the drive letter. When you run the bat
file now, it will assemble the sf2 file on the
drive you selected......tnx....Lin

[Rich LePage]

Another thought on this, as it is something we do all the time here:

Use Veritas BackupExec Pro. This program is I think now being
retailed via stomper.com but you can also check at Veritas' site.
It used to be Seagate Backup Exec. I'm not sure of the current price, but it isn't terribly expensive.

The software supports spanning of discs or tapes and will work with just about any "backup device" (CDr, tape drive etc) you have on your system. We do backups of projects involving 30-plus gigs of data all the time.

The bonus about this is that it allows you to verify the backup,
which is critical to us. Some years ago I used to backup data using Easy CD Creator as you describe, and when I looked at the file size it was same as source, so I figured-- great, no problem.
But some time later I had to use the backup file and discovered that some garbage had somehow got in it and oh boy there were problems.

I often back up small projects to CDR or CDRW, but for most of the big jobs we do, I use either DDS3 data DATs or Travan tape.
The Travan media costs more than data DATs, the drives cost less. I've restored a zillion times from backups using Backup Exec with no problem except for media glitches, which can happen.
Because of this, I highly recommend that you backup anything that is critical to 2 sets of media!

Hope it helps... Rich LePage

[Lin Howard]

Thanks Rich. I downloaded the demo on Stomp's
"Backup MyPC", and it is wonderful for backing up
files. That's a good point on having all the 0's
and 1's verified. I think I'll invest in a copy.
tnx....Lin Howard