Backing up downloads

[JudyA]

I am fairly new to digital scrapbooking and have downloaded several elements, page kits, etc. Like paper scrapbooking, you can never have too many supplies! I have backed them up on CDs so if I delete the extracted folders (I will keep the zipped folders) from My Pictures, will that delete those same items that are in my PSE Organizer? It seems like I have used alot of disc space with the downloads. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[Wags374]

I would recommend keeping and organizing the extracted folders. If you can't see them you won't use them. And if they are all zipped up you won't know what you've got available to you.

If you have a file saved in two places, and delete it in one it won't affect the other. However, if you only have it saved on place and the other references that one spot - you will in effect delete it from both since there is really only one source.

I don't use Organizer so I'm not positve on how it works. I'm sure someone will come along to answer that more specifically.

[Pauline]

When I get zipped files of papers, embelishments etc., I unzip them and put them in a folder. They then go to my organizer so I can see what I have and I have them labeled according to what they are, so if I want papers, I can click the papers icon and only see papers, etc. I burn the folders containing all these items to cd as back up, and the zipped folder is thrown away.

I find that if you put everything on cd and don't keep it on your computer you won't know what you have available. Although you can burn them to cd from the organizer and have it come up with a little cd icon so that you know where to find them. I don't use this option.

[karen donnybrook]

Judy,

Welcome to the forum.

Karen

[Wendy]

Hi Judy ...

... and welcome to the forum :)

Wendy

[NRiceDesigns]

Welcome Judy

[Ward Grant]

Welcome to the forum,

Just a quick Organizer note-Organizer is just a window to view your images. So if you delete the images (your scrapbooking kits), you will delete the ability to see them in Organizer.

The post on burning to a CD and keeping the icon is a good way to view the information without taking up all your space. You could also consider getting an external hard drive and moving your images (photos and kits) to that. You can get units that are very large for a reasonable amount of money.

[JudyA]

Thank you to everyone for all of the great suggestions. It has really helped me. And thank you to all of you that have welcomed me to the forum. What a great source of information.

[Jems]

Hi Judy

Something else you might consider is not even downloading the zipped file. When you go to download it, it will ask if you want to open or save it. Just open, extract and close. You wont have the duplicate files in a zip and you'll have a lot more space.

Hope this helps, too!
Monica

[ConnieK]

Hi Judy

Something else you might consider is not even downloading the zipped file. When you go to download it, it will ask if you want to open or save it. Just open, extract and close. You wont have the duplicate files in a zip and you'll have a lot more space.

Hope this helps, too!
Monica


Monica: Thanks for the tip. I hadn't even thought about NOT downloading the zipped file. Brillant idea.

[WNDERLND]

I am paranoid about losing photos, so I have several backups.

I have one external hardrive that is only for backups if there is a problem...I have another external backup that is used for storage of digital elements and photos. (I do keep both the zipped and unzipped files.) Finally, I have a third copy on a smaller portable hardrive. This is what I take with me when I go to crops or scrapbooking weekends, or if I want to work in another area of my house to do digital scrapbooking.

I used to keep everything on the C drive as well, but i have too many files and not enough space.

This weekend, I actually gave my DH a "honey do" list that includes backing up my files again onto DVDs.

I am sure it is overkill, but if you've ever lost valuable photos, you'd have done anything to have them restored. Better to be safe than sorry--they are precious memories that I want to share.