Verbatim has joined Memorex in trying to take the pain out of doing backups -- at least to archive the piles of photo files that you've uploaded from digital cameras, downloaded from the web, and received via e-mail.
It's too hard to install backup software, and remember to run it. And for many, it's too hard to remember to do backups at all.
The solution is to use what Verbatim calls "Self-Recordable Media" -- the recordable DVD that you use for burning your files also contains a small pre-recorded section with the backup software installed on it.
This idea is now available as the Verbatim PhotoSave DVD (3 pack $9.99, 5-pack $14.99), and the Memorex SimpleSave Photo and Video Back-Up DVDs (5-pack $14.99), which can find and burn some 2,000 photo files to a disc. (Memorex originally also planned to do a music backup disc -- see previous post).
The software auto-runs directly from the disc when you insert it, and automatically searches over your computer to find photo files wherever you have stashed them (or you can select custom folders and file types, including video). Then click to burn the disc.
The Verbatim PhotoSave software (Auto Mastering 3.5 from Soft-R Research) also supports burning multiple times to add additional photos until the disc is full, and spanning a backup across multiple discs for large collections of files.
Now please go do some backups!
See my High-Def / DVD Gallery for more on optical disc formats and media.
See my Portable Storage Gallery for details and comparisons on memory cards, USB drives, and hard disk storage.
Find Memorex SimpleSave Backup DVDs on Amazon.com