DVD Duplication--Tips and Advice to Create Affordable Multiple
Title: DVD Duplication--Tips and Advice to Create Affordable Multiple
Copies

Author: Larry Denton

Article:
It's gonna happen whether you like it or not. Your beloved
collection of treasured VHS tapes will soon be sitting next to
your 8 Track tapes and vinyl record albums. It is a format that
is slowly, but surely, coming to its demise. The replacement?
DVDs, of course. By basic definition, the DVD is an acronym for
digital versatile disc, and by rapidly growing in popularity,
this optical disc is making DVD duplication a growing market as
well.

Thanks to smaller, more powerful and more affordable chips,
technology of every variety that once was available to only the
largest corporations is now within reach of nearly any size
business, and many consumers for home usage. First it was
computers and digital printers--now DVD duplication systems have
become an affordable commodity.

DVD duplication is a awesome technology. If you want an extra
copy of a movie you bought, or want to produce backup copies of
your games, DVD's or VHS tapes, this is your solution. DVD
duplication is similar to the process used to print information
on a CD. It's a burn-and-print technology that involves very
little set-up and is quite simple using some of the new software
that is currently available.

The technology to reproduce DVDs, once available to productions
studios and giant corporations, is now available at affordable
prices for businesses and organizations both large and small.
Churches, in particular, are using this new media technology.
"In the past, churches recorded sermons and music on cassette,"
recalls Tony van Veen, Disc Makers' Vice President of Sales and
Marketing. "These tapes often lacked quality and took hours,
even days, to reproduce. Today, with consumer demand for
quality, and the popularity of DVDs, churches must embrace this
new technology or risk falling behind."

Even if you do not want to become and independent film maker,
DVD duplication is useful for a multitude of reasons. Maybe you
would like to create a training product demonstration, a Power
Point presentation for work, or make a how-to-video to help
employees understand new software. Perhaps you want to video the
annual company softball game/picnic and give copies to everyone.
Or you would like to provide a DVD of your wedding ceremony to
each of your guests. With prices starting below $1,600, these
new technical marvels are fast becoming a main stay in many
businesses.

A money-saving word of advice: DVD duplication and DVD-ROM
replication sound similar, but there is an important
distinction. The burn-and-print duplication process is the way
to go for short runs--usually fewer than 1,000 copies. However,
if you are a major player and need more than 1,000 copies
duplication will end up being an expensive choice. DVD-ROM
replication is a more cost effective method of producing large
quantities. The company you select will produce a "master" disc,
then "press" copies that are perfect duplicates of your original.

Another tip: DVDs are not immortal. The thin aluminum layer that
reflects the light of the player's laser, is susceptible to
oxidation which causes the discs to "rot". Never use
off-the-shelf markers or ball point pens to write on the discs
or labels. Most markers contain chemicals which create
oxidation, allows air to penetrate the aluminum, which is eaten
up much like iron rusts in open air. Special pens are now sold
which are made specifically for writing on media.

Whether you choose to purchase your own DVD duplication system
or "farm out" your project to a professional duplication service
be sure to do some comparison shopping. No matter what your
project or how many copies you need, there is the precise
product or service out there for you.

About the author:
Larry Denton is a retired history teacher having taught 33
years at Hobson High in Hobson, Montana. He is currently Vice
President of Elfin Enterprises, Inc., an Internet business
providing information and resources on a variety of topics. For
a control room full of information, resources and suggestions
about DVD duplication visit, href="http://www.dvdduplicationspot.com">http://www.DVDDuplicatio
nSpot.com

- posted by J @ 12:45 PM

 
New-fangled CD Label Printer
Title: New-fangled CD Label Printer

Author: Kristine Llabres

Article:
Have you been exposed with the conventional way of having your
CD labeled? Well, that old way of printing labels especially for
CD’s were very labor extensive. It requires long working hours,
enough man power to do the pasting and cutting plus the high
cost of labeling it.

With the old method, one had to print onto the sheets first the
special label paper afterwards another person should remove the
labels from the sheet without having them stick or curl among
others. For the final touch, it should be fasten one by one to
the discs. That kind of labor requires a lot of patience,
precision, and carefulness.

After some time, when people tend to discover that they are
using a lot of effort and time just labeling a single CD, they
invented now the CD label printers. These printers have
eradicated the infuriation and hundred man power associated with
CD label printing.

These CD printers are really slick for they print directly onto
CD-R discs and they can do it in an accurate manner than the
manual thing. The highest quality printers use thermal transfer
process, wherein they are using heat to seal the ink onto the
disc.

Thermal transfer output is permanent and high quality printing
job with no damage to the disc. The discs remain to be durable
and waterproof. The elimination of the paper labeling means a
much better professional CD-ROM impression.

Its process is quite complex technically but these printers will
cost more than your average inkjet printer. Take note of the
quality of the printing process that vary among brands so see to
it that you will research well with your options before buying
it.

Other benefits of CD label printers are much advantageous for
the businesses. They can enable their printing needs to be done
right at their very site. No need to have outside outsourced of
task of CD printing results in a variety of benefits and it is
no longer dependent on the production schedules of a printing
company.

It provides security for the businesses which they are concerned
most of the time. With their proprietary information and the
shipping out of the CD-ROMs for printing that creates
vulnerability is absolutely unnecessary.

With this new printer, hassles are eradicated which are the
usual problems if it will be printed outside. Companies totally
enjoy over the printing process and it means that even if there
are last minute revisions need to be made, still it can be done
absolutely hassle free.

About the author:
For Comments and Questions about the Article you may Log - on to
http://www.printingshoppers.com
- posted by J @ 12:42 PM

 
Backup and Save your business!
Title: Backup and Save your business!

Author: Fred Farah

Article:
There you are busily typing away on your PC or your Laptop, and
all of a sudden the strangest thing happens. The screen goes
black, extinquished like a candle in the wind.

A message appears saying: "The file hal.dll is missing or
corrupt. Windows can not start." Well you know that 95% of
computer glitches are solved by a simple reboot, so click…oops,
can't click, no Windows. Ok then, you reset, and you think you
are sure to be OK when the reboot completes.

Wrong! The same error message appears "The file hal.dll is
missing or corrupt. Windows can not start." How is it possible
for one measly file to kill your system?

DISASTER…What to do now? Phone your tech friend and ask his
advice. He tells you the bad news. You are obliged to re-install
Windows from the original disc! Oh My God! Will I lose all my
programs and data? Yes, you will have to re- install all your
programs. No your data may be safe, but only if you don't have
to reformat your hard disc.

But, your friend asks, I hope you have all your backups.

DO YOU, because that is the key to saving your business. You
know that in today's business world, 95% of your business
information is stored on your computer. This applies not only to
online businesses, but also to offline ones. In this paperless
society of ours, business people are printing less and less of
all their transactions.

Think hard. Where the heck did I hide my original Windows disc?
Really, are you organized enough that you can easily find your
original installation discs, along with the code numbers they
need to re-install.

You own some programs you downloaded off the Net, but they are
stored on your hard drive. Are they backed up? When is the last
time you backed up your data, the lifeblood of your business.

What backup system do you use? Do you use the old- fashioned
tape systems, or do you backup to CD or DVD? Whichever one you
use, the key is that your backups must be frequent enough to
keep you out of major trouble.

Program backups do not have to be constantly repeated like Data
does. Programs do not change, unless you downloaded an update.
Then your update must be saved on your hard drive, and also
backed up.

Data includes so many different things that it's easy to forget
to back up some items. 'My Documents' contains much of the data,
but not nearly all. Do you know where your Favorite links are
stored? Where is your email that you saved? Along with your
email address book, Microsoft hides these files quite well.

It took me weeks to find, and then remember where they are
hidden in Documents and Settings. I never did find the email
settings, so have not saved those.

Bottom line: what should you back up, and how often?

Whatever media you use, you must have at least 2 current backups
of everything, and preferably 3. If you use CD or DVD, have you
ever noticed how some discs suddenly become unreadable, and for
no apparent reason. It happens oh too frequently.. I lose up to
15% this way. CDs have an expected shelf life of maybe 2 years.
Some will surely last longer, too many die prematurely.

Does that mean you should not use CDs or DVDs to back up? Of
course you should. It is the cheapest backup system I know
about. But you MUST have more than one copy. I prefer 3. The
proof of this comes when you save your business by being able to
start over because your backups are up to date.

Imagine if you lose all your programs and have to buy them over
again.

Imagine if you lose all your emails that have your registration
codes for the programs you bought online. And what about all the
sales and purchase data in your emails. What about your contact
list, your email lists, etc.

Imagine losing all your accounting data that you must have for
year-end tax reporting!

Enough said. Programs already backed up on 2 or 3 copies only
need to be updated by adding new programs you buy, and upgrades
that come out.

Data should be backed up based on the frequency of your
transactions. It could be daily, or every 2 or 3 days if your
business is in the early growth stage..

Without backups…your business may be dead in the water! Don't
get careless. You may say I will save a disc or two by backing
up less often. Why? One CD-rom disc costs a buck. Big deal when
it means life or death for your business.

Why take chances. Can anyone predict when you will have a
problem, a computer crash, a new virus? Of course not. Don't
live dangerously, this is not a thrill ride, it is your life.

Fred Farah copyright 2004

Best Affiliate Products and Niche Market Strategies Subscribe to
Niche Market Strategies Newsletter And Niche Madness 7-day email
course Best
Affiliate Products

About the author:
Fred Farah is a long time business man who is willing to share
his expertise using his web site href="http://www.bestaffiliateproducts.com" target="_blank">Best
Affiliate Products It's all about affiliate marketing to
niche markets. Lots to learn from the Niche Madness 7-day
eCourse, as well as the Niche Market Strategies newsletter.

- posted by J @ 12:40 PM

 
How to Backup a PC
Title: How to Backup a PC

Author: Marisa Pellegrino

Article:
Everyone thinks, ‘it won’t happen to me’. But what if it does?
All your files, pictures and documents gone, in an instant.
Sure, you can reach for the disks that came with your computer
to reinstall the applications but what about the most important
component, your data? Data backup is something too many computer
owners ignore.

There are a number of things that can bring down your computer,
some of which include a power surge, hard drive crash, careless
mistakes, viruses, a fire or theft.

If your system did not come with a recovery disc, you should
consider making a backup disc as soon as possible. This is
important should you ever need to rebuild your system to its “as
bought” condition.

How often you back up your data varies from person to person. It
depends on the volume of data input, frequency of change, and
the nature of your data. A general rule of thumb would be to
back up anything that would be difficult and time-consuming to
re-create.

How to backup data:

If you have Windows XP, it includes backup software; however, if
you’re running on Home Edition, it isn’t installed by default.
Once the software is installed, go to the Start menu and choose
“accessories”, then “system tools”, then “backup” in order to
run the backup wizard. On the final screen, you can press the
“advanced” button which will allow you to automatically schedule
recurring backups. The wizard also allows you to create a system
recovery disc which will enable you to boot and rescue your data
should Windows get damaged. At the end of this article, you will
find a list of programs and software that can do the data backup
for you.

You may think you’d like to back up everything you have in your
computer. However, there is no need to back up software and
applications since these can be reinstalled with the original
discs. Most Windows programs now have a default for storing data
within your user profile.

Backup programs:

There are a number of programs that perform data backup for you,
some of which are described here. Ghost 9.0 creates full drive
images, IBackup copies files to remote databases, and Dantz’s
Retrospect Professional 6.5 is a traditional backup tool. There
is also free software available for data backup. For instance,
Backup4 protects your data and features an easy backup wizard
that allows you to schedule backups whenever you like. Disk
Tools Image Maker is an easy-to-use disk imaging tool which
allows you to create exact images of your entire drive. It works
directly from within Windows so there is no need to boot from a
floppy. Handy Backup is another software which makes an
automatic backup of critical data to any type of storage medium.

Backup Tips:

Here are a few tips to keep in mind regarding data backup:

Don’t procrastinate. Most people decide to back up their data
only after they’ve experienced a loss!

Try to find a backup software that can hold twice as much as
your hard disk so that you’re able to schedule backups when
you’re not there.

Back up only what is necessary. However, if you’re not sure,
back it up ... better safe than sorry!

About the author:
Marisa Pellegrino is a freelance writer from Montreal and is the
head researcher and content manager for href="http://www.raidrecoveryguide.com">RAID RECOVERY (href="http://www.raidrecoveryguide.com">www.raidrecoveryguide.com
)and other sites.

- posted by J @ 12:31 PM

 
Is DVD Storage An Attractive Alternative For Your Computer
Title: Is DVD Storage An Attractive Alternative For Your Computer
Backup?

Author: Per Strandberg

Article: Copyright © 2005 Per Strandberg

If you have a computer for home use or for your business and
don't take comprehensive backup for full protection then you are
in the danger-zone. Maybe you do not take any backup at all.

You can find in Windows a basic backup utility which are
installed during the installation.

I should say for all Windows…,but in fact it is not included
during the installation of Windows XP Home Edition.

It is as if Microsoft thinks that data protection is not
necessary for home computers and computers used by small
businesses.

It is true that hard drives are becoming less prone to hard disk
crashes.

But, if you consider not only hard disk crashes, but also virus
infection, theft plus other treats, then you realize the
importance of implementing a full-proof backup strategy for your
computer.

Today many computers are equipped with a DVD burner, yet most do
not use it to manage their vital data backup. The amount of data
you can store on a single DVD is several Giga Byte.

There are many types of backup you can make.

Here are the steps that I take myself to fully secure my data
against data loss:

1. Disk image backup. I use a disk image backup software and
make a complete image backup of the disk on consecutive DVDs. I
also create an emergency rescue CD.

If I have a hard disk crash I’ll use this emergency CD to boot
from.

But, first I have to install and setup a new hard disk that is
working.

Then I can recreate the data directly back from this backup
stored on the DVDs. This work is made fast and without the need
to spend time installing both the operation system and the
backup software. Everything is instead copied directly into the
hard disk from the DVD’s.

2. Full hard disk backup. I also use a data backup software and
create a full backup of the hard disk on consecutive DVD’s.

This is a standard disk backup. With this backup I'm able to
restore any files and/or folders. I can also move the data to
another computer.

3. Regular scheduled backup of files and folder. Here I use the
same software product I use for the full disk backup. I make
with this software regular schedule backups of the files and
folders I work with.

In my case they include My Documents, Outlook emails and other
files that are modified over time. I do this by keeping a
permanent rewritable DVD inside the DVD burner. I then rotate a
number of DVD’s for this purpose so I can keep copies away from
the computer.

Whenever I install important new programs from the Internet or I
make other major changes to my system I’ll also create a new
disk image backup and a full hard disk backup.

You should use a DVD burner that is built for rewritable DVDs.
Unfortunately there are several competing DVD standards on the
market.

The DVD-R, DVD-R and DVD-RAM standards supports DVDs which only
can be written to once and can’t be reused and those standards
should be avoided.

The DVD player should instead support at least one rewritable
DVDs standard. Either DVD-RW or DVD+RW.

Conclusion: I use regular schedule backup to backup the data
files I work with on a daily basis.

I’ll make a disk image backup so that in case of a hard disk
failure I will be back in business fast.

I also create a full disk backup so that I will be able to
restore individual files or folders. It makes it also possible
to move the data to another computer.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Per Strandberg specializing
in data security and data storage and have a site about data
backup technology at ==> http://www.data-backup-and-storage.com

Discover more about DVD storage
at ==> http://www.data-backup-and-storage.com/dvd-backup-and-copy.html

Learn more about how to backup from Windows at ==> href="http://www.data-backup-and-storage.com/window-backup.html"
target="_blank">http://www.data-backup-and-storage.com/window-bac
kup.html

About the author:
Per Strandberg specializing in data security and data storage.

- posted by J @ 11:26 AM