Backing up my Library to DVD

Hello,
I have 52 gigs of iTunes Library that I want to back up to DVD.
What is the best way to do this? I'm not sure I understand what a data disc is.
I want to back up my library (in AIFF format) and keep all the list data. Is there anything special to know?
Thanks

A data disc is, simply put, a disc that you have burned data to. Whether you use CD-R or DVD-R doesn't really make a difference, if you are burning files, such as music, Word, Excel, PDF, etc., you are burning data to the disc.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean when you say you want to "keep all the list data" in your AIFF files. Do you mean you want to keep the ID3 tag data? If this is what you mean that is not going to be possible. AIFF does not support ID3 tags. Oh, you can "tag" the files using iTunes but the data will not be remembered. For example if you burn the files to Data disc, then want to re-add the files to iTunes at a later date for some reason none of your tags will be there.
Which brings me to another point: why on Earth are your music files in AIFF when you have Apple Lossless available? If you want to keep the original quality and make the files about half the size of the original AIFF then you should convert everything to Apple Lossless. Especially before backing up this library. This will have the added benefit of not only reducing the amount of disc space your Library takes up by about half, but Apple Lossless files fully support ID3 tags. Additionally Apple Lossless files can be used by any application that reads QuickTime files. This includes iMovie, iDVD, Roxio Toast and Jam, etc.
To back up your files, first set iTunes prefs to burn a Data disc. Then create a playlist of the files you want to backup, click the Burn button in the upper right of the window and start feeding in discs. Incidentally backing up 52GB will take 224 DVD-R discs. If you convert to Apple Lossless first, reducing your Library to about 26GB, that will take 112 DVD-R discs.

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Backing up iPhoto Library to DVDs

Hello,
I'm planning to back up all my files and reinstall Leopard. However, I'm a little worried about backing up my iPhoto library (~22 GB). I don't have an external hard drive so burning to disc is the only way.
I want to retain _all my events and both original and modified photos_. Which method is right for me: using iPhoto's built-in Burn feature or manually copying sections of the iPhoto Library to DVD?
Thanks!

Chris:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. Be sure you don't select much more than 4GB of photos as reported by iPhoto in the Information pane at the bottom of the left window in iPhoto to burn because iPhoto adds a lot of overhead, i.e. the modified and thumbnail files, and various database files that can bloat each burn. You don't want to get into the burn and get the not enough space message. You can see this
Since all of the disks that get created have the same disk name, keep a written record of the contents of each disk and number the disks with a pen so it will be easier to locate what you need.
Do you Twango?
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 08 libraries and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

Backing up iphoto library to dvd when size is enormous

this community has helped me every time and once again i am stuck and have searched for the answer with no luck yet.
i have a 20GB library and have already copied it to an external HD and switched my default library position to free up space internally. i manage the two different locations with iphoto library manager.
i would like a hard copy of the library in case (knock on wood) my external HD would crash. too many memories lost. but i have yet to discover a way to do this and am assuming i am overlooking something. how can i burn that massive library to dvds???
thanks for listening.

so i was entirely unaware of backup. i figured it was something extra and had not yet explored it. i have now downloaded backup and have a few more questions about this process.
my iphoto and itunes folders are on my external hd, yet they are both set as the default library for both programs. i have not yet seen a quickpick or pre-installed plan that will back those up (only available for home folder). so i looked through the custom settings as well and was unable to determine how to back up my external hd. it seems everything is for my mac hd. my external hd never appeared appeared on the desktop as an option to backup.
any thoughts because i would love to back up the folders and files to dvds and then schedule regular backups as well. thanks again for the back up info, and any further help.

Backing up iPhoto Library to DVD: too big

I want to back up my iPhoto library to DVD so I can have an "off-site" copy. However it is 17GB, and won't fit on one DVD. What's the best way to back up to multiple DVD's? I do have Toast 8, if that's the best way.
Thanks!

Use the Disk Utility in the /Applications/Utilities/ folder to create a 20GB disk image, copy the entire library to it, compress it, and then use this tool to segment the image. You need all the segments to recover anything.
(40485)

Backing up itunes library to DVD -- process interrupted

I'm backing up my entire itunes library on dvd-rw and the burner will stop in the middle. then itunes will say: please insert another disc while the burning is taking place. The problem is, the burner won't stop burning. So, I stop the burner and am unable to pick up where I left off in the backing up process. I have over 50 g of music that i'm trying to backup before i take my lappie to the geek squad (long story). does anybody have any ideas how to specifically backup a particular section of my library?

SOMETIMES IT HAPPENS, BUT LET ME ASK U R U BACKING IT UP IN DATA FORM, I SUGGEST U CHOOSE DATA BURNING WHEN U BACKING UP ITUNES, IT SAVES U DISK AND IT IS BETTER.
1. OPEN ITUNES
2.UNDER EDIT CLICK ON PREFERENCES.
3.LOOK FOR ADVANCE
4.CLICK ON BURNING
5 AN LOOK FOR AUDIO FORMAT
6.CLICK ON DATA CD /DVD.
THIS SHOULD BURN IN DATA FORMAT. MAKE SURE ALSO U CHOOSE THE HIGHEST SPEED OF BURNING.
AND OPEN ITUNES BEFORE U INSERT UR DISK FOR BURNING. MAKE SURE THE DISK IS FREE AND NEW.
IF U ENCOUNTER PROBLEM RESTART ITUNES AND REBOOT UR COMPUTER. THIS SHOULD BURN UR DISK WITHOUT PROBLEM.IF U DO ,I SUGGEST U GO GET USB DRIVE AND SAVE UR ITUNES IN IT. THEN U DONT HAVE TO BURN THEM.
ALSO IF U ENCOUNTER LOTS OF PROBLEM, JUST DEAUTHORISE UR COMPUTER BEFORE U TAKE IT FOR REPAIRS. U SHOULD NOT LOOSE UR MEDIA, BUT IT CAN HEPPEN. THEY SHOULD REPAIR UR COMPUTER WITHOUT U LOSING ANYTHING. IF IN CASE U LOOSE EVERYTHING U CAN USE UR IPOD TO REINSTALL OR REIMPORT UR SONGS FROM IPOD TO ITUNES. SO MAKE SURE ALL UR SONGS ARE IN UR IPOD BEFORE REPAIRS.WHEN U GET UR COMPUTER BACK REAUTHOURISE UR COMPUTER AGAIN, DO UPDATE AT APPLE.COM THEN U USE UR IPOD TO REIMPORT UR SONGS. U CAN DO THIS VIA A THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE. U CAN USE IPOD2COMPUTER.COM. THERE ARE MANY OF THEM THOUGH. JUST GO ONLINE AND TYPE IPOD TRANSFER SOFTWARES. U WILL SEE MANY OF THEM. U SHOULD NOT HAVE PROBLEM U JUST PAY THEM ABOUT 22 DOLLARS AND ALL UR MUSIC WILL BE TRANSFERED BACK TO ITUNES WITH NO PROBLEM, SO U KNOW WAT SLEEP EASY.

How do i back up my library to dvd

i'm trying to back up my itunes library to blank dvds and it doesnt give me that option

when i go to file , library , back up is not an option

Backing UP ITunes Library - To DVD's

I have the most current ITunes on a Windows 7 Lap Top -
Backing Up the Entire ITunes Library to CD's or DVD's is gone -
I have 4171 Tracks of Music ALL Loaded from individual CD's - (240 Plus)
How can I backup the Library Now...

That feature has been gone for well over a year. Use Windows backup or the tools supplied with the drive.
Or get an external drive and backup properly with this User Tip.
tt2

Suggestions on backing up iphoto4 library on DVD when library is greater th

Hi,
I need to backup my iphoto4 library. I want to do it on DVD. My present library is larger than 1 DVD. How would you go about dividing up the pictures. The library is just one large library of all of the pictures.
Thank you for your help and ideas.

iPhoto Help has several suggestions to back up photos. Photo backups vs. iPhoto library backups are two different things (a library is a database which needs to retain its integrity beyond just the image files). If you want to backup libraries, then you might consider multiple libraries whose respective sizes will be limited by the capacity of the chosen backup medium.
The backup of a large collection of individual images is relatively straight forward; backing up large photo databases requires a greater degree of strategy.

Burning a large library to DVDs

After some lost photo issues this week, I'm trying to create yet another copy of most of our photos in iPhoto. The issue is the library is huge (almost 60K photos) and so is too large for a single disk.
I am planning to walk thru the events, adding 4.7GB worth and burning as I go. Is this a method which makes sense?
I burned the first one, and when I looked at it, it doesn't seem to retain the events that were there in the library. Will I get any of the albums and things if I follow this method?
I'm hoping this is merely a disaster backup, but after this week, that doesn't seem impossible.
Thanks to all willing to share their expertise!

derring do
My post was a response to Philreeth.
FWIW:
I used to back up my library to DVD every autumn. But I gave that up a couple of years ago. Why? I felt it was pointless. Optical Media corrodes and gets damaged. I think even the best quality really only claim a life of maybe 20 years or so. Guess what, in 20 years (in 10?) our Macs won't have optical drives. The CD and DVD are rapidly going the way of the Floppy Disk and the vinyl LP.
So, my solution, is multiple back ups on different HDs and in different locations.
Backing Up
My Library lives on my iMac.It’s Backed up to two external hard disks every day.
These disks are permanently attached to the iMac. These back ups run automatically. One is done by Time Machine, one is a bootable back up done by SuperDuper
It’s also backed up to a portable hard disk when ever new photos are added. This hard disk lives in my car. For security, this disk is password protected. For this job I use DejaVu because it makes a simple back up that is clear and can be tested easily without doing an full restore.
I have a second off-site back up at a relative’s house across town. That’s updated every 3 or 4 months.
My Photos are backed up online. Personally I use SmugMug but there are many options including flickr. However, check the terms of your account carefully. While most sites have free uploading, you will often find that these uploads are limited in terms of the file size, or the bandwidth you can use per month. For access that allows you to upload full size pics with no restrictions you will need to pay.
Every couple of months I test the back ups to make sure they are working correctly. It’s very easy to mis-configure a back up application, and the only way to protect against that is to do a restore.
This system should protect me against
hardware failure - how likely is it that 5 HDs will go down at once? And even if they do I have the online
one...;
Theft or Fire - there are three offsite back ups...
And as the back ups are on HDs they are easy to update, easy to recover from and - as technology advances - should be easy to manipulate to whatever comes next down the line.
Fingers Crossed...
Regards
TD

Do you back up your library?

How do you back up your library? More importantly how can I back up my library if I dont have a cd burner?

How do you back up your library?
DVD-RWs
More importantly
how can I back up my library if I dont have a cd
burner?
This is a good example of why Apple should allow us to re-download purchased songs without having to pay for them again.
Another is if your CD/DVD goes bad.
Our songs ain't gonna fit on no floppy.

Error in burning iTunes library to DVD as back up

I'm keen to make a back up of my iTunes library onto DVD.
When I try to do this, having followed the instructions to the letter, the system chugs through, checks the playlist, tells me it is initiating the burning, then I get a message canceling the operation reading 'unknown error 4251'.
Now, I can't find anything relating to this error on the Apple website, however, there are other users with the same problem using other forums. The problem is though, there don't seem to be any answers resolving the problem.
Any help would be great, thanks.
Evesham Windows XP
Evesham Windows XP Pro

Well....You do not absolutely need to Use iTunes for Backing up your Music. Any program that burns DVDs can burn music files as data disks.
iTunes can work fine for music files BUT: I prefer more control and completeness over my backup process. It is also very important to note that a large limitation of using iTunes to manage the backup is that the iTunes method does not maintain the two meta-data files (iTunes Library.itl & iTunes Music Library.xml) where your Playlists, Ratings, Play Counts, etc. are stored. See: What are the iTunes Library files?
If you are heavily invested in your Library data (Playlists, Play Counts, Ratings, Last Played, Date Added, etc.), it is critical that you also make and archive multiple backups of your ‘iTunes Library.itl’ file.
If your music is located under one common Folder (e.g.-‘iTunes’), then it is easiest to physically copy that folder and all its sub-folders in one simple process. It can be done quickly, and incrementally – several times a day, when necessary. In the case of any data loss, just re-copy your entire (or partial) music library back to wherever it was, placing it in the main Folder that the previous iTunes expected. Along with the .ITL meta-data file, this completes a full ‘restore’ of your music to the time of your last backup.
Use of a backup software program will greatly help. It will allow you to easily perform incremental backups of only the files that have changed. WinXP has such a facility built-in. I use a free program called FileSync ( http://www.fileware.com ). There are many out there. Some use Zipped files or proprietary formats, others use standard file formats. I like FileSync as it uses normal file formats that can be viewed/managed via any Windows program or utility.
Here's a list of possible ways to copy your music files from your main iTunes computer to another storage medium for backup purposes.
1) Use an External Hard Drive to store the complete iTunes meta-data files and underlying Music Folder structure and songs from your main computer. They are quite cheap now, for their storage volume. This is my preferred main medium.
2) If you have two computers:
2a) Connect them through a router
2b) Connect them using a Direct (w/Mac) or Crossover (PC/PC) Ethernet cable (See: http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/3001.html)
2c) Connect them via a USB-to-USB Network Bridge. See: here as an example.
Copy the files and folders from one computer to the other. Use the second PC as your backup repository.
3) Burn several DVDs (at 4.7+ GBs each) with the music data files and store them safely. Re-writable ones are good for backup purposes (if your DVD drive can manage these).
4) Burn 6x more on CDs (at 700MB each) than in #3 above and store them safely in more space Re-writable ones are good for backup purposes (if your CD drive can manage these).
5) Use a larger USB Flash drive (1GB – 4+GBs) to store the files only if you have a small amount ripped music or have multiple and/or jumbo USB drives at your disposal that will fit your music library.
6) Use the second internal hard drive (if available) of your PC -- not optimum, as you really want to physically separate the storage of backups from the originals, but good as a tertiary storage device.
By keeping only one copy of your music (other than on the iPod), you are not truly 'backed-up' and are running a high risk of losing your music. Music files on just the iPod and the computer is not considered having any backup. If you cannot store your complete music files on the computer, then create and maintain two external sets.
You need at least three sets of your music:
-- One full set on the PC within iTunes (on internal HD or ExHD)
-- One full set on an separate external backup medium (CD/DVD/ExHD/other)
-- One (full or partial) set on the iPod
It is a good policy to backup all your important data. It is a very smart policy to back it up on more than one medium.
External hard drives now run less than $100 for 200-250GBs of storage. Very cheap backup insurance, indeed. See This Link

I started backing up my iTunes library on DVDs

I started to back up my iTunes library on DVDs some time ago but ran out of DVDs. I now have a new supply in but I can't access the back up option under file/library - it doesn't appear at all. All I get access to is organise library, export library, export list. Could this be because I stopped half-way through? Can anybody tell me how to continue with my back up please? Thanks a lot.

No it's because they made a change in the way you back up your Library. I haven't been able to get an answer as to how we are suppose to do it in the 10.4 version. If anyone knows how please share the information as it is really getting frustrating.

Backing Up my library with Double layer DVDs

I recently tried to back up all my 20GB of music and video content from my iTunes library.
Using File>Library>Back Up library I inserted a DL DVD+R and it says that iTunes needs 6 discs in order to perform the back up. I thought about it and it's completely impossible for it to need 6 discs like these to do the back up.
If you do the math it would only take 3 of them to complete the back up. Suppose I have more videos or TV shows, still 6 discs would make this ilogical. Does anyone know if it's possible to burn the back up using Double Layer Discs?

Just buy an external hard drive and back up your library, as well as all playlists, play counts, etc., by simply copying the entire iTunes folder over onto the external hard drive. Optical discs are too much of a pain, at least until all our computer come with blue ray burners.
Patrick

Backing up iPhoto Library (or its contents) to DVD

I currently use Time Machine to backup my iPhoto Library to an external hard drive. However, I would also like to back up the library itself, or at least its contents, to DVD. Does iPhoto have a built-in backup to disc utility like iTunes does? If not, can you suggest a good method/app for backing up the library to disc? My iPhoto Library is around 8 GB, so it won't fit on a single DVD. I do have Toast, although it's an old version (Version 8, I believe). Could I use that?

Does iPhoto have a built-in backup to disc utility like iTunes does?
No.
My iPhoto Library is around 8 GB, so it won't fit on a single DVD.
If you have a drive capable of writing to dual layer double sided DVDs, the library will fit. Other options include control-clicking the iPhoto Library item in the Finder and compressing or archiving it, or showing its contents in the Finder, splitting that over multiple DVDs, and fully reassembling it before attempting to access it from iPhoto.
(3153)

Backing up iTunes library to CD/DVD

Each time I back up to CD/DVD it finishes the disc. Is there a way I can keep backing up tunes that are added to the library until the disc is full.

Do you have an external hard drive? If not, you might want to get one. Much easier to back up the library that way...
Assuming you use the iTunes default settings where iTunes copied added items to your iTunes folder and organizes your library (meaning - everything is all self contained in the iTunes folder), then all you have to do is drag & drop your iTunes folder (not just the iTunes Music folder you find inside the iTunes folder) to the external drive and copy the entire thing.
If you want to test that it worked or would like to actually start using it from that location instead, use these instructions when you start iTunes to point it to the new location...
How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304447
If you are just testing, then close iTunes after you verify it works, and restart iTunes again with the same instructions and point it back to your internal drive (original) location.
Additional info...
Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307074
Cheers,
Patrick

Backing up my Library to DVD

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