I have a large collection of scanned pics, and saved work on CDs. Since when I save work, I tend to just save it on the CD in progress, it's not all that organized. So, yesterday, I made file folders on new puter, and started copying files off CDs. Well, sometimes files in a batch..10 or so pics that go into same folder on new hard drive..so was selecting in batch and copying/pasting. Puter locked up solid..got BSOD with the "any key" option..and had to Reset. Okay, so went to dragging files, one by one, into folders and that is working okay. Tedious, but no lockup. Got tired after several CDs, so thought I would check "organization" with a nifty browser included in PaintShopPro. I can see thumbnails for all files, and can "move" them to another folder on hard drive if I want to. Well, had misfiled a pic, so went to "move" it, and got a "this file is a ReadMe file. Are you sure you want to move it?", and in another instance, "This file is a ReadMe file. Are you sure you want to delete it?"

So, first question is "can I get my files off CDs an easier way than one by one?" and second question is "Am I going to have to change each and every file from ReadMe to archive?"

98SE, saved CD files both on CDRs and CDRWs using both DirectCD and Sony's abCD mostly in psp files (PaintShopPro), and using a new Sony CDRom.

Hi Kay,

I think maybe you were trying to move the files too fast. The speed with which you can copy files from a CDR to the harddrive depends on the ROM's speed. Try to take it slower with whole folders of pics. That might help.

You should be able to right-click on any sub-folder that has pics inside and choose the Archive properties for that folder. Once you do that, a dialog box should pop up asking if you want to apply the new properties to just that folder or all sub-folders and files within it.

Cheers.

BB66

On the straight CDs (not RWs), you could copy the entire contents in DOS...make a temp folder and copy the disk to it and then work out of that folder. The RW will need the UDF reader, so you may be stuck doing one by one moves, unless you can try to copy the whole disk....

I'm wondering if your lockup was from running out of resources...try doing the moves without any kind of previews, background programs, etc.

Thanks, BigBlue! I will try that folder suggestion..will save enormous amounts of time. I looked yesterday and had already copied some 200 plus files, and only about halfway on files I want on new, and was approaching despair on the thought of "archiving" each of those files.

Was remembering the mantra you gave us long ago, mjc, when reading the printed directory thread the other day. You gave us "DOS is my friend".:) Well, I remember the mantra, but have no clue "how" to do what you just said. So, respectfully, could you give details for a DOS challenged person? Oh, and nothing running in the background except for Nero's InCD thing, which I could turn off easily enough. Was just opening CDRom window, and folder window, and then dragging over, or copy/pasting. Several windows are open because I have folders within folders..like main folder will be "Scans" and then subfolder may be "Family" or whatever. And, for the first time, I am learning how to work with partitions, so these folders are on D drive if that makes any difference.

Should be able to do it from a DOS prompt in Windows...

it would look something like this:

G:\copy *.* c:\temp_pic_folder\*.*

Or you could use a bootdisk with CD drivers and do the same thing, with g: being the CD drive letter (just substitiute whatever it is....)

Thanks, mjc..I appreciate it.

Big Blue: I can't get that to work. Okay, first, the folders I made on D drive have no attributes when I get there..nothing checked. I picked a small subfolder (with only 6 files) to "test" on, and right clicked on folder, chose Archive, pushed Apply, and no dialog box about the files within the folder, and the files within the folder are still Read Only. I went to W.Explorer, tried same thing there..no dialog box, no change on files. Tried highlighting all the files, right clicking, Properties, got folder properties, selected Archive. Same result, folder Archived, files not. Okay, just for fun, I made the folder Read Only, pushed Apply, closed properties. Checked files..Read Only. Went back, changed to Archive, Apply, checked files..no luck. Am I doing something wrong, or is this not possible with 98SE?

Hmmm, not sure Kay. I've done it with 98SE before. Have no idea really why it isn't working as I had pointed out.

I assume that your D: drive is on the harddrive, right? The only time I've seen the extra dialog box is after I have copied a folder to the harddrive and then changed the properties in the folder on the harddrive.

Sorry, I'm stuck as to why it's not working for you.

How about using the “attrib” [attribute] command to clear the “Read Only” attribute on all the files after you’ve copied them to a folder on the HDD?

To find out the rules for use go to “Start>MS-DOS Prompt” and type “attrib /?” at the “C:\Windows>” prompt giving:
“C:\Windows>attrib /?”

That’s if your Operating System offers an MS-DOS Prompt.

No worries, appreciate the effort. Will try what you just said if stuff is saved within a folder on the CD..which is sometimes the case. Copy folder from CD, and then change attribute on folder on hard drive. This morning I tried making another folder on D, making it an Archive folder, and then "moving" the read only files from another. All that happened is that I got the "Are you sure you want to move the Read Only file" dialog box. And, yes, D is on hard drive..first time I have had partitions (who needed to partition my old 4 GB hard drive??..lol). Anyway, didn't want to copy any more files until the ones already have are right, so have now changed to Archive, one by one, 256 files...sigh. Even my mouse got tired..clicking on Properties often brought up nothing at all...but "a" on keyboard does Apply.. :)

Guess I have just learned a most valuable lesson. Either go for something like the Simple Backup that Sylvander likes, or connect old hard drive to new drive early in "build" process and copy all pics. :D

The Read only thingy from CDRs used to be very annoying. Simple backup is one solution of preserving the original attributes, others are to zip up the pics before burning or have all the pics on one partition and burn an image file of the partition.

On an older computer I had, I scanned and organized about 350 pics was planning on burning to disk but the HDD died before I ever got that far (I had about 100 left to scan :( ). So I can't assist in that respect. Someday I'll do it all over again... but with 2 HDD's. Got all I need, except the fire under my... :eek:

Kay,
Do you have your new 98pc 'tweaked' well yet like disabling the preview pane and such? What are your specs (CPU and RAM especially) now (on 98SE pc) and how do you have your components arranged? What is on which IDE cable? Also:Several windows are open because I have folders within foldersYou have Windows set wrong there. Make it open in same window and 1: it will save some resources and 2: just use the back arrow to maneuver out or especially 3: use the dropdown list next to the arrow. It's much better than a loaded taskbar.

Also if not already, if you are doing this offline you could disable A/V, firewall and any other safeguard progs while you are working. Keep open apps and number of taskbar items to an absolute bare minimum. Another hypothetical idea is, if PSP is a big program and uses a lot of resources, but you have the pics the way you want them, you might try another smaller viewer to do the moving them around for you. After all they won't be modified when doing so anyway.

Lastly, what form are your pics being stored as and what size is an average one?

Sylvander: Sorry, didn't see your post yesterday..in fact, pretty sure it wasn't there when I was checking mine. Will check that..do indeed have MSDOS prompt thing in 98SE.

Paul: Good idea! When I get my files all on D partition, will see about Ghosting. Pretty sure that's what you mean by "image" right? And sure don't want to have to do this ever again..so maybe Ghost on a regular basis, hhmm?

Fruss: Understand point about reusing same window, but don't like that as a rule. And, usually I just "open" a file with PSP or another prog, so don't run into the bunches of open windows as a norm. My "new" plan as of yesterday is to make a folder, copy files off CD into folder, change all the attributes, then use PSP to organize files into "final" locations. Going to do them a CD at a time, or so many files at a time so that I don't get so tired that everything ends up everywhere.. :)

Other answers. No, don't have preview pane. Have 900 Athlon, 256 RAM, 52x CDRom. CDRom on Primary Slave, CD writer (Que! brand..with Nero I haven't learned how to use yet..sigh) on Secondary Master. That configuration has worked for me, and my husband, several times. (And truth, don't want to mess with the innards again until "dust bunny" time.) And last, files probably average 1 MB apiece, although some scanned pics in 300 resolution will run up to 4 or 5 MBs, depending on whether they're color pics or grayscale. I keep the original scans because I often "learn" something that might "work" on an old, damaged pic..and need the original scan to experiment on...and don't always have the old pic to rescan.

Pretty sure that's what you mean by "image" right?

Yes. I use DriveImage but I guess Ghost does the same thing. Part of the application is called ImageExplorer, and you can use this to view the image file, such that it looks just like the original directory structure. You can then restore single or multiple files/folders - (or the whole partition of course) in a manner aking to simple backup applications.

AAAAKKKKK PHHHBBBBTTTT (sorry, felt like bill the cat)this whole post is makeing me go crossed eyed.
Simply put, judgeing from the system specs you have described, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldnt be able to just click and drag the entire cd directory into your D:\(provided D: is actually a partition and not a cdrom)unless your system is configured all wrong. First thing I would do make sure the IDE driver for windows is installed, and the ensure that DMA is enabled through the control panel,cdrom properties.
The only other thing I can think of would be your windows swap file is too small, which would only happen if you were running out of HHD space or if someone had messed with it. Also I know windows is SUPPOSED to be a multi tasking environment, but its always a good practice not to run intensive tasks such a large file transfers while you have 47 icons active in the lower right hand corner of the screen, or 50 odd windows open at the same time. For someunknown reason, windows just dont like that kinda thing.

Originally posted by BigBlue66
Hi Kay,

I think maybe you were trying to move the files too fast. The speed with which you can copy files from a CDR to the harddrive depends on the ROM's speed. Try to take it slower with whole folders of pics. That might help.

You should be able to right-click on any sub-folder that has pics inside and choose the Archive properties for that folder. Once you do that, a dialog box should pop up asking if you want to apply the new properties to just that folder or all sub-folders and files within it.

Cheers.

BB66
??????????????????? ?
1. A cdrom will only read as fast as either A:the write speed of the cd media b:maximum read speed of the cd reader C: maximum transfer rate available on the system bus.
2. given that statement 1 is correct, exactly how do you "take it slower" ? To the best of my knowledge the only time a user has control of cdrom speed is during write or rewrite TO the cdrw, not from.
As for useing dos commands from a dos box in windows try the following:
assumeing D: is a HDD partition and E: is your cdrom

C:\
d:\
D:\md archive
E:\
e:\xcopy E:\*.* D:\archive
If that doesnt work , grab a big hammer and hit your computer until it begins to resemble a large ashtray, then phone dell and get a new one.(ignore this last step if you have vast inner strength and/or the computer belongs to someone else)
seriously though, if these dos commands dont work, then the drive may be faulty, you are running out of space in D:, or you could try putting your cdrom on the secondary IDE cable as the master(Some Roms inside the cd dont work well as slave or when on the same cable as HDD).Of course my next silly question is: have you tried to do all this with the CDRW instead? I dont see this mentioned anywhere.

Also, from now on, consider not useing Direct CD when creating Data CD's as backups or to store on CDR media. Direct CD is meant to format CDRW media for incremental back-ups until you close the cd for removal. It is not meant for use with straight CDR's and will give all kinds of weird problems when trying to read from CDroms other than the one that wrote it. use the cd wizard if copying files and directories to create a data cd.

Honcho: I agree..several of the things suggested should work. But, one of the things that one learns early in life, and with puters being no exception, is that things that "should" work...don't always.

Sylvander's instructions for MSDOS were very well written and I had no trouble getting the list he mentioned on changing attributes. Couldn't get it printed, and had a heck of time getting OUT of MSDOS, but hey.

What Big Blue was saying was in response to my copying a batch of files together, rather than one by one..that's what he meant by taking it slower. And weirdly enough, when I was searching around in Nero trying to find somewhere to set write speed..I came across a section in the Toolbox that did say something about setting the read speed on the CDRom. Didn't mess with it..have NO idea what that's for..and haven't learned how to use the main Nero program yet.

Used DirectCD for saving work onto CDR disks because every single time I put a blank RW disk in puter, it locked up. (Not this puter, the older 98 puter.) EVERY time. So, decided didn't need to save onto RW. Changed writers to Sony..it was the opposite. Packet writer only works with RW disks. Whatever..all I want to do is save my work. I don't care if I use dinner plates..as long as I can save my work.

And here is something that has my brain moderately tangled up. I had hoped, and assumed, that when I got to files saved on RWs that those files would be Archived BECAUSE one can alter them on the RW..keep "saving" the file with recent changes. Nooooo...those files are Read Only also..so guess writer "closes" files when you eject the RW. And read here recently that one can't "read" a disk with unclosed files..not stating that right, but remember post about a week ago about the CD having to be "closed". Understandable, but a bit of a bummer.