No more space

[vaneramos]

My CD burner has died. It destroyed the last few CDs I attempted to burn. It could be replaced, but my computer has become so obsolete that I'm unwilling to sink more money into it. The best option will be to save toward a new system, but that's going to take a long time.

What this means is, no photography for now. I have only 1G of free memory on my hard drive, not enough to safely transfer the last batch of images—taken over Thanksgiving weekend—from my camera. CDs were my only means for storing old images and freeing space for new ones.

Eramosa River Journal will become write-only for the next while. This could be good for me in many ways. But tonight I just have a bitter, crawling feeling like the fear of death.

Comments

[vavaverity.livejournal.com]

There are other storage options, how about getting one of those removable drives?

[trinker.livejournal.com]

That was my thought as well. Rather large drives are going for a reasonable price these days, as are external CD-ROM burners.

One could theoretically sell said device at some point although falling hardware prices make it hard to recoup costs.

[rfmcdpei.livejournal.com]

Have you considered using a Gmail account as a virtual drive? There are downloadable PC utilities which allow you to use it for that purpose--I'm backing up my music right now, even as I speak.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

My computer has becoming so inefficient that I'm reluctant to spend money on anything else—and external drives are fairly expensive, in my books—when I need to save up to replace the system. But I could afford one on my Business Depot card, so it's a consideration.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

My image files average about 4 MB, so a Gmail account would hold 500 images. Considering I took nearly 300 over the long weekend, that doesn't give me much space to play with!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I will at least price one.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Are they internal or external? Part of the problem I've always had with this burner was that it had to share an internal connection (sorry, I can't remember the technical term) with the other CD drive, so I doubt that replacing it is going to solve anything.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Um, that would be "parallel port".

[rfmcdpei.livejournal.com]

Just set up multiple accounts. How many invites do you have?

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

DO you want to see if we can scavenge an old HD from one of our defunct machines?

[missprune.livejournal.com]

It's odd when fate imposes breaks on our activities. Breaks, or brakes. I also am on a forced no-photography break, since my digital camera died just before we went on a trip last month. Still waiting for it to be repaired and returned. Meanwhile, I try to appreciate the enforced relaxation of the urge to capture the images that I see. I hope you can also find some silver lining in the bitter cloud.

[hankdmoose.livejournal.com]

I actually have fresh experience with exactly this due to recent laptop troubles.

Microsoft will let you activate the same license of XP 2 or 3 times without any trouble. Beyond that, you just need to call a toll-free number (at least in the US) and activate it that way. They're pretty lenient about it as long as it's not obvious you're pirating the OS.

[sulis-vt.livejournal.com]

There are those of us who would likely *subscribe* to a VAN FAN and for $X - send money for a computer in return for a small (4x6 or 5x7) print of your choice....just a thunk from a friend of a friend and fellow photographer.

[lichtgespinst.livejournal.com]

Van, tomorrow one of my computers will go into the shop and it will have the old CD burner replaced by the CD/DvD burner from my computer that gave up the ghost some weeks ago.
Therefore i will have this still working CD- burner lying around here and i'm happy to send it to you if this would help you out.

[quirkstreet.livejournal.com]

I don't know what your resources are, but given the age of your computer, a quality refurbished computer of NEWER vintage is likely to be within your price range. If you upgrade to a newer-but-cheap computer with an eye to saving as much money as possible so that you can splurge on an external storage device ... ??

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Well, I tried it and it works, but it takes about 6 minutes to transfer a single image. At that rate, it's going to require more than 100 hours to transfer the photos I've taken just in the past six weeks. That's awfully impractical. Still, it might be a temporary solution. And it's an excellent solution for backing up WordPerfect documents and so on.

[marian-w.livejournal.com]

I have a 1G memory stick, and a laptop with a burner, when am I in Guelph next?

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

That's very kind of you, Bruce. Danny has found a used CD burner, so we're going to try that out for starters. If it doesn't work, I'll take another look at my options, one of which will be replacing the PC.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I don't think this machine will handle an additional internal HD, but we'll see how Danny's old burner works and go from there.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I know, as much as these minor misfortunes seem random and meaningless, I try to make my own meaning out of them. Being relieved of my camera at times teaches me to see things through my own eyes, and even helps me relax.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Bruce, I don't think I can turn down an offer like that. It is much better than my current machine. Also, the queer library where I volunteer is searching desperately for a replacement monitor as the old one died, and we've been recording all sign-outs and returns on paper for the past week. Colour reproduction is not an issue.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Gmail temporarily shut down a new account while I was attempting to transfer files. It looks like they're cracking down on this kind of usage.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

That's very kind of you. It looks like I'll have at least a temporary solution within a few days. But the thought is much appreciated. I have considered putting prints up for sale. We'll see.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Mia. Danny has also found a used CD burner, and another friend has offered his old computer, which is more powerful than the one I'm currently using. So it looks like I'll have a solution before long.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I don't have any money to spend on a computer, however a friend has offered a used one that is better than mine, so it looks like I'll have a solution before long.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Probably not until November, but it looks like I'll be able to get my hands on a used computer or at least a used CD burner.

[rfmcdpei.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's happened to me, too. I've been able to transfer ~600 megabytes before those accounts got locked down, mind. Is your connection slower?

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I'm using a cable modem, moderate speed.

[vavaverity.livejournal.com]

Hey, I just thought of you as I was packing. I found this (http://www.provantage.com/sandisk-sdcz2-512-a10~7SNDK22M.htm) in my desk, unopened, and decided to google it. It looks like it might be somewhat helpful to you at any rate, and it's only $25!

I'm going to go back up a bunch of my stuff now :D

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately half a Gig doesn't amount to much with high-resolution photography, especially for an obsessive photographer like me. The memory card in my camera is 1G, which will hold 250 to 300 photos, which I easily do in a good weekend. I filled it over Thanksgiving, and have barely 1G of free space on my HD. A functional CD burner is really the only practical solution, because a disk will hold nearly 700M or 200 photos, and costs about a dollar.

The good news is Danny found a used CD burner in his attic, so hopefully that will solve the problem for now.

Thanks for thinking of me. :-)

[vavaverity.livejournal.com]

Oooh, that is a much cheaper plan for the long haul.

Just keep the lovely pictures coming, one way or the other!! :D