Hard drives

I know this is going to end up being slightly off topic in here, but part of
the question(s) do relate to computers and I am hoping someone mature can
either
offer help and advice or offer a sensible re-direction for the question.
(apologies for cross-posting too)

I am hoping that there is an engineer out there with knowledge of DVD
recorders (the boxes which are replacing VCR's) and computer hardware.

I am looking for a more reliable way to secure my video collection as video
deteriorates and I have heard DVD is not long-term reliable. This is where
the hard drives come in to the equation.

I am told that the hard drives used are the same as those in desktop PC's
but that has yet to be confirmed by a reliable source. However, assuming
that it is the case I am wondering if they can be connected to a PC too.
I have heard a rumor about windows media edition being able to store direct
video, but I have no idea as to the quality.

The main question I am driving at is whether the hard drives used in these
machines are the same as for PC's.

Here's why I am asking...

I have had several video recorders which have only lasted a year, and want
to get something that is going to last long-term. ...well a bit longer
anyway.

I am quite conversant in computers - being able to build from scratch and
programming, and use a piece of software called Norton Ghost to take an
image of a PC hard drive immediately on purchase so that in the event of a
hard drive failure - I can quickly replace the drive with a new one and
reinstate the original operating system on it.

I know PC drives use different filesystems such as Ext2, Fat16, Fat32, NTFS

My questions a
a) are the hard drives the same as in computers? (ie the desktop pc's - not
laptops)
b) can they be imaged on purchase by a PC so that I can replace and
reinitialise them myself?
c) can they be removed and connected to a PC so that favourite programs can
be moved to another drive?
d) Is it feasible that one-day the hard drives in the DVD recorders will be
in a shuttle so that recording to a DVD is not actually required for
long-term storage? (given that I am told DVD media has a lifespan of 20
years)
e) What is my best option for long-term reliability & storage of video.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

VCR tapes break down.

Hard drive platters and motors wear out.

DVD media "seems" to be the most durable of the media for now. You should
make two copies of each of your "video collection". One will become your
DVD master disk. From this master, you can then generate multiple copies
which you would use day to day.

There still is not a "forever" media.


"anon" wrote in message
...
I know this is going to end up being slightly off topic in here, but part
of
the question(s) do relate to computers and I am hoping someone mature can
either
offer help and advice or offer a sensible re-direction for the question.
(apologies for cross-posting too)

I am hoping that there is an engineer out there with knowledge of DVD
recorders (the boxes which are replacing VCR's) and computer hardware.

I am looking for a more reliable way to secure my video collection as
video
deteriorates and I have heard DVD is not long-term reliable. This is where
the hard drives come in to the equation.

I am told that the hard drives used are the same as those in desktop PC's
but that has yet to be confirmed by a reliable source. However, assuming
that it is the case I am wondering if they can be connected to a PC too.
I have heard a rumor about windows media edition being able to store
direct
video, but I have no idea as to the quality.

The main question I am driving at is whether the hard drives used in these
machines are the same as for PC's.

Here's why I am asking...

I have had several video recorders which have only lasted a year, and want
to get something that is going to last long-term. ...well a bit longer
anyway.

I am quite conversant in computers - being able to build from scratch and
programming, and use a piece of software called Norton Ghost to take an
image of a PC hard drive immediately on purchase so that in the event of a
hard drive failure - I can quickly replace the drive with a new one and
reinstate the original operating system on it.

I know PC drives use different filesystems such as Ext2, Fat16, Fat32,
NTFS

My questions a
a) are the hard drives the same as in computers? (ie the desktop pc's -
not
laptops)
b) can they be imaged on purchase by a PC so that I can replace and
reinitialise them myself?
c) can they be removed and connected to a PC so that favourite programs
can
be moved to another drive?
d) Is it feasible that one-day the hard drives in the DVD recorders will
be
in a shuttle so that recording to a DVD is not actually required for
long-term storage? (given that I am told DVD media has a lifespan of 20
years)
e) What is my best option for long-term reliability & storage of video.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

From his spyware and virus infected Windoze box, anon had this to say:

I know this is going to end up being slightly off topic in here, but part
of the question(s) do relate to computers and I am hoping someone mature
can either
offer help and advice or offer a sensible re-direction for the question.
(apologies for cross-posting too)

I am hoping that there is an engineer out there with knowledge of DVD
recorders (the boxes which are replacing VCR's) and computer hardware.

I am looking for a more reliable way to secure my video collection as
video deteriorates and I have heard DVD is not long-term reliable. This is
where the hard drives come in to the equation.

I am told that the hard drives used are the same as those in desktop PC's
but that has yet to be confirmed by a reliable source. However, assuming
that it is the case I am wondering if they can be connected to a PC too.
I have heard a rumor about windows media edition being able to store
direct video, but I have no idea as to the quality.

The main question I am driving at is whether the hard drives used in these
machines are the same as for PC's.

Here's why I am asking...

I have had several video recorders which have only lasted a year, and want
to get something that is going to last long-term. ...well a bit longer
anyway.

I am quite conversant in computers - being able to build from scratch and
programming, and use a piece of software called Norton Ghost to take an
image of a PC hard drive immediately on purchase so that in the event of a
hard drive failure - I can quickly replace the drive with a new one and
reinstate the original operating system on it.

I know PC drives use different filesystems such as Ext2, Fat16, Fat32,
NTFS

My questions a
a) are the hard drives the same as in computers? (ie the desktop pc's -
not laptops)

Yes

b) can they be imaged on purchase by a PC so that I can replace and
reinitialise them myself?

Maybe. I'm sure there are hacks to do this type of thing. But different
manufacturers of course use different systems. Tivo is one system that
comes to mind that has been well hacked as it is such a popular device.

c) can they be removed and connected to a PC so that favourite programs
can be moved to another drive?

See above. Many of these, such as the Tivo, run on embedded Linux. You'd
need to be running an OS capable of reading Linux formatted disks.

d) Is it feasible that one-day the hard drives in the DVD recorders will
be in a shuttle so that recording to a DVD is not actually required for
long-term storage? (given that I am told DVD media has a lifespan of 20
years)

Possibly, but this is just speculation. The problem with all this technology
is that it is changing so quickly. 20 years is a l-o-n-g time and no matter
how you stored your video, you'd probably find you'll be needing to
transfer to new media so that you can continue to access the data. Can you
access data on an 8" floppy disk that we used to use? Or even a 5.25"
floppy disk? The data may still be on those disks, but try and find the
disk drives that'll read them.

More than likely these video recording devices will be hooked up into home
networks, allowing you to move the data to wherever you want onto whatever
media you have.


e) What is my best option for long-term reliability & storage of video.


At this point in time, DVD or digital tape. Both of which will have a
life-time that will exceed your ability to read it down the road.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.


--
Get Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP he
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...powertoys.mspx
"A must-have for your Toy Operating System"

"anon" wrote in message
...
I know this is going to end up being slightly off topic in here, but part
of
the question(s) do relate to computers and I am hoping someone mature can
either
offer help and advice or offer a sensible re-direction for the question.
(apologies for cross-posting too)

I am hoping that there is an engineer out there with knowledge of DVD
recorders (the boxes which are replacing VCR's) and computer hardware.

I am looking for a more reliable way to secure my video collection as
video
deteriorates and I have heard DVD is not long-term reliable. This is where
the hard drives come in to the equation.

I am told that the hard drives used are the same as those in desktop PC's
but that has yet to be confirmed by a reliable source. However, assuming
that it is the case I am wondering if they can be connected to a PC too.
I have heard a rumor about windows media edition being able to store
direct
video, but I have no idea as to the quality.

The main question I am driving at is whether the hard drives used in these
machines are the same as for PC's.

Here's why I am asking...

I have had several video recorders which have only lasted a year, and want
to get something that is going to last long-term. ...well a bit longer
anyway.

I am quite conversant in computers - being able to build from scratch and
programming, and use a piece of software called Norton Ghost to take an
image of a PC hard drive immediately on purchase so that in the event of a
hard drive failure - I can quickly replace the drive with a new one and
reinstate the original operating system on it.

I know PC drives use different filesystems such as Ext2, Fat16, Fat32,
NTFS

My questions a
a) are the hard drives the same as in computers? (ie the desktop pc's -
not
laptops)

Probably

b) can they be imaged on purchase by a PC so that I can replace and
reinitialise them myself?

Maybe. They may locked similar to X-Box drives but this can be worked
around.

c) can they be removed and connected to a PC so that favourite programs
can
be moved to another drive?

See answer to last question.

d) Is it feasible that one-day the hard drives in the DVD recorders will
be
in a shuttle so that recording to a DVD is not actually required for
long-term storage? (given that I am told DVD media has a lifespan of 20
years)

Yes, it's feasable. Is it likely? Hard to guess.

e) What is my best option for long-term reliability & storage of video.

Right now archival quality DVDs. For long term archives you need a plan to
assess the current state of the media and possibly change to a new media
every five years or so. Redundant copies are also a good idea. I have a
large digital image collection. It is always stored on at least two separate
hard drives in two separate computers with two DVD backups. The DVD backups
are replaced at least once a year. Incremental backups of new images are
stored on DVD or CD.

Kerry


Thanks in advance for any feedback.