I need Help!!!!

I run a multi-op, we have a computer in our office that we use for storage. I am not the most computer savvy person you have ever met, but I know my way around iTunes. I know it isn't most DJs favorite program but it is what I know. currently I have aprox. 65,000 songs saved on iTunes. I have lost this collection at least 4 times from my computer crashing. I am looking for a solution that will allow me to store up to 1,000,000 songs. I have been told that I should go with a Mac. What should I do. Any suggestions would be helpful.

thanks!

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3514723&CatId=2422


The best purchase I made last year.

Although I don't DJ anymore, I still need space because I get anywhere between 10-12 demos a week in from bands. I can put them all on there, and then just put the ones I want to listen to onto my laptop.

I also put everything I get from Netflix on it as well (for personal watching only when I am traveling!!!).

I have around 35,000 songs on one side of it and about 300 movies on the other side, and neither side is over 250gb full yet.

The Previous suggestion is on cue, however, i will offer you another option
Many times, a pc is considered "lost" because of crashing and corrupt "boot" files. I would estimate that approximately 80 percent of these hard drives are still not only usable, but all the data would still be available, so here is my suggestion to you

Obvious one is to back up your system with another option such as the previous mentioned external hard drive, next, go to your local staples, best buy, circuit city or Radio Shack, and purchase an "external hard drive enclosure". These can also be had online from tigerdirect, or cdw, or anyother computer source. Also purchase another hard drive for installation to your pc. The fact of your not being computer savy, I wont go into all the details but your goal is to use the new hard drive to reinstall your operating system, and install your current hard drive into the external enclosure the next time you have your "crash". Following this procedure instead of reformatting the existing drive your files are on but that wont boot, preserves your files and allows you to access them from the external drive.

Drives like the following are my suggestion

Amazon.com: MAD DOG MULTIMEDIA MD-EN350USB2 3.5" Hard Drive Enclosure - USB 2.0: Electronics

hope this helps

Howdy,

Another great product to use to backup your pc is Carbonite. It's an online server, highly encrypted transfer of your data so in case your computer crashes, you can get it all back. It runs silently in the background and it's awesome. It's like $50 per year.

If you want the information, pm me.

Dan,

Always back up your library to and external drive. It can either be a portable USB drive or an additional slave drive installed internally. When your computer has failure, it's ony the "C" drive that it affected. Therefore, save your library to another drive. Whether you are using a Mac or PC makes no difference since itunes works with both. Mac is not without issues.

A computer is like any other piece of equipment you own and operate. The user has a certain obligation to know how it works and keep it running properly. Good luck.

Dan, if it's the computer I think it is, didn't we install 2 extra drives in it before I left?? Definitely get the 1 TB and be done with it.

I'm using a very simple and small program for auto backup.
Look for 'second copy'

Dan, if it's the computer I think it is, didn't we install 2 extra drives in it before I left?? Definitely get the 1 TB and be done with it.

Nope that one went down a while ago. we installed 2 500GB hard drives in it and one in the "blue room" with a copy on each. Now both computers are having problems. Even Chris is confused.:sqconfused: We are thinking about leasing a Mac Pro with prob. 2- 1TB external hard drives. This way if we continue to have problems it is under lease and mac will fix it. :sqcool:

y'all need to stop looking at so much porn!! LOL

I like the lease idea or I'd just buy new instead of trying to build one. I know it's cheaper to build, but it's not always worth it. You can only band aid it so much.

you're a funny guy Kev.

You've gotten tome great suggestions for backing up, so I'll leave that alone. You haven't given any reasons or symptoms for your crashes. It probably isn't memory if you are storing 65k on two 500 gig drives. Two very inexpensive things you might try:

First, for the crashes, I would suggest a Registry cleaning program. I like Regsupreme, but there are many good ones out there. Registry errors, old registry keys, and bits of deleted files and programs can be included in your PCs processing, even if unused. Kind of like creating an obstacle course for the processor, causing lock-ups, slow-downs, and crashes. The more files in and out of your PC, the better chance of this happening.


Besides backing up, you may wish to get a recovery program, like Search & Recover. One of the down sides od Windows can actually be good for you. Windows never really erases anything. While this is the major cause of registry problems, it also means that whatever you "lose" can generally be recovered, simply by running this software.

I truly believe that is is not a MAC/PC problem, but one of system cleaning and maintainance...