backing up onto DVDs

[tatonkaowashee]

I have windows Vista and I want to back up my files on to DVD discs. I want to find a way that I could burn my whole "pictures" file. I have 4 GB discs and have about 100GB of pics I want to burn. Is there a way that Vista will burn 4 GB then tell me to insert a new disc and it will pick up burning where it left off? Or do I have to manually choose 4 GBs to burn then 4 more etc. Does this make sense?

Is there some free or very cheap software that I have to get in order to do this?

Thanks in advance.

[hollis_f]

In the bad old days, when most of us had to use removable media, most backup programs would split the backup program over multiple disks.

However, most people would rather not sit in front of their PC for a few hours putting a DVD in, waiting for the data to write, taking the DVD out, labelling it, putting it in a safe place, putting a DVD in, etc. etc. That's why most people use an external hard drive.

A USB drive is cheap (much less that the value I place on three hours of my time). It's fast. You can schedule backups for when you're not using your PC - you don't have to sit there babying it through the process. A 500GB drive will take up a lot less space than the equivalent 125 DVDs. Trying to find a particular image amongst 25 DVDs will take a lot longer than finding it on a hard disk.

However, if you really want to spend ages sitting in front of your PC, it looks as if the backup program included with Vista will split over removable media.