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How do I backup to and restore from a CD or DVD?

John Logue Updated by John Logue

Back up to CD or DVD

Backing up directly to CD or DVD is not supported. The data must be backed up to a folder on the hard drive, then copied onto the CD.

If you have several programs to back up, you might create a folder named TOCD. Back up from each program to an appropriately named folder within the TOCD folder. Then copy the TOCD folder to a CD.

In the CFS program's Backup dialog, navigate to the C:\TOCD folder and either use the appropriate pre-existing folder or create a new folder with a name which identifies the backup. Click NEXT, then SELECT ALL, then FINISH to complete the backup.

Follow the same procedure with other programs to add their backup folders to the TOCD folder. When all program backups have been completed, you are ready to copy the TOCD folder to a CD.

The method for writing the data to CD will vary depending upon the CD writing software and the operating system. You may be able to write to the CD using only the operating system. Open Windows (or "File") Explorer. Navigate to the TOCD folder. Right click on the folder to open the context menu, and look for the "Send to" option. If there is a CD option under Send To, use it to place the selected folder into the queue for things to be written to the CD. Then put a blank CD into the CD drive. A dialog will appear asking whether you now want to write the selected items to a CD. Follow the prompts.

If a "Send to CD" option is not available try to initiate the CD writing software by putting a blank CD in the drive. If this brings up the CD writing software, use it to indicate what is to be written to the CD. Usually, there will be two window panes. The first displays the drives on your computer; the second will contain the contents of the new CD. Open the appropriate drive in the first window pane, and navigate to the folder to be written to CD. Drag the folder from that pane to the CD contents pane. This is a copy, not a move; the data will remain in its original location on the hard drive.

When the data you wish to copy has been dragged to the second pane, start the CD write operation. There may be an icon which says "burn" or "create," or an option in the File menu to create the CD.

Restore from CD or DVD

Restoring directly from a CD may or may not work, but is generally not advised. The reason is that all files and folders on the CD have the "Read-Only" attribute set, and this attribute cannot be changed while the files are on the CD.

On the hard drive (probably the C: drive) create a folder such as C:\FROMCD. Then, using Windows ("File") Explorer, copy the entire contents of the CD to this folder.

The next step is to remove the Read-Only attribute from the files in the C:\FROMCD folder.

  1. Right click on folder FROMCD.
  2. Left click on Properties.
  3. At the bottom, clear the "Read-only" checkbox.
  4. Click Apply.
  5. Select "Apply changes to this folder, subfolders and files."
  6. Click OK.
  7. Close Properties.

You can now open each program and restore the data from the appropriate folder in the C:\FROMCD folder.

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How do I back up/restore my data?

How do I configure automatic backup?

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