Q: How do I backup my data to a CD-R or CD-RW?
Back to Formation Office™ FAQ Page
Note: You must have Formation Office™ 1.0C or higher installed in order to restore backups directly from the CD.
The following answer applies to All Windows Users. (Windows XP Users without special software can use an alternative method).
A: The CD disk you use must be formatted for Packet Writing. You must have special software installed to format the disk initially and then write the files to the disk. For example: The program DirectCD™ from Roxio (formerly Adaptec) allows you to write files directly to your CD. To test if your CD disk and software is configured to do this, use Windows Explorer to drag and drop a small file to the CD. If everything is configured correctly the file will be written to the disk immediately. Windows XP users, if a small balloon window appears stating that “You have files waiting to be written to the CD”, see the following answer.
To backup your PDS program data to the CD, from the menu bar select Backup/Restore | Backup Current Data.
If you only intend to keep a single backup on the disk, choose the Backup to a selected drive option. Select the CD drive from the pull down list of drives.
If you want to keep multiple backups on the disk, choose the Backup to a specific folder option. Use the Browse button to select your CD drive.
Click the Start Backup button. Follow the normal backup prompts on the screen.
The following answer ONLY applies to Windows XP Users.
A: When writing data to a CD in Windows XP, it is a two-step process. First, the files are written to a special area of the hard drive called the “staging area”. Then, you must use the CD Writing Wizard in Windows XP to write the files to the CD.
To backup your PDS program data to the CD, from the menu bar select Backup/Restore | Backup Current Data.
Choose the Backup to a specific folder option. Enter the following for the Backup Folder, where user_name is the name of the user who is currently logged on: C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\CD Burning
Note: You may only use the Browse button to navigate to this location if Windows Explorer is configured to Show Hidden Files and Folders.
Click OK.
Click the Start Backup button. Follow the normal backup prompts on the screen. When finished, the following message appears in the notification area of the taskbar: “You have files waiting to be written to the CD. To see the files now, click this balloon.”
Click the balloon in the notification area of the taskbar.
Under CD Writing Tasks, click Write these files to CD.
Follow the steps of the CD Writing Wizard to write the files to the CD.
For additional information about the CD burning feature in Windows XP, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q279157 Description of CD-ROM Recording in Windows XP
Back to Formation Office™ FAQ Page
