Ouch! Backup your eBook!

[SoCal Steve]

Like many of you I bought a copy of Peter iNova's D70 eBook and I have to say that it's pretty good.

I went to look something up on my disk today and found that it had developed a crack at the center hole and can no longer be read by my drive.

Suggestion: If you haven't already done so, make a backup copy of your iNova eBook just to be on the safe side.

I did make a copy for a friend for general information (he only has a Coolpix 880 and I'm hoping to get him interested in a D50 or D70) and he'll send a copy back to me now. For that I used Roxio's Toast Titanium 6.0.7 on my Mac, dragging it to the desktop and then into the Toast window. Toast couldn't seem to make a copy directly, but I didn't try that hard, it could have been an operator error. Of course I'll also complain to the publisher/manufacturer.

(Edited for clarity about the copy that I did make.)

[fozzie]

Steve - ouch. Regarding a backup copy, wherever there is a will, there is a way.

When I buy CD's of music, I always burn a copy straight away, and then only use the burnt copy.

[daniel_r]

Steve - a case like yours crossed my mind when I purchased both the iNova and Thom Hogan eBooks.

One of the easiest and most reliable ways of backing up a DVD / CD on Mac OS X is to use the Disk Utility application to make a disk image.

Under 10.3:
- open Disk Utility
- insert the CD / DVD you need to backup
- select the volume you want to backup from the left column
- image menu -> new -> image from selectedvolumename
- give it a name, where to save
- set "image format" option to DVD/CD Master, click save

If you have a few eBooks on CD - as the eBook doesn't generally use all of the CD, you can then use toast to burn a number of the backup disk images on to a single CD-R.

[SoCal Steve]

Thanks, Daniel. Good stuff. And I've learned my lesson... the hard way. Only the second CD I've ever had break on me in (what's it been now??) 20+ years since they've been available.

[SoCal Steve]

I wanted to update all of you on my cracked iNova eBook disk problem.

I called the publisher, Graphics Management Press in L.A., on Tuesday and got their answering machine (not encouraging). However a man did call me back within 45 minutes. Pretty darn good! He told me that I was at fault for improperly taking the disk out of the package, but that he would nevertheless send me a new disk. He then hung up without so much as a courteous goodbye. Oh well, I did receive the replacement disk today (just the disk itself). Today is Thursday here in the States. (We're kind of slooooooooow but we're cool).

So all things considered I'd say that it was a pretty good outcome and that they stand behind their product with a minimum of fuss. And as most would agree, the book is well worth the money for its content. Obviously it's easier for me being here in the U.S. where their company is, but still they did pass the test.

Cheers, All.

[MattC]

Steve,

That is a good outcome, bad manners not withstanding. The last time I checked, a replacement disk from MS was about $30 and a wait of anything up to six weeks (although that could have changed), so your results are encouraging. BTW, I usually copy disks like these to hard drive where they are convenient - I do not suffer a lack of storage.

On a similar subject, I hired four DVDs from the local video store a couple of weeks back. All of them had multiple fractures of up to 3mm around the centre hole. I took them all back without watching them and pointed it out to them. They looked at me like I was daft, when I explained to them that I was not going to risk DVDs like these coming apart in my equipment. The only thing that I neglected to tell them was that I usually watch DVDs on a $5500 laptop. They might of got a bit funny about that. They could not believe that disk explosions are a real risk - I have had it happen to me.

Cheers

Matt

[Onyx]

Steve, glad to hear you've got a replacement and all is well.

MattC, as I understand disc 'explosions' occur usually when they're spun at high speeds. If you're watching a DVD movie, it would be spinning a a slow rate of speed so the risk of hiroshima should be less. Regardless, cracked centre holes and expensive laptops don't go well together.

[MattC]

Onyx,

As you say, risk is low, but I did have a disk explode in a 24x drive a couple of years back. It went off as the drive spooled up. Debris managed to exit the front the drive and totally trashed the guts of the drive. That drive was not even running at full speed. Since then I have been wary of discs with any damage. I certainly do not put them into an expensive laptop. I also keep desktop towers on the floor so that I do not have a drive at face level, and I encourage my sisters to do the same with the computers that my young nieces use. Call me paranoid.

Cheers

Matt