Photo storage: I have way too may photos on my Mac (19,000) and need to organize. Have some of my old, old photos on CDs, but know they deteriorate. I want to get organized with this...

Mdsmith Loc: North Carolina

I have way too may photos on my Mac (19,000) and need to organize. Have some of my old, old photos on CDs, but know they deteriorate. I want to get organized with this, so what is the best way to store photos for posterity??????? I'm thinking external hard drive.

Experts advise needed.

edhjr Loc: Needham, MA

Small 2TB WD Passport ultra will cost you about $140 each at Staples. They are small and reliable. Download all your pictures onto each of them for redundancy/safety.

I use another pair when I travel to download all pictures every night and then I carry one and my wife carries the other in our carry ons. They are pocket size.

MarkD Loc: NYC

You can back them up on external hard drives. Hard drives can crash so back them up on at least two hard drives and keep one at a relative or friend's house.

I prefer DVD's. I back up on three DVD's. One I keep at home in a fireproof/waterproof box, and I keep one at each of my two daughters houses.

Zone-System-Grandpa Loc: Springfield, Ohio

Mdsmith wrote:

I have way too may photos on my Mac (19,000) and need to organize. Have some of my old, old photos on CDs, but know they deteriorate. I want to get organized with this, so what is the best way to store photos for posterity??????? I'm thinking external hard drive.

Experts advise needed.

Yes, definitely, external hard drives are the way to go !

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

Computer guy here. I have all of my photos organized by year and event. Each year, I burn Blu-ray disks (they hold 25GB each)of the previous year's shoots. I also have an external drive with all photos, they are also on my desktop and the current year is also always on my laptop. After a scare with a ransomware virus a couple of years ago, I also added Carbonite to the mix because it's unlimited and keeps a rolling month of everything for $60 a year. Cheap insurance. If one of the newer bad guys encrypts my computer and external hard drive, I still have Carbonite in my back pocket. Scott Kelby advises not to format your SD card until the pictures are all safely in at least 2 other locations, also good advice. Hope this helps.

Mdsmith Loc: North Carolina

Mr PC wrote:

Computer guy here. I have all of my photos organi... (show quote)

keep hearing that discs deteriorate? So if I get another externAl drive, and put them on discs, I should be covered?

Mdsmith Loc: North Carolina

I scanned 3000 photos into my computer starting in 1950s, so sure don't want to lose that. Have those on CDs

SX2002 Loc: Adelaide, South Australia

CDs will last us all out and more...a hard disc can go kaput more easily than a CD will deteriorate...my old PC HD gave up the ghost many years ago and everything on it was lost...
I do back-up on an external HD but all my pics are stored on CDs (including DVDs) in secure boxes that can be easily removed in a hurry if the occasion ever arises...

Bill Houghton Loc: New York area

I used external Hard drives, but have since moved to the WD MY Cloud, it's an external hard drive that connects to your modem, and will allow you to access your files from any computer on you your system. It will also allow you to use it anywhere you have WiFi. With the proper pass codes. I use it with my tablet anywhere. I can even take Pictures with my Nikon, down Load to the tablet then send to my cloud, from any where. Cost me about $170.00 for the the 3T unit. I latter added and 3 Terra-bite to back that up.

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

I use multiple hard drives for storage -
I had heard years ago that CD's would degrade resulting in data loss - this article on how long cd's last discusses that (Aug 2014)...

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/08/18/340716269/how-long-do-cds-last-it-depends-but-definitely-not-forever

SX2002 Loc: Adelaide, South Australia

From that article...
Seems a lot (all) depends on how you store your storage...my discs are in correct, safe, separate sleeves stored in a closed dark box...
I have discs (music) that are over 35 years old and the sound quality is still brilliant...
Just how long do we want or need to store our pics, etc, when we're gone and our immediate families are also gone, who is going to care...?

(Download)

Exposure seems to be the problem...

(Download)

MarkD Loc: NYC

DVD's hold a lot more than CD's so you can re-record your photos on DVD's to save space. If you're worried about your DVD's or CD's going bad, just redo them every 5 or 10 years.

nicksr1125 Loc: Mesa, AZ

Check out external hard drive prices at newegg.com. They're the B&H of computer stuff.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Mdsmith wrote:

I have way too may photos on my Mac (19,000) and need to organize. Have some of my old, old photos on CDs, but know they deteriorate. I want to get organized with this, so what is the best way to store photos for posterity??????? I'm thinking external hard drive.

Experts advise needed.

I use external drives. I've worked my way up from 250GB to 4TB. I think 4TB should be your minimum. I have two externals and one NAS with two 4TB drives. I use SyncBack to backup every couple of days. I backup not just photos, but various folders I'd rather not lose. The first backup will take several hours, but after that, it takes just minutes.

One external backup drive is worthless. If you have to access your backup, and it fails, you're left with nothing. You have to backup your backup.

When you shop for an external drive, low price should not be your goal. That would be like buying the cheapest parachute or fire extinguisher you can find. I like the Western Digital Black series.

Les White

external hard drive and Carbonite