PC-101: How to use Windows DVD maker

Description: Introduction to Windows DVD maker.

1. To Open Windows DVD Maker go to:
   • Start
   • All programs
     
     
   
   
   • Windows DVD Maker
     
     
   
   
   • Windows DVD maker
   • Click on the "Add Items" button in the top left of the screen
     
     
   
   
   • This will give you a box to add videos and photos to the DVD
     
     
   
   
   • Click on the folder to the left and then the file name you want to add to your DVD project
   • You can add photos as well and they will form a slide show
   • Both your videos and photos will appear in the center with a length of time they will play
     
     
   
   
   • Now you will want to make sure that you have not exceeded the number of minutes for the DVD on the lower left and that you have given your project the name you want
     
     
   
   
   • Click the next button
   • Here you can choose a theme for your opening menu. Click the preview button to see the results of your choice.
   • Once you have finished the opening menu selection you are ready to burn the DVD
   • Click on the Burn button
     
     
   
   
   • The next screen will show the DVD being created.
     
     
   
   
   • When finished with this you can save your project and give it a name. Your DVD movie is now ready to be watched.
   
   

For more assistance contact Technical Support here.

How to share a DVD\CD drive on a Windows machine

This article will show you how to share your Windows optical drive so your MacBook Air or Mac Mini can use it.

Your Mac Mini or MacBook Air do not have an optical drive. You can overcome this problem by sharing your Windows optical drive.

 You will first need to download and install the Apple DVD or CD Sharing Update 1.0 for Windows. The link for this is http://support.apple.com/kb/DL112.

         

         

When finished with the installer you will want to perform the next steps to enable the DVD or CD sharing.

1. Click on the windows Start Button and Click on Control Panel
   
   


2. This will open the Windows 7 Control Panel
   
   


3. Click on the "Hardware and sound" icon
   
   


4. Opening the "Hardware and sound" category will then give you the option for DVD or CD sharing
   
   


5. Clicking on the DVD or CD Sharing link will then bring up the option to share the optical drive
   
   


6. After you have installed the Apple Update and enabled the optical drive sharing, you will be able to open the Finder on the Mac without the optical drive and see the Remote Disk option.
   
   


7. You will then be able to access and install your software from your Windows optical drive.

For more assistance contact Technical Support here.

Setting your Mac up to share the CD\DVD Drive

This article will show how to set up Remote Disk or Drive sharing. This will allow you to install or recover the MacBook Air and the Mac Mini, some of these units do not have their own optical drive.

This will allow the drive on one system to be accessed via your home network. This option can be set up on a Windows or a Mac system.

The steps to setup and share a Mac optical drive are below. This option is for Mac OS X 10.4.10 and later.

1. Open System Preferences
   
   


2. Open Sharing
3. Check the option for DVD or CD Sharing
   
   


4. Click the lock to save the changes
   
   

After you have enabled DVD or CD Sharing, insert the disk you need to share or use. Go to the MacBook Air or Mac Mini, open the Finder. There will be a listing on the devices side for the Remote Disc. Click on this and you should have the computer in the larger window.

         

Double click on the Computer with the shared Optical drive, and then click on connect. The Mac with the shared optical drive may also pop up stating, "Ask me before allowing others to use my DVD drive." Click on "Ask to use". The Mac sharing the optical drive will acknowledge the request with an Accept box.

For more assistance contact Technical Support here.

Backups and Archiving

1) Plan your backup

The first step is to determine what needs to be backed up. How and what to backup are personal decisions based on how you use your computer. The following are some examples.

Basic system: Data only

Do you use your computer for personal use with its original factory configuration and perhaps an additional program or two? Consider a Data Only Backup Solution. Frequency of Backups would depend on how often information is added or changed. The more often you add or change files, the more often you should back them up. For programs like Outlook and Quicken, where it’s not obvious where their data are kept; their help files usually describe how to back them up.

Complex system: Hard drive imaging plus separate data backup

Do you have a large number of programs installed and/or complex configurations that would take many hours to recreate? Would you or your business suffer if you had to take the time to set everything up from scratch? Consider a disk imaging solution. A disk image, created with a program such as Symantec’s Ghost, is an exact copy of an entire hard drive. Create a new disk image every time a major system change is made. Then Backup your data as needed.

Business system: Automated, complete system backup

Does your computer contain real-time business data that changes frequently? Consider an automated software backup solution and redundant hardware systems. Implement a backup media rotation system and rotate a set off site. Super critical systems warrant complete backup computers and even entire off-premise facilities, called hot-sites.

Things to consider

Try to implement the simplest plan possible which will still accomplish your goals. The less effort it takes to back up your computer, the more likely you will have a current backup when you need it. For example: configure your applications so they keep their data in a central location. By doing this, a backup can be accomplished by simply copying that one folder to a blank CD.

The programs and operating system on your computer are interconnected. A portion (Just the OS or a single Application) will not function apart from the whole. Data files, on the other hand, are portable. Backup (and restore) either the entire computer or just the data; anything else won’t work. In addition, operating systems are unique to the machine on which they were installed. If you restore an OS onto a different computer, it most likely will not work. There are ways around this problem, but they are difficult to implement. If you are dealing with irreparable or stolen hardware, your most straightforward option is to install your programs onto a replacement computer and restore only data.

Even if you choose a complete disk backup solution, not all the files need to be backed up. Some commercial music or video files are encoded so they will only work on the unit where they were originally downloaded. Whether they can be used on a different or recovered system depends on the Digital Rights Management (DRM) scheme used. Also, things like the Internet Cache and temporary files folders have no value. Backing them up will only waste your time and space on your backup media.

2) Determine if backup software is necessary

For most basic backups, simply copying the files to external media is adequate. For more complex situations, backup software can provide added flexibility. Backup software allows you to specify what parts of your computer you wish to include and exclude from the backup. They allow you to make Incremental or Differential backups, where only the files that have changed since the last backup session are copied, speeding the backup process.

Most backup programs also have a schedule or timer feature, which can perform the backup after office hours. If the selected media cannot contain the entire archive, some programs allow backups to span multiple pieces of media. The resulting media can contain the following: Plain files (copy), disk images (Ghost), and archive files (backup programs). Everything except for the plain file copy requires using the creating program to restore files.

In order to restore a backup, you need a functioning computer. Some backup programs come with bootable disks, which will allow you to use a computer with a corrupted (non-bootable) operating system. Many programs even support performing a data restore over network connections.

3) Select where you are going to put your backup

Once you know what needs to be backed up and how you can select appropriate media, some things to consider include the following:

• Will the media hold the entire backup, or will you have to "babysit" and swap in blank media as needed?


• How long it will take to run the backup?


• Do you want multiple sets of backup media to rotate off-site? (This can be difficult with an external hard disk drive, but easier with tapes or recordable DVDs if the amount of data is not too great.)

Some people opt not to use removable media at all and instead synchronize their data across multiple computers, such as between their home and office. Others choose on-line data warehouses on the Internet where they can store their backups. And still others put their trust in redundant (mirrored) drive systems. In the end, it’s up to you to decide what’s right for you.

Media	Avg. Capacity	Speed	Pros and Cons
USB "Thumb" Drives	2GB and up	Fast	Small, easily lost or damaged
Recordable Optical Disks	650MB (CD) 4.7 - 9.4GB (DVD)	Medium	Inexpensive, easily damaged
Removable Disks	1.4MB (floppy) 500MB+ (MO)	Varies	Media can be expensive, availability issues
External Hard Drives	80 - 1TB	Very Fast	Huge capacity, fast, may not be very portable
Local Area Network (Shared server storage)	Varies	Medium	Requires network, ties up network bandwidth
Internet-Based Backup	Varies	Slow	Off-Site, accessible anywhere, requires broadband; ongoing cost
Network Attached Storage (NAS) Stand-Alone Storage (SAS)	Varies	Medium	Requires network, can tie up network bandwidth
RAID (mirroring)	Varies	Very Fast	Real time, requires no user intervention, no off-site storage or history

4) Make a recovery plan and recovery kit

The best time to determine how to restore a system is not in the middle of a crisis. Consider making a written plan of the steps necessary to restore your computer before it is needed. Keep this plan updated and, if possible, test it to make sure it works. In addition, test your backups, making sure the media is readable and that it contains everything it is supposed to.



If your hard drive fails catastrophically, having a current backup can be
critical.

Be aware that viruses and other malicious programs are just files on the
hard drive and can inadvertently be included. A comprehensive anti-virus package should be used on every computer.

Create a recovery kit and keep it in a secure, but accessible, location.
If your backup contains critical Business information, two copies are suggested, keep on on-site for immediate access, and a second copy off-site as a precaution against catastrophic events.

Your recovery kit should contain the following:

• An up-to-date copy of your recovery plan


• Operating System or restore CDs and product key


• All application installation CDs and their product keys


• All programs needed to recover the backup data


• Anything else needed to make this or another computer functional

Windows XP includes a backup utility that can save your files to removable media, a different hard drive, or a network drive.

Note: It does not directly support burning to recordable CD or DVD media.

Windows 7 Backup application adds an option to create an emergency boot disk and can make a complete system backup or incremental backup either at a scheduled time or on demand.



Backup 2.0.2 is available to .Mac members by selecting the Backup icon on the .Mac website and via Automatic Software Update to .Mac members who have already installed a previous version of Backup.

If you use OS X 10.5 or 10.6 and are a subscriber to MobileMe, download the current version of MobileMe Backup to keep items in your Home folder in sync across multiple computers and devices. This includes email, contacts, calendar, bookmarks and other content. To backup items outside of the Home folder, Apple suggests using Time Machine, which can back up your entire hard drive to a Time Capsule, hard drive, or network volume.

Desktop Computer Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is a Recovery Disc or an Operating System Disc?
A: The Recovery Disc or Operating System Disc is used when the Operating System has become unusable, due to file corruption, virus or hardware malfunction.

Q: Are any of the pre-installed applications removable?
A: Yes, any software is removable by accessing the Add or Remove Programs control in Windows XP, or Programs and Features control in Windows 7.

Q: Is Up-To-Date Security Software Necessary?
A: Security software is recommended to prevent data loss, as well as theft of personal information. If this security is not kept up to date, newly created Viruses, Worms, Trojans and other threats will have easy access to the system. We recommend ESET NOD32 or ESET Smart Security to keep your computer secure.

Q: What is DVD-RAM?
A: DVD-RAM is a re-writable DVD that can be rewritten hundreds of thousands of times. Typically DVD-RAM discs will not play in standard DVD Players. It is often used in Video Cameras.

Q: Why are Back-Ups necessary?
A: Keeping an up-to-date back-up of your computer is critical if you have files on the system that you do not want to lose. If your computer gets hit by a bad virus or the hard drive fails, you may lose all information on the computer. Keeping information saved on an external hard drive, or other storage media using backup software ensures that it will always be available.

Q: What is a HomeGroup?
A: A HomeGroup is an easy way to share files, printers and other resources when multiple Windows 7 computers are connected to one router.

Q: Where is the Microsoft Office product key?
A: To obtain the Microsoft Office product key, activate the trial by clicking the 60-day trial icon located on the desktop, or Activation Assistant icon in the Microsoft Office folder found in the Start Menu.