Need help learning to back something up to a CD

[Justpat]

I have an old PC with my Quickbooks on it. I always used
the zip drive to back up the Quickbooks. The new laptop doesn't
have a zip drive so I need to back up QB onto a CD and restore it
to the QB on the new computer.

Old computer has windows 98. Laptop windows XP.

I apologize in advance for my absolute stupidity when it comes to
this stuff. I don't have a clue how to do it but need to get
it done soon.

Thank you

[RoyGBiv]

1. First question ...

Does the old computer have a CD writer (burner) in it?

If not, you'll need to put one in it in order to backup your files to a CD, but I wouldn't necessarily suggest you go out and buy one for an old computer unless you're going to be using it.

If you do have a CD burner, all you need is the software to burn it. Check to see if you have a program called Nero Burning ROM on the system. This is the package typically distributed with computers that have a CD burner.

How big are these files you need to back up? If they aren't enormous, you could just ZIP them all into a single file using WinZIP and then e-mail them to yourself. I did this with a person's files who had no CD burner. He had hundreds of text files he needed to transfer, and when I ZIPped them, they compressed to about a 1meg, single file that I just e-mailed and promptly downloaded with the other computer.

Anyway, let us know what you've got, and then we can get down to specifics.

[Justpat]

2. The Quickbooks file is about 7 years worth of

the business records.

The old computer does have a CD burner on it.

I tried backing up the QB data onto a CD but kept getting an
error message regarding the CD type. What exactly should I use?

[RoyGBiv]

3. Any CD-R media ...

CD-R is pretty much the standard and should work.

What are you using now?

[Justpat]

4. I give up

When I try to put the QB data on the CD I get the same message
all the time. It says "unexpectred exception". I'll get the local
rent-a-geek to help me tomorrow.

You are a prince for offering to help. I am one of those people
who shouldn't have a computuer. very discouraging.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

5. What program are you using?

Nero, Roxio?

I use Nero & had a hell of a time at first. Maybe I can help. (probably not, but one can buy live & hope)

best

[Justpat]

7. I have Nero on the old computer.

I managed to do this once several months ago and can't figure out
what the hell I am doing wrong this time.

I appreciate both your offers for help. I have to go back to work
but will check in later and be sitting at both computers and see
we can't figure out what is wrong.

[RoyGBiv]

6. Don't say that ...

Problems like these are usually relatively simple in cause, but sometimes difficult to fix if you're not familiar with it. It's like anything. If you don't know how to do it, you just don't know, and most people don't until they've exerpienced it. No big deal.

The problem is that helping someone online requires a lot of guessing.

If you're using Nero, it can be extremely irritating until it's tweaked properly. I use it because it came with my drive, but if I burned a lot of discs, I'd get something else.

FWIW, this error your experiencing is a known problem with Nero, particularly version 5.x but also with version 6. How to fix it can be a bit complicated. If it's the problem I'm thinking about, it requires reinstalling the ASPI drivers, but that in and of itself can be a pain. It could also be caused by other software on your system interfering with the burning process.

[Justpat]

8. I got it worked out.

I got an external zip drive and backed up the old quickbooks
as usual, then put restored it with the new external zip for the
laptop.

Thank you guys very much for your offers to help.

[Jersey Devil]

9. Get a flash drive assuming you have USB port on old computer

You can get one for less than $50, just plug it into the old computer's USB port, copy & paste your QB files to it, unplug it and then plug it into your laptop. Seems the easiest way for you.