All About External Storage Devices
Back up your files Using a CD-ROM or DVD Burner
You can use a CD-ROM or DVD burner or an external hard drive to back up your files.
How to Work that BYTE!
Byte is used to indicate the storage capacity of memory cards, computers etc. Large amounts of bytes are indicated
as Kilobytes, Megabytes and Gigabytes
A kilobyte equals 1024 bytes
A megabyte (MB) equals 1024 KB bytes
A gigabyte (GB) equals 1024 MB
A terabyte is 1,024 GB
How this applies to storage devices
3.5 floppy holds: 1440 kilobytes
Remember these? Not many people use them anymore because they don't hold any storage space
CD-ROM holds: 700 MB
These are great because everyone has a CD-ROM burner in their computer. If you have a lot of files to back up these
are not as practical as a DVD burner.
DVD +/- holds: 4.7 GB
If you have a DVD burner do you know if it takes + or – or +/- disks? This means if you have a DVD burner that is +
(plus) you need to buy + DVDs. If it is DVD - (minus) you need to buy - DVDs. Some DVDs have both + and -
capability. Because a DVD holds more 4-5 times more information it is more practical if you have to back up a lot of
information to have a DVD burner. Also, if you have a DVD burner it will also burn CD-ROM for you.
There are two types of CD-ROM and DVD discs you can buy. I recommend the CD-R (recordable)
and the DVD-R (recordable). This means you can only burn to the disc once but the discs are so cheap you can buy
a spool of them very cheaply. The CD-RW (rewriteable) and DVD-RW (rewriteable) tend to fail at a higher rate and
are more expensive.
Thumb drive holds: 256MB to 12GB
Also known as a:
Jump Drive
Thumb Drive
USB Flash Memory
Memory Key
Key Chain Memory
Pen Drive
Thumb drives are not storage device. They are really for transporting information. They are small and easy to lose.
Do you have a CD-ROM or DVD burner or a thumb drive? You may be able to tell if you have a CD-ROM but
sometimes it is very hard to tell if you have a burner because sometimes you can have just a CD-ROM reader or a
DVD reader. You may have a CD-ROM reader/ writer/ DVD reader. In this case the writer means you can burn CD-
ROM but you can only read DVD.
CD-ROM and DVD burners require a software interface with your computer. If you have an internal CD-ROM or DVD
drive look at the icons on your computer desktop or go to your programs and look and see if there is any software
that sounds like it could burn CD-ROM or DVD. Sometimes the names give them away.
3.5 floppies and thumb drives behave differently. They do not require interface software. You can copy and paste to a
thumb drive, and pull information on and off at will.
Back up your files Using a CD-ROM or DVD Burner
You can use a CD-ROM or DVD burner or an external hard drive to back up your files.
How to Work that BYTE!
Byte is used to indicate the storage capacity of memory cards, computers etc. Large amounts of bytes are indicated
as Kilobytes, Megabytes and Gigabytes
A kilobyte equals 1024 bytes
A megabyte (MB) equals 1024 KB bytes
A gigabyte (GB) equals 1024 MB
A terabyte is 1,024 GB
How this applies to storage devices
3.5 floppy holds: 1440 kilobytes
Remember these? Not many people use them anymore because they don't hold any storage space
CD-ROM holds: 700 MB
These are great because everyone has a CD-ROM burner in their computer. If you have a lot of files to back up these
are not as practical as a DVD burner.
DVD +/- holds: 4.7 GB
If you have a DVD burner do you know if it takes + or – or +/- disks? This means if you have a DVD burner that is +
(plus) you need to buy + DVDs. If it is DVD - (minus) you need to buy - DVDs. Some DVDs have both + and -
capability. Because a DVD holds more 4-5 times more information it is more practical if you have to back up a lot of
information to have a DVD burner. Also, if you have a DVD burner it will also burn CD-ROM for you.
There are two types of CD-ROM and DVD discs you can buy. I recommend the CD-R (recordable)
and the DVD-R (recordable). This means you can only burn to the disc once but the discs are so cheap you can buy
a spool of them very cheaply. The CD-RW (rewriteable) and DVD-RW (rewriteable) tend to fail at a higher rate and
are more expensive.
Thumb drive holds: 256MB to 12GB
Also known as a:
Jump Drive
Thumb Drive
USB Flash Memory
Memory Key
Key Chain Memory
Pen Drive
Thumb drives are not storage device. They are really for transporting information. They are small and easy to lose.
Do you have a CD-ROM or DVD burner or a thumb drive? You may be able to tell if you have a CD-ROM but
sometimes it is very hard to tell if you have a burner because sometimes you can have just a CD-ROM reader or a
DVD reader. You may have a CD-ROM reader/ writer/ DVD reader. In this case the writer means you can burn CD-
ROM but you can only read DVD.
CD-ROM and DVD burners require a software interface with your computer. If you have an internal CD-ROM or DVD
drive look at the icons on your computer desktop or go to your programs and look and see if there is any software
that sounds like it could burn CD-ROM or DVD. Sometimes the names give them away.
3.5 floppies and thumb drives behave differently. They do not require interface software. You can copy and paste to a
thumb drive, and pull information on and off at will.
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