Backing up 100MB+ files in college..

The_Bullman

I have just started in college and i am begining to discover the speedy connection to the internet that comes with it...


at the moment I can only save files up to 100 megs with zip disks. I was thinking of splitting files to suit the zip disks. Unfortunatly there isn't enough hard disk space to even download the files that i am looking for-free space is only about 300 megs.


i was wondering if there is any other way to save this info. Is there such thing as a usb hard drive? Could i convert one of my spare ones to usb?

assuming i can get something like this will I be able to use it in the college. The computers are running on some version of nt(not sure what one), so will it just be plug and play? is there a simple way to test the usb before i spend loads of money?

thanks in advance for the help

Gerry

afaik, nt4 does not support usb without 3rd party addons ( which you would need admin to install), we certainly couldn't get zip drives to work on nt4 sp6. If you can find any win2k machines, they will support usb.

BigEejit

afaik, nt4 does not support usb without 3rd party addons ( which you would need admin to install), we certainly couldn't get zip drives to work on nt4 sp6. If you can find any win2k machines, they will support usb.

this is all true, if you find a win2k machine with a free usb port borrow something usb from someone to make sure that everything is working ok ... (wouldnt be the first time that admins turned off usb in the bios and password protected it after):mad:

Kenshin

What college is this in?
Do they not have 250 MB zip drives?

When you download files with internet explorer, it first downloads a temporary file, then copies it to wherever when it's finished. To avoid this, try netscape or any other program to download things.

Hobbes

In my day we had to wait in line for a printout.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Drazhar

in UL there is a Workarea folder on each machine where you can slap anything of any size (handy for downloading and installing winamp!!)

Is there a computer/networking society in the college. if so join up or ask a member if they could download the thing for you. If its some sweet software they'll probably do it just to get a copy themselves!!

The_Bullman

Thanks for the replies.

I had a quick ask around and it seems that there isn't any win2k machines about here.


What about a cheap laptop? could i connect up to the network using my current user id and get the files that way?

Obviously i would prefer not to have to go this route as it has a greater expense and risk.


would the laptop idea work, or can anyone think of any other ideas.

RicardoSmith

If you are currently using zip disks how are the zip drives currently connected to the PC are they internal? Any external device is going to need you to install drivers and if you don't have admin rights then you are stumped.

If I was you I'd get frendly with the admin guys and ask if they can burn a CD for you ever so often. Having said that if you are allowed to burn stuff on to zip disks they shouldn't have a problem with CD's either.

You can buy parallel port hard disk and CD burners. While they are slow they can hold a lot more than zip disk. But you'll need to install a driver for them aswell.

zAbbo

the OS is NT4 SP6, the sad thing is that this year the security has been upped and we cant get admin access to those juicy servers here(DKIT),

There are cd burners in s209, altho as you said HDD space is usually only 300meg free.

And burning under NT4 with no s/w isnt easy(altho there is some app in winnt/system32 that can)

Doesnt leave you with many options tbh, USB drives wud prolly not work as you dont have admin rights to install.

There are a number of labs that have 250 zip drives and some with 100mbs as well.

You`re wasting your time with the admins as after the last few years of p2p programs and sharing drives and stuff(haxoring the college network), they wont be too happy.

This may help, in network neighbourhood, goto folder compwww, then go to ur login username(eg cp10**), afaik it can hold a helluva lot more than your allocated G(network) drive.

If that works then you can get other users(babyeater) to give you access to his network drive(in compwww) thus doubling the space.

You can have mine as well and im sure other users may oblige.

i dont know how much they hold, most ive put on one is 90megs(im sure they can take more)

Hope this helps

leeroybrown

Its a while since I used them but UDF formatted CDRW's could be handy for you for files of 530 Megs or less.

With the current version of the UDF standard youmight be able to save files diorectly to the CD.

The_Bullman

do those cd burners work bazh?


from the looks of them they have packed it in ages ago. I have been in that room and they don't even have burning software on the pc's that i have used.

zAbbo

see software is the tricky thing, afaik there ez cd creator crap there, but i never had it working, there used to be a small app hidden away in winnt/system32 that done the job.

I only burned there once or twice.

Try searching for a small app, install it onto your home machine and take it into college on a zip and see will it scan the ide bus to pick up the writer.

There are two diff typers of burners there, some oldish ones with red markings and other plain sony ones afaik.

Process of elimination id say going around each machine and seeing can u test write onto a cd - rw.

An expensive solution would be to use a laptop(there are several ppl doing this) - but thats expensive etc.

Let me know how u get on

Kappar

When ever i want to get BIG files i use www.xburn.com

daveirl

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sceptre

Fireburner doesn't give a damn where it lives as long as there's an aspi layer on the PC - might be well worth a shot.

Kappar

Originally posted by daveirl
This looks cool! I might try it out. Did it work well for you. How long are we talking. for a CD to be delivered?

Yeah worked excellent i got loads of stuff on there and saved a fortune. I can't really remember but i wasn't long like a week or something not long enough for m to say "that took long to arrive.":D

You should try it out it's the d's Bs i.e Dog's Bollocks

yossarin

What about a cheap laptop? could i connect up to the network using my current user id and get the files that way?

heh, I'd be careful about that - it tends to annoy sysadmins

There was an incident in Trinity last year where a student plugged his laptop into the network and spoofed an IP address.

Unfortuntely, the IP address that he chose was that of the CS departmental file server (a beast of a machine). His laptop promptly crashed from requests, but not before the nimda virus on his machine infected a lot of the network.


as for zip disks, you could try winace - its an archiver that breaks a big file down into several archives of 'settable' size.

Gerry

sysadmins really don't like laptops, if you do it make sure to check out some free ip's first. Probably the best way to do it is to nick all the network settings from a lab machine, including machine name, then power that machine off and nick its network cable. Make sure that the laptop doesn't have any extra protocols installed, etc.

uch

I'd be careful with the Laptop, as I'm sysadmin in a well known Dublin university and if we caught someone putting an unauthorised machine on the Network there would be serious disciplinary action taken if not expulsion, they'd want to be very important mp3's or video to chance it.

The_Bullman

Thankfully i don't go there then uch. Come on though! a few tips to beat the system...

thats the way i was thinking of doing it Gerry

as for all the laptop situation. My brother reliably tells me that there are some blind people who connect up their own laptops to the network(they are in his class). So if they can do it, why can't I.

Defenistrator

one thing sysadmins can't protect themselves from without incurring costs is the humble screwdriver!! Slap in another HDD and off you go!

no drivers needed


D.

tman

/me dusts of my scabby old 400 mb hard drive...
cheers for the idea:D

Zaltais

You could always try one of these*...

Although you'd still have the problem of no standard support for USB in WinNT...

Cheers,

Zaltais.

*(please note this is a result of a search on google, I have never used one of these, nor can I endorse it's suitability for any purpose)

tribble

If you are currently using zip disks how are the zip drives currently connected to the PC are they internal? Any external device is going to need you to install drivers and if you don't have admin rights then you are stumped.

Win 200 doesnt need new drivers for most USB storage products. eg. Disgo or external USB HD's.
I bring a 120 gig IBM HD in one of these . Works fine, DIT Kevin St. Maths Dept.

b