Time to get rid of those old shoeboxes Originally posted 3/06
May 27, 2006
 Have you ever crawled through someone’s attic looking for photos? You find the old shoe boxes filled with photos some labeled others not and nobody remembers who that cute baby is. Well with the advancement of technology those days are fast becoming a faded memory like vinyl records.
Digital photographs make are lives easier but how to store them can be confusing. In the past week I’ve been asked on two occasions about digital storage and if you really haven’t thought about it today is the time for you to get a game plan. Â
Most people I talk with keep the photos on a cd or the hard drive of their computer some do both. Storing them on a cd is fine but cd’s breakdown over time and in a few years your memories could be wiped off the cd. I would recommend if you are using CD’s that you check them every year and make sure they are still working.
 Likewise issues with computer hard drives are common place and there is some risk with that as storage. Older computers have limited space but newer computers have additional space but if you shoot a lot of photos storage on the hard drive can become a problem Even if the memory is not full limited memory can slow the computer down that other tasks with the computer can become difficult.Â
The past few years on-line storage places have gotten popular and some are free or have a small fee for the service. I do not use any myself but I would recommend that you look for a big name one that should be around for a while. It would be bad to upload your photos and then the place goes out of business. The other thing to remember when saving your photos and/ or uploading them make sure you use the highest quality so if in the future you want to print a photo the quality will be there.Â
My approach to storing photos is to have a minimum of three places my prized photo is stored. I use CD’s, I use my computer hard drive, I also use a business network I have access to that does regular back-ups. Additionally I recently picked up an external hard drive which I plan to use to back up all my photos. External hard drives are not too expensive and can be another great way to save your photos. Of course if all your storage devices are located in your home a catastrophic event can wipe out all of them at once.Â
Multiple storage devices of your digital photos is the only sure way I know to make sure you can enjoy the photos for years to come.Â
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Moose Droppings is a place that chronicles my journey, I’ll explore new places and ideas I’ll learn new things and I’ll teach the things I’ve learned to others. Join me on the adventure and hopefully it will help you in your outdoor endeavors.
