[RainDawg]

Originally Posted by diggrd

Yes that would be a problem when using par2 files. I also have been considering using it when archiving, it has worked well in several cases of getting suff off the newsgroups. I wonder if a separate disc for the parfiles would work better? One reason I haven't started using it is the fact that I tend to stuff a bunch of shows on DVD and would need to figure out how much room is left for the par2 and set the parameters to fill the disc, but if I just put the data on a couple discs and the par2s on another I would then need to link them somehow. Maybe by using burntothebrim set for some set value I could always leave at least so much room to build parfiles, now that DL discs are an option though still costly this is more of an issue. Sorry to ramble on so, just tired from flying or sitting in planes all day.

Another good solution, though not one I prefer to use. Since DVDRs can handle 4.7 GB of unformatted data, my method is to select around 3.7GB of shows that need to be burned. QuickPar will show you the total data size of the files you're attempting to secure and the data size of the recovery volumes you're making. I up the redundancy until it equals about 4.69 to make sure I get the maximum amount of recovery possible.

It should be noted that the entire sets need to be reconstructed at once. So, if at any point in my trading/listening/tinkering with my DVDs I find one unreadable file, I immediately extract the entire thing, run the recovery, re-create the par2 volumes from the newly reconstructed files, and re-burn the disc.

I've only had to do this once, but it's worth it if that one show that goes bad is a rare gem. I figure that over 5-10 years I'll have to do this 10+ more times, and I'd rather be secure than have to worry later about finding the show again....