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If your computer’s DVD drive is of the DVD-RW type, you can burn your files to DVD for long term storage. DVD’s last about five years, or longer if stored away from heat and light. Most DVD's hold between 4 and 5GB of data (CD's can only hold about 700MB).
Blank DVD’s come in a variety of types: DVD+R, DVD-R, and DVD+/-R (which you can use only once) or DVD+RW, DVD-RW, and DVD+/-RW (which you can use over and over again).
The pluses and minuses refer to different DVD drive formats. Make sure when you buy blank DVD’s that they have the same plus or minus labeling as the drive in your computer.
In Windows, to see what types of discs you can burn, right-click on MyComputer and choose Properties, then click the Hardware tab and the Device Manager button, which will display a list of all the hardware devices on your computer, including your DVD drive.
In MacOS, to see what types of discs you can burn, open the System Profiler, which is located in /Applications/Utilities. Select Disc Burning in the Hardware list. If more than one disc drive is connected to your computer, select the one you want to use from the list of drives (but if it's a laptop, probably there is only one) Look at the entries for "CD-Write" and "DVD-Write." They should contain items like "+R," "-RW," or "+R DL." To find out what these items are, click the link below.
To see the supported burning speed, insert a blank disc in the drive.
If you have any questions, call the UNet Help Desk at 781-529-UNET. We're always happy to help!
