Digitize All of Your Old Media

Back up a lifetime of memories to digital media so they'll be able to withstand the test of time.

Technology has progressed so quickly that anyone over the age of 30 has probably amassed a collection of data generated in both analog and multiple generations of digital technology. (I'm looking at you, Commodore cassette tape drive.) And though you may never need a particular bit of data, being able to find an eight-year-old résumé or to search through a decade of tax returns may prove invaluable at some point. It's a great way to reduce clutter, too: Once you've digitized and backed up your old media, you can then recycle or otherwise dispose of much of it. So let's look at what you need to know to digitize all of your old media.

Organize Your Collection

First, you need to take inventory of the digital media you may need to convert or recover, including old machines, hard drives, and removable media. Make special note of anything broken or damaged, since getting that data back may require a specialist's help.

For analog media--including paper documents, tapes, and film--that you plan to preserve, you'll want a simple reference system for finding the source item from the digital copy. I recommend sticker labels, available at any office supply store. Once you've converted something, just write the filename on the label and affix the label to the box or file folder.

Where to Store Your Digital Archive

The fastest way to store digital copies is to use an external hard drive. An external drive with USB that can store a terabyte of data costs around $100. So buy two! Use one for active archiving, and keep the other as a backup in another location. In case of a calamity, you'll still have a copy. A terabyte drive will hold approximately 180 hours of high-definition video, 100 days of CD-quality audio, or the equivalent of 200 single-sided DVD-R discs.

Another option is to store the data online. You can use software such as JungleDisk, which will store your data at a remote location that is accessible from practically any Internet connection. The software and service together cost $2 a month, plus storage costs based on how much you use--$15 a month for 100GB, $150 a month for 1TB. You can set JungleDisk to back up on the fly; that way, as you add to your digital history, the service will store new documents on multiple servers with near-instant accessibility.

Digital Media

For hard disks, including those from old machines, retrieving the data may simply be a matter of sliding it into an external drive enclosure and plugging it in. Most laptops have 2.5-inch disk drives, while 3.5-inch drives have been the desktop standard for the past decade. Enclosures for either size with USB connectors start at about $30. Make sure that the drive and the enclosure connections are compatible; for instance, check whether the drive is SATA or ATA/IDE (which will be marked on the drive).

If you have a lot of one type of old media, it may be best simply to get an old drive to match. USB readers for multiple memory-card formats and for external 3.5-inch floppy drives with USB connectors are readily available online for about $20. Other drives--tape backup drives; magneto-optical drives; and Zip, Jaz and Ditto drives--are easy to find on eBay. You may need special adapter cables to connect old serial ports to USB, and you may need the original software to recover compressed or protected backups.

Media Conversion

If you have just a few old disks or cartridges to handle, a number of data conversion companies will be happy to take a box of old media from you and either deliver their data to you via e-mail or burn it onto CDs or DVDs. If you live in a city, look for local companies, including PC repair shops, to save on shipping; and call multiple companies to compare prices. Advanced Computer Innovations can convert an astonishing array of media, operating systems, and file formats.

Data Recovery

Due to age or damage, some of your media and hardware might be unreadable. If you have the appropriate drive, you can use data recovery software to try to save the data--including lost photos or video from camera memory cards. Virtual Lab Data Recovery supports most common media, hardware, and file systems. Disk Doctors offers both software and services, including data recovery from damaged media and devices.

File Formats

After you've backed up all of the data on a device that you can use, it still may not be readable or searchable. Documents from old machines and software may be saved in binary formats that their modern equivalents can't understand. There are two approaches to converting data that your current software can't read into friendly formats: Look for conversion software or software add-ons online; or look for emulation software. The Emulator Zone has all sorts of old computer operating system emulators, including Commodore, Amiga, and Macintosh.