Unable to backup documents

Run Windows XP + SP2 + all automatic updates delivered since got the machine.
Trying to backup. Followed instructions. Microsoft filled a CD-R 700mb disk from Sony, stopped, said the disk was full, offered not one single option, but said the backup was a failure. There had been when I started a tremendous to-do about naming backup. Would not accept date, name, anything. Finally got it to commence. When it concluded as noted above, reinserted the disk, brought it up, found that it had name plus ".bkf" at the end of the name. Tried to open it. Machine refused to. Said it had no program that would open the data on the disk, even though it had just created this disk. Offered a choice of a list of programs, or going to the net. Neither was of any help. How is this possible, that machine will write data on a disk and then say that it had no program to read show me what it had just written?
Would appreciate instructions on how to do a proper back of documents, pictures, Quicken and other data accumulating programs.
An elderly fool (for having gotten a computer in the first place)!

 

Hello ALK,

If you want to use the built-in capabilities of XP to do backups, I would suggest doing backups in the following manner:

Create a folder called Backups (or a variation).

Copy the files to be backed up to this folder. The files will have their original extensions.

Then use XP's built CD burner capability. The limitation is that XP's burning software will not support muli cd's. So if the entire Backup folder is greater in size than 700 MB, then create a 2nd backup folder with the continuation of your copied data.

You burn two cds in two seperate operations, one with the first backup folder, the 2nd cd with the second backup folder.

The mechanics of this operation is exactly the same as using the backup wizard.

Regards - Charles

 

unable to backup documents. Reply to PeteC and CharlesVar

Thank you for your messages. Unable to reply sooner; we were away visiting some of the grandchildren.
Have used considerable time this afternoon attempting to do what you suggested, namely, to copy folders in My Documents, to a new folder called Backup, which could then be burned to a CD. It should be held to less than the size the CD would hold, namedly <700mb.
Have tried right clicking where it says "copy" and nothing goes anywhere.
Have tried right clicking where it says "send to" but that does nothing either.
Could you be more explicit for a very senior senior. Write as if to a very inexperienced person.
Thank you. ALK

 

Hi ALK,

From the start menu, click on Help and Support.

In the search box type burn.

Follow the prompts for "copy files and folders to a CD "

Just in case you have trouble bringing up Help & Support, I pasted the instructions:

To copy files and folders to a CD

Insert a blank, writable CD into the CD recorder.

Open My Computer.

Click the files or folders you want to copy to the CD. To select more than one file, hold down the CTRL key while you click the files you want. Then, under File and Folder Tasks, click Copy this file, Copy this folder, or Copy the selected items.

If the files are located in My Pictures, under Picture Tasks, click Copy to CD or Copy all items to CD, and then skip to step 5.

In the Copy Items dialog box, click the CD recording drive, and then click Copy.

In My Computer, double-click the CD recording drive. Windows displays a temporary area where the files are held before they are copied to the CD. Verify that the files and folders that you intend to copy to the CD appear under Files Ready to be Written to the CD.

Under CD Writing Tasks, click Write these files to CD. Windows displays the CD Writing Wizard. Follow the instructions in the wizard.

Notes

To open My Computer, click Start, and then click My Computer.

Do not copy more files to the CD than it will hold. Standard CDs hold up to 650 megabytes (MB). High-capacity CDs hold up to 850 MB.
Be sure that you have enough disk space on your hard disk to store the temporary files that are created during the CD writing process. For a standard CD, Windows reserves up to 700 MB of the available free space. For a high-capacity CD, Windows reserves up to 1 gigabyte (GB) of the available free space.

After you copy files or folders to the CD, it is useful to view the CD to confirm that the files are copied. For more information, click Related Topics.

Regards - Charles

 

Back up problems

Thank you, Charles.
You've been kind, in detailed fashion, to a geezer with limited skills, and I very much appreciate this.
Will work on this later tonight or tomorrow.
ALK

 

Hi ALK,

Curious as to how you're doing

Regards - Charles

 

Possibly packet writing (something like InCD)? MSBackup will back up to a CD in this manner. You'd also get an error message if the backup contained more data than the CD can hold. Just a thought.