Hello. Had a quick question about backing up an application to DVD. I purchased and installed a game from the Mac App Store that is no longer for sale. I had planned on backing it up to my thumb drive as I have a previous purchase but unfortunately the file is just too big (over 6 GB).

I have Toast 10 Titanium -- is there a way for me to safely back up the application to multiple DVDs? Toast gives me the option of burning a Mac Only, Mac & PC, DVD-ROM (UDF), or ISO 9660 disc. Which would be better for my purpose if any?


Many thanks.

A DL DVD can burn to 8.xGB, so just use a dual-layer disc to back it up.

Thanks for the reply Lars. However, I was kind of hoping I could burn it tonight to my existing 4.7 GB single layers . . . if possible?

Any chance you can zip it or use some Disk Utility option to compress it to a compressed image that you could use and get it to fit??

I've actually very very little experience with both Disk Utility or compression under OS X. The only time I really delt with compression was on my old Performa 5200 CD back in the day using an application called "Stuffit" and that was under OS 7.6.

Essentially I was just going to try tinkering around with it but would hate to think I've backed it up only to find down the road that I did it improperly if you know what I mean.

I know Toast 10 Titanium will allow me to burn as many discs as it takes but I'm not sure if that will scramble the contents of the disc or create a convenient installer? Essentially when I drag the app to Toast it lists the app as a single file and below "2 DVDs".

Right-click the app and select "Compress."

Thanks, Lars.

Although it's extremely rare a compressed file can sometimes become corrupted. IMO it's best to simply make a burn folder on the desktop (via right click) name the folder after the app then just burn uncompressed from the Finder onto a dual layer disk. Many stores still sell 3 packs of them if you don't want/need a spindle.

It's obviously important to you so those steps are the safest way to keep it around looking forward. I would even make a copy of the disk. One backup is often not enough in a worst case scenario.

IMO I'd forget the dual layer disc and just buy a USB stick. They'll be far more useful long term then a dual layer disk that 'only' holds 8GB

IMO I'd forget the dual layer disc and just buy a USB stick. They'll be far more useful long term then a dual layer disk that 'only' holds 8GB

Ya forget the disc.

8GB sticks are under $10 these days.

Whatever you use.. get two. I personally would trust a quality optical disc to retain data longer than a cheap USB stick. An archive grade 5" disc will last forever.

Whatever you use.. get two. I personally would trust a quality optical disc to retain data longer than a cheap USB stick. An archive grade 5" disc will last forever.

Hmmm... I'm not sure what you mean by an "archive grade 5" disc", but from all that I've read, any burnt disk has limited longevity and reliability and has a much shorter life span than any factory pressed disk.

While the thumb flash drives have a 10-20 year reliable lifespan at least, and they can even survive going through some washer/dryer cycles that I can confirm.

But as you say - get two just in case, and regardless of media used.

You have never heard of archive grade optical media? It's common enough in my experiences but also 15%+ more expensive. I am no optical tech engineer or anything but know that these grade of disks will last several decades at least.

I still have many standard grade burnt discs from as far back as 1997 that still work perfectly well.

Yes, I'd heard of "archive grade optical media" but wasn't sure what a "archive grade 5" disc" was that you mentioned.

A Google search on 'archive grade optical media' provided some interesting hits such as:
Optical media preservation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_media_preservation)
and
Optical media longevity (http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/opticalmedialongevity.html)
amongst some others.

By 5" I obviously meant the size of all standard CD/DVD discs.

Dump your app to a server...

Thanks for all the replies! I opened Toast 10 and burnt the app over two 4.7 GB DVDs. But, of course, if ever one of the DVDs becomes damaged the other will be useless as well which means I have an increased chance of losing the app. I'll definitely look at some of the other options mentioned. Originally I wanted to use a thumb drive but mine is a bit small at 4 GB. Thanks again everyone!