Are you wondering if there's an inexpensive way to backup the data on your hard disk? There is! While DVDs cost a bit more than CDs, they have so much more storage capacity that the extra cash is worth it. Many computers that are on the market today have DVD burners integrated into the computer from the start. This allows you to utilize this great backup storage option without having to spend any extra cash later on.

DVDs are much better than the older storage options availe on the market before they became standard. The closest type of backup media to the DVDs were CD-Rs, but CD-Rs could only hold 700MB of information, which left them at a huge disadvantage. Besides the that, the biggest benefit of DVD storage is that you can very easily create multiple backups over a period of time without incurring a huge extra cost. If you need a new external hard drive every time you backup your system, you can imagine that the cost will go up fairly rapidly.

You might have to purchase a DVD writer if your computer wasn't fitted with one. If this is the case for you, then you should make sure that you pay attention to the format of the drive before you buy it.

Drive format? Aren't all DVD drives and DVD writers the exact same? Yes, they are all DVD drives. However, there are different formats due to the different ways in which different companies started to make DVD discs. If you are going to buy a DVD drive, you should look for one that says it can do DVD+R, and DVD-R. If you are looking for one that has rewriting capabilities, look for DVD+RW and DVD-RW in the same drive. This will give you the most flexibility when burning discs.

DVD+R and DVD-R are the same type of disc, they just have different formats. You cannot use a DVD+R in a DVD-R and vice versa, but you can use them both in a drive that is marked for both types of disc. Most new drives can read and write to both types of DVD.

DVD+RW compared to DVD+R are DVDs that can be written to more than once. This is similar to the difference between CD-Rs and CD-RWs. A typical DVD can hold about 4.7GB of data which is what makes these ideal for backups.

There is also a DVD-RAM disc which is 9.4GB of data and a dual-layer DVD that has 8.3GB of space. These are great if you need to back up really large files. However, you will have to make sure that you DVD writer is able to write to those formats.

If you want an easy method of backing up your hard drive, you should invest in a DVD burner, a stack of DVDs and a backup software program to make sure that everything important on your hard drive gets backed up without too much fuss or work on your part.