How to Split a File for Burning on Multiple DVDs

You can split very large computer files to fit them on recordable DVDs.

Removable optical media like recordable DVDs are useful as a cheap data backup solution, but their fixed storage capacity is frustrating when you want to store a file larger than about 4.7 gigabytes. However, unlike many real-world items like furniture and boats, large computer files can always be split into smaller chunks for storage and then perfectly reconstructed later. Several free software tools can accomplish this task to let you burn very large files onto multiple recordable DVDs.

Instructions

GSplit

1. Download and install GSplit (see Resources).

2. Launch GSplit from your "Start" menu or the desktop. The first time you run GSplit, click "No" in the dialog box that appears unless you want to view some of the program's documentation.

3. Click the "Browse..." button near the middle of the window, and then find and select the file you want to split in the dialog box that appears. Click "Open" to confirm your selection.

4. Click "Destination Folder" in the "General" pane on the left side of the window. Click the "Browse..." button on the right side of the window, and then find and select the folder in which you want to store the pieces. Click "OK" to confirm your selection.

5. Click "Type and Size" in the "Pieces" pane, and then click the "Blocked Pieces" button near the right side of the window. Choose "I want to select the size of all piece files" from the drop-down menu in the "Blocked Piece Properties" pane, and then input your desired piece size into the "Size:" field. Use the drop-down menu to the right of the field to specify the units. Although 4.7 gigabytes is the typical capacity of a recordable DVD, this value may vary slightly across different brands, so consult your DVD-burning software beforehand to determine exactly how much space is available on the DVDs you will use in order to maximize storage efficiency.

6. Click "Properties" in the "Self-Uniting" pane, and then enable the "Add Self-Uniting Functionality to the piece set" check box.

7. Click "Split File!" in the "General" pane, and then click the "Split!" button to split your file. The progress of the file splitting will be displayed in a new window, and the "Splitting Log" will appear in the main program interface when the process is complete to indicate success or detail any problems that occurred. You can now find the split pieces of the file in the folder you specified, along with an executable file. This executable file contains all of the software necessary to reconstruct the original file on any computer running the Windows operating system, whether or not GSplit is installed on that computer. Include this executable file on one of the DVDs to which you burn the pieces, and you will be able to reconstruct the file in the future even if you don't have access to GSplit.

HJSplit

1. Download and unzip HJSplit (see Resources).

2. Double-click the executable file "hjsplit.exe" to launch HJSplit. It does not need to be installed like most Windows programs. HJSplit's main interface appears.

3. Click the "Split" button to reveal the "Split" window.

4. Click the "Input File" button in the "Split" window, and then find and select the file you want to split in the dialog box that appears. Click "Open" to confirm your selection.

5. Click the "Output" button, and then find and select the folder in which you want to store the split pieces. Click "OK" to confirm your selection.

6. Choose "Mbytes" from the drop-down menu to the right of the "Split file size" field, and then type the size for the pieces into the field in megabytes. For a typical recordable DVD, slightly less than 4,700 megabytes of space is available; consult your DVD-burning software to determine the actual capacity of one of your DVDs.

7. Click the "Start" button to split your file. The progress of the splitting is displayed in a new window, and the message "Splitting completed" appears when the process is complete. The pieces, which you can now find in the folder you specified, can be reconstructed later using the "Join" button in HJSplit, or using a smaller program called HJ Join, a link to which can be found in the Resources section. Burn HJ Join onto one of the DVDs used to store the pieces, and you can reconstruct the file later on any computer running Windows, whether or not HJSplit is available.

File Splitter

1. Download the File Splitter program (see Resources).

2. Launch File Splitter by double-clicking the executable file you downloaded. File Splitter does not need to be installed like most Windows programs. The main program interface appears on launch.

3. Click the "Browse..." button next to the "Source file:" field, and then find and select the file you want to split in the dialog box that appears. Click "Open" to confirm your selection.

4. Click the "Browse..." button next to the "Destination folder:" field, and then find and select the folder in which you want to store the split pieces. Click "OK" to confirm your selection.

5. Type the desired piece size into the "Size of a chunk:" drop-down menu, choosing the appropriate unit from the next drop-down menu to the right. Check your DVD media beforehand to determine its actual capacity.

6. Click the "Split" button near the bottom of the window. The progress of the split is shown in the window, and the message "Splitting is done!" will appear when the process completes. You can now find the pieces in the folder you specified, ready to burn onto as many DVDs as needed. The original file can be reconstructed from the pieces using the "Join files" tab in the main interface of File Splitter.

References

• Manifest Technology: DVD Formats: Consumer DVD-R

Resources

• G.D.G. Software: GSplit
• Freebyte: HJSplit
• Freebyte: HJ Join
• Filesplitter: File Splitter