disc readers while traveling

Hi all. I am traveling to Egypt and expect to have those iconic pictures of camels and pyramids. I would love to download a few key shots

every few days and e-mail them to myself and family/friends. My question is, if I use a disc reader to connect to a hotel or Internet cafe

computer, is there ever any danger of losing photos that are stored on the disc if there's a problem with the computer you're connecting to?

(aside from remembering not to erase the disc - I do know that much). If it's not 100% safe, anybody have any alternatives?

Martine,

I take it you mean card readers? For the memory card from your camera? To answer your question, nothing is ever

100% safe when it comes to computers - sometimes things can and do go wrong but I would say that the danger of

loosing data from just plugging in a USB card reader is minimal. What kind of digital camera do you have?

The vast majority of cameras come supplied with a USB cable that connects the camera to a computer for transferal of

images. This would mean that your memory card never has to leave your camera.

The only other options I can think of would be to take your own laptop computer with you and back up all of your photos

to there everyday or buy a camera memory card back-up external hard drive. I'm not sure what these things are called

buy they do exist. They allow you to plug in a memory card and back up the images without a computer.

I just came back from Egypt a few weeks ago, I'm sure you'll have a great time.

The issues I can think of would be a virus or a communications glitch while connected that results in corrupted data. I have no experience with internet cafes or even hotel computers so I don't know what to expect from an anti-virus perspective, but the second issue, while possible, is low probability if you're careful about not removing the disk while anything is accessing it. But nothing is 100%. The only alternative I can think of is to take your own computer. In theory a cell phone that accepts the card type might work, but it's likely to choke on the file size.

Or you could take something like this as a backup device (http://www.hyperdrive.com/HyperDrive-COLORSPACE-O-s/42.htm).

Hmm, all your replies assume that you will be able to connect your camera directly to a free computer service at a hotel or

cafe. Very few of these internet cafes actually let you plug anything into their hard drives. Its strictly keyboard service only

with access to a USB port. Short of carrying your laptop with you, the only alternative would be to find a photo shop that will

transfer your photos from the camera card to a DVD or CDRom disc. They won't delete your photos, only copy them for you

so your photographs will be perfectly safe until you get home. I would recommend that your carry at least two 4GB cards.

Happy holidays.