Patent ID: 8401374

Claim:
A method of managing data for a recording/reproducing apparatus having a storage unit, the method comprising: setting a preservation period of recorded-materials; preserving the recorded-materials for the set preservation period; checking a residual period of the preserved recorded-materials; confirming a reset of a recorded-materials preservation setting after the preservation period expires or before an expiration date or time; upon confirming the reset of the recorded-materials preservation setting, resetting the preservation period and preserving the recorded-materials for the reset preservation period; if the recorded-materials preservation setting is not reset, classifying the preserved recorded-materials as general recorded-materials; checking whether or not a remaining recording space of the storage unit is less than a reference value when data recording is started or when data reproducing is started; displaying a list of deletable recorded-materials when the remaining recording space is less than the reference value, the deletable recorded-materials including recorded-materials whose preservation periods have expired or recorded-materials that are not to be preserved; and deleting recorded materials in the list of deletable recorded-materials, wherein the preserving the recorded-materials includes one of the following based on a user selection: individually preserving the recorded-materials on each recorded-materials stored in the recording/reproducing apparatus, and collectively preserving the recorded-materials on at least two recorded-materials that have been selected from the recorded-material stored in the recording/reproducing apparatus.