CDROM Compatibility

[John]

One of my CDROM drives cannot read CDs written by Windows
XP. I get a message, "Windows cannot read this drive. The
disk might be corrupted, or it might be using a format
that is not compatible with windows." However, this disk
was written with my other CDROM drive, and is readable in
it and my wife's computer which also has XP. The file
system of the drive is CDFS. The drive having the problem
is able to read CDs having the UDF file system format. Is
there a way to write CDs in Windows XP with the UDF file
system format, apart from buying additional software?

 

[Vance Green]

You're probably trying to read a CD-RW, NOT a CD-R.

CD-R (write once) can be read by anything, unless you've
written some esoteric file structure or your CD-ROM drive
is failing (happens a lot, the crappy things aren't built to last).
Las I knew, CD-RW needs the packet writing software (Direct CD, etc.)
installed to be able read them in W2K (don't know about XP).