System Backup

[Dave Mc]

Trying to do a complete HD backup to DVD on new Acer. It tells me to label a
DVD and put it in the burner. When I do this (have ruined several) it then
asks me if I want to format it but this gets an error. I am using DVD-R's
which I didn't think needed formatting. Does it only work with DVD-RW's ??
Thanks

 

[Mick Murphy]

Friend of mine tried to make Recovery Disks on an Acer Vista machine with
DVD-R's.

Acer required and asked DVD-RW's.

 

[RalfG]

Asking to format discs seems to be a default behaviour of the OS but
formatting is only required if you want to use the discs as UDF, aka Live
File System, discs. Whether or not you need it depends on what you want to
do with the discs or if your backup software requires it. See:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-us/help/3fdbacc1-0abd-4c62-a739-a3760508b59e1033.mspx

Check that your DVD burner is compatible with DVD-R discs, especially the
particular brand you are trying to use. Despite being rated compatible with
DVD-R I found that with one burner I had to reduce the speed to 1/2 in order
to successfully burn DVD-R discs - DVD+R was the recommended type. DVDs and
CDs are not all alike in composition so you might run across some discs that
will never work in your burner, just as you may find burning software that
does not support your particular model of burner.