Access To CD-RW Disks

[Guest]

I have recently had to reformat my hard drive and re-install Windows and
other programs. Since then, although I have a CD-RW disk in the CD burner
drive, I am unable to change or delete an existing file on this disk, nor can
I save a new file to this disk. I get error various messages indicating
Windows does not support copying to this disk, the disk is inaccessible,
etc.; I can open and display the files on the disk though. Also, if I go to
My Computer and put the cursor on this drive/disk, it will indicate Free
Space: 0 bytes, Total Size: 378 mb (although the disk is capable of storing
about 700 mb). I should also state that I have not reloaded any CD software
such as Roxio CD Creator, which was installed before the reformatting. Is the
lack of a CD program my problem, or should I look elsewhere?

 

[Rock]

I have recently had to reformat my hard drive and re-install Windows and
other programs. Since then, although I have a CD-RW disk in the CD burner
drive, I am unable to change or delete an existing file on this disk, nor
can
I save a new file to this disk. I get error various messages indicating
Windows does not support copying to this disk, the disk is inaccessible,
etc.; I can open and display the files on the disk though. Also, if I go
to
My Computer and put the cursor on this drive/disk, it will indicate Free
Space: 0 bytes, Total Size: 378 mb (although the disk is capable of
storing
about 700 mb). I should also state that I have not reloaded any CD
software
such as Roxio CD Creator, which was installed before the reformatting. Is
the
lack of a CD program my problem, or should I look elsewhere?

Yep, you need 3rd party software to use a CD-RW as a big floppy. It's
called packet writing software.

 

[Harry Ohrn]

This is really a question to put to tech support at roxio however check to
ensure you have the current version and updates of Easy CD&DVD Creator
installed. If so ensure Drag to Disk installed properly as it is the program
within ECD&DVD Creator that enables you to treat a CD or DVD as if it were a
giant floppy. It is typically installed by default when roxio is installed.
Just re-run the ECD&DVD Creator installation again. You should see the
option to Repair/Modify/Uninstall. Select the option to Modify and ensure
Drag to Disk has been installed.

Another problem might have to do with a conflict between Drag to Disk and
XP's built in writing software.
1) right click the My Computer->icon for your CD-R/W
2) select Properties->Recording Tab
3) uncheck the box that says "Enable recording on this device."

also something to keep in mind is that packet writing (which is what Drag to
Disk does) is notorious for messing up discs. It is hardly a stable form of
file writing and very often packet formatted disks become unreadable with
it. Your CD-R/W disk might have gone beyond it's lifespan and has degraded.

 

[Rock]

Rock:
I installed Roxio EasyCD&DVD Creator and was happy for a little while.
Immediately after installing Roxio, my CD-RW disk in the CD burner drive
became accessible; if I put the icon on that drive in My Computer, it
showed
disk space available and I was able to modify files, delete them, etc.
However, one day later, without changing anything, the same disk in the
same
burner drive is no longer accessible. Putting the icon on that drive, the
indication is Free Space: 0 bytes. If I open a file from that disk, change
it, and try to save it to that disk, I get an indication that "This File
is a
Read Only File - if I try to delete a file on this disk, I get the same
message. From past experience, if I shut the computer down and restart it,
this same disk will immediately become accessible for about one day; then
it
reverts to being inaccessible. Any ideas as to what might be causing this?
As
I originally indicated. I very recently reformatted the hard drive,
reinstalled Windows and all other programs. Incidentally, I was having
this
same "inaccessible" problem before the reformatting.

Sorry Don, I don't know. I used Roxio's Easy CD&DVD Creator v. 6 before and
then upgraded to Media Creator 7.5 on XP Pro SP2 - no problems with either
version.

You might try Nero instead.