Cannot delete individual CD-RW files

[Knack]

When I try to delete individual files from a written CD-RW disk via Windows
Explorer, the following error box pops up :

"Cannot delete <filename> : Files on this CD are read-only. You can still
copy new files to this writable CD, which will replace files already on the
disc."

My Easy CD Creator 6 Basic software does not have a provision for doing this
either. As I recall, there used to be a utility included in previous
versions of Easy CD Creator named Direct CD that might have been able to do
this simple operation.

Anyone know how I can accomplish this task?

 

[Knack]

Hey thanks. More questions now. I just read that this ability is part of a
capability known as "packet writing", and I checked the specs of my CD
burner; it definitely supports it. However, if I didn't use the Drag To Disc
to originally write to the CD-RW, will I not be able to later utilize Drag
To Disk for selective deletions on that CD-RW disk? I instead used EZCDC6's
Disk Copier utility to insure that the written disk would be bootable (No,
I'm not pirating an OS; I'm copying a handy hardware diagnostic utility
included on my OEM system recovery CD, and that written disk must be
bootable like the original.). Also, I don't see in Device Manager >
DVD/CD-ROM Drives where to disable WinXP's control over that drive. Could
you provide more detailed instructions about how to do that?

 

[Knack]

OK, I disabled WinXP's recordability for CD-R drive. Found it in Windows
Explorer by right-clicking on the drive icon > Properties > Recording tab.

Because the CD-RW disk that I wrote was not previously formatted via Drag To
Disk, that utility is unable to work with it, even though I've disabled
WinXP's burning capability.

Hmmm... I think the Drag To Disk utility essentially formats the disk with a
file system before anything can be written to it, whereas Disk Copier may
work more like a cloning utility. In order to make the disk bootable and to
contain only selected files, I need features of both utilities...

 

[Lindsay]

Esay CD 6 does do it. In version 6, it's called Drag To Disc. Make sure you
disable XPs built in one before using Roxios. The 2 can clash. Go to the
properties of the CD writer (in my computer) and disable under the recording
tab. That will disable XPs and NOT Roxios.

 

[Yves Leclerc]

DirectCD has been renamed to Drag to CD.

Esay CD 6 does do it. In version 6, it's called Drag To Disc. Make sure you
disable XPs built in one before using Roxios. The 2 can clash. Go to the
properties of the CD writer (in my computer) and disable under the recording
tab. That will disable XPs and NOT Roxios.

 

[Alex Nichol]

When I try to delete individual files from a written CD-RW disk via Windows
Explorer, the following error box pops up :

"Cannot delete <filename> : Files on this CD are read-only. You can still
copy new files to this writable CD, which will replace files already on the
disc."

The inbuilt burning, and the mastering program in Easy CD Creator itself
are not writing in a CD-RW method. You need to install the Direct CD,
now called Drag to DISK element of the Easy CD Creator package. Read
more at http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpcd.htm

 

[Knack]

When I try to delete individual files from a written CD-RW disk via Windows
Explorer, the following error box pops up :

"Cannot delete <filename> : Files on this CD are read-only. You can still
copy new files to this writable CD, which will replace files already on the
disc."

My Easy CD Creator 6 Basic software does not have a provision for doing this
either. As I recall, there used to be a utility included in previous
versions of Easy CD Creator named Direct CD that might have been able to do
this simple operation.

Anyone know how I can accomplish this task?

Thanks for all the useful reply folks. I have today discovered some
interesting new points after some web research and some experimentation with
both Roxio Drag To Disk and Ahead InCD packet writing software.

Excerpt from
http://pages.prodigy.net/jdjd/cdr/packet.htm
by Jack Danniel (CD burning expert)

"Unlike most other packet writing programs, Windows XP's system does not let
you delete material off your CD-RW disk. Personally, I find this
aggravating, and for this reason alone, I prefer standard packet writing
programs. However, for many people, this may not be a problem. So, it is
entirely up to you to choose which packet writing software you wish to use."

Knack's note: The fact is that WinXP cannot delete its *own* packet written
files. It also cannot delete files that were written to CD-RW disk by
Roxio's Drag To Disk (and probably DirectCD) packet writing utility either.
However, I've discovered that WinXP is able to delete packet written files
on a CD-RW disk that were put there by Ahead Software's InCD utility.

 

[NoNoBadDog!]

The utility is still there, it is now called drag to disc in version 6.

Bobby

 

[Alex Nichol]

Thanks for all the useful reply folks. I have today discovered some
interesting new points after some web research and some experimentation with
both Roxio Drag To Disk and Ahead InCD packet writing software.

And I'll point you at my page on CD burning in Windows XP -
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpcd.htm