CD-RW failing, re-format problems, what do?

[George]

I'm using a WinXP-pro PC and the Dell provided Roxio "DirectCD" format
utility. The drive is a 4X combo DVD+R/RW CD-RW, vintage 4/2003, according
to invoice.

I have several Memorex CD-RW disks that are about 3 years old, they worked
great for a while, some were written/rewritten maybe 100 times or so, others
not used much at all. Then they started failing about time had other PC
problems, I thought it was WinXP or the drive, so everything's been fixed
and new CD's work fine now.

I wanted to go back and clean up these CD's, problem is, some of these seem
to cause problems... examples are

-"lock up" the desktop on the PC, sort of
-Win Explorer won't recognize D: drive when put these CD-RW's in
-DirectCD's "FORMAT" button won't un-grey so I can't format

I wondered if others could comment on...

1) Any idea what's going on here?

2) Is it possible for a disk to mess up a PC, op sys, or drive? Or is
everything recoverable with simple re-boot

3) Why can't I just re-format to create a clean slate and bring these back
to life?

4) If answer is to "throw away and use a new one", how do you know when a CD
is reaching this point so I know to backup way before it fails?

Thanks,
George

 

[Ted Zieglar]

There are two issues to consider here.

One is the inherent instability of rewritable CDs. You should be happy that
you can do anything with a 3-year old rewritable CD, besides using it as a
coaster. These were never intended for long term storage.

The other issue is the inherent unreliability of packet writing, which does
not close the disc properly. DirectCD is oh so convenient to use, but
there's no guarantee that it can be read on anything other than the original
configuration that recorded it. And a 3-year old version of DirectCD is even
more problematic, since packet writing software was highly proprietary in
those days.

If you can find a computer with the same software that originally recorded
the CD - including the same version of the software - you might be able to
read and copy from the CD. Otherwise you can start serving drinks with them,
because, barring an expensive trip to a data recovery outfit, there ain't a
whole lot you can do with them.

The mere fact that you are using a CD-RW, even an old one, or DirectCD would
not damage your Windows installation.

 

[George]

Thanks Ted,

Fortunately, I have all the data and don't need to read the CD's, so don't
need to go back to an old PC.

But I'd like to do correct thing going forward... Should I get a "new"
version of DirectCD from Dell, or take some other action to "update" the
PC/drive/software/drivers whatever, so I catch up with 2006?

Any recommendations appreciated.

Thanks,
George

 

[Ted Zieglar]

You are well advised to use the current version of any CD writing software
you choose. Two popular burning suites are Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 and
Nero 7, although there are many others. The two that I mentionned are widely
discounted - do not pay full price. After that, it's 'burn baby
burn...disc-o inferno...burn baby burn...'