CD-RW Problem (Revisted)

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Guest

I too have just discovered that when I try to "package to CD" with a CD-RW
disc, I get the error message that the disc is not writeable. I've read in
previous posts that you can get around this by just packaging to a folder
first, and then burning the folder contents with a different program. That's
fine, but I'd still like to understand why it just doesn't work the way it's
intended.

Are any of the following the cause of the problem or does someone know the
cause?

1. I have a CD burner E:, a DVD drive F: and a DVD/CD burner G: I've been
trying to use drive E:
2. I do have Roxio Drag-to-Disc installed (and I believe it is always
running in the background.)

If anyone can help, thanks in advance!
 
The answer is that PowerPoint is not very smart. It has limited CD burning
capabilities built into it. Your CD burning software is much smarter when it
comes to burning CDs. In the same vein, you can do drawing in PowerPoint,
but if you want to do something really sophisticated with drawing, you are
better off with a real drawing package.
--David

David M. Marcovitz
Author of _Powerful PowerPoint for Educators_
http://www.loyola.edu/education/PowerfulPowerPoint/
 
I too have just discovered that when I try to "package to CD" with a CD-RW
disc, I get the error message that the disc is not writeable. I've read in
previous posts that you can get around this by just packaging to a folder
first, and then burning the folder contents with a different program. That's
fine, but I'd still like to understand why it just doesn't work the way it's
intended.
Click to expand...

In writing to CD, PowerPoint uses Windows services (provided by Win XP but not
other versions, incidentally). You might need to check one of the
Windows-specific newsgroups to get an answer for this.

There can be all sorts of reasons why it doesn't work; I had CD-writing on one
computer go south because somebody'd installed Real Player on it; somehow it
thought it "owned" the CD writing process after that. Uninstalled Real Player,
all's fine. There's a lesson in itself. RealAnything=RealEvil. ;-)
1. I have a CD burner E:, a DVD drive F: and a DVD/CD burner G: I've been
trying to use drive E:
2. I do have Roxio Drag-to-Disc installed (and I believe it is always
running in the background.)
Click to expand...

That could cause the problem. Two direct-to-cd drivers in conflict with one
another.

You understand that direct-written CDs may not be readable on all players?
In other words, even if you solve the immediate problem, it may enable you to
turn out CDs that end up being unusable on some systems.
 
Use a CD-R, not a CD-RW. PowerPoint will tell you which drive to put it in. It
depends on how your drives are cabled.
 
I have already burned to CD-R successfully within PowerPoint using the E:
drive. That is why I thought it was really odd that the same drive won't
recognize a blank CD-RW disc. CD-R is fine for the final product, but not
for doing some practice runs on another computer. For the time being, I'll
use the work around to allow me to burn to a CD-RW. But it sure would be
nice if Microsoft could fix this problem with PowerPoint. If another program
such as Roxio Drag-to-Disc was interfering with burning within PowerPoint,
wouldn't it affect CD-R media as well. So far, I have only heard of this
problem being described with CD-RW media. I think the problem lies with
PowerPoint. Anyone disagree?
 
In my experience when you insert a CD-RW in the drive and Drag to Disc is
running, it grabs it and seems to own it. Once a CD-RW was touched by Drag to
Disc it was "spoiled" as far as PowerPoint was concerned. Whatever it does to
the disc, Nero can't write to it either. Actually that's why I dumped Roxio
altogether. I now use Nero exclusively. Don't get me wrong. Roxio's overall
product is excellent, but Drag to Disc sucks - - for me at least. I'm happy
with Nero.

The Help file says that you can use a CD-RW with Package for CD, but I don't
have any left that haven't been touched by Drag to Disc. I'll try to test this
in the next few days.
 
I had the same experience. I can package to a CD-R, but
not a CD-RW. Too bad I bought a package of ten (thank
goodness I didn't buy 25!) Does Microsoft ever answer
complaints about this problem? Is it on their radar?
-----Original Message-----
I have already burned to CD-R successfully within PowerPoint using the E:
drive. That is why I thought it was really odd that the same drive won't
recognize a blank CD-RW disc. CD-R is fine for the final product, but not
for doing some practice runs on another computer. For the time being, I'll
use the work around to allow me to burn to a CD-RW. But it sure would be
nice if Microsoft could fix this problem with
Click to expand...
PowerPoint. If another program
 
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