I just installed windows xp and I cant find the format
disk command. Also, I have data cd's that I used with
Microsoft works in windows 98 and I can't seem to open
the disks. I can't even look at the info on the disk
under my computer. Could you please help me out
Thank you Bill
What kind of "format disk" command are you looking for? "Format" for a CDRW
disk relates to "packet writing" - a special form of CD burning. XP does
not include packet writing and therefore does not have a format CD command.
If your data CDs were created with packet writing, they may be unreadable
by your new hardware or by XP. Check the website of the program that was
used to make the CDs. Check for a "UDF reader" that can be downloaded and
installed to give you access to that data.
NOTE: If you end up installing a more full featured burning program on XP
-- no promises but it is very possible that the program will add the
ability to read those older CDs. Example: Newer versions of Roxio Direct CD
can read UDF CDs burned by Nero's InCD and visa versa.
For more information about the cdburning features included with XP see this
article written by MVP Alex Nichol:
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpcd.htm
