What's the story on CD-RW

[Guest]

I don't burn CDs very often so please bear with me.

I have a CD-RW drive in my computer, so I bought some CD-RW discs. I copied
some folders to a disc, then a while later copied some more folders to the
disc, but now I can't copy any more files/folders to the disc. The system
says there's no free space left on the disk, but there's less than 100 MB of
stuff on it.

I understand that for RW discs there's something called finalizing, but I
don't recall ever finalizing my disc. Under what conditions does Windows
finalize a CD-RW?

I've checked numerous Microsoft on-line articles on CDs but nothing mentions
finalizing.

I used some ISO writing software to image a bunch of other RW discs, and now
I find I can't rewrite them either.

It's kinda pricy buying RW discs that can only be written to once.

Can someone please explain when and why you can't write to RW discs any
more, or point me to an article.

 

[Doug Kanter]

I don't burn CDs very often so please bear with me.

I have a CD-RW drive in my computer, so I bought some CD-RW discs. I
copied
some folders to a disc, then a while later copied some more folders to the
disc, but now I can't copy any more files/folders to the disc. The system
says there's no free space left on the disk, but there's less than 100 MB
of
stuff on it.

I understand that for RW discs there's something called finalizing, but I
don't recall ever finalizing my disc. Under what conditions does Windows
finalize a CD-RW?

I've checked numerous Microsoft on-line articles on CDs but nothing
mentions
finalizing.

I used some ISO writing software to image a bunch of other RW discs, and
now
I find I can't rewrite them either.

It's kinda pricy buying RW discs that can only be written to once.

Can someone please explain when and why you can't write to RW discs any
more, or point me to an article.

My machine's too busy right now or I'd pop in a disc and check this, but
once you have an Explorer window open, showing the disc, isn't there an
erase or reformat command in one of the menus?

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

The CD Recording program within Windows XP is
quite rudimentary and lacks many features found
in a good third-party CD burning program. I would
suggest looking into installing a good program,
such as NERO.
http://ww2.nero.com/enu/index.html

CD-Recordable FAQ
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302711/

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------­----------------

:

| I don't burn CDs very often so please bear with me.
|
| I have a CD-RW drive in my computer, so I bought some CD-RW discs. I copied
| some folders to a disc, then a while later copied some more folders to the
| disc, but now I can't copy any more files/folders to the disc. The system
| says there's no free space left on the disk, but there's less than 100 MB of
| stuff on it.
|
| I understand that for RW discs there's something called finalizing, but I
| don't recall ever finalizing my disc. Under what conditions does Windows
| finalize a CD-RW?
|
| I've checked numerous Microsoft on-line articles on CDs but nothing mentions
| finalizing.
|
| I used some ISO writing software to image a bunch of other RW discs, and now
| I find I can't rewrite them either.
|
| It's kinda pricy buying RW discs that can only be written to once.
|
| Can someone please explain when and why you can't write to RW discs any
| more, or point me to an article.
| --
| Eric Kolotyluk
| Software Developer

 

[Guest]

No, there is nothing like that in any of the menus (not even a disabled menu
item).

When I go to My Computer, Explorer shows my G: drive as a CD-RW Drive.

The Details pane shows:

CD-RW Drive (G
CD Drive
Free Space: 0 bytes
Total Size: 13.5 MB

 

[Doug Kanter]

That's odd. When I insert an already-used disc, an Explorer window pops up,
and the file menu offers "Erase this CD-RW". And, in My Computer, if I
right-click that drive, I'm offered the same choice.

 

[Guest]

Unfortunately I am out of blank CD-RW discs to see if they work.

 

[Doug Kanter]

You don't need a blank to check again for the existence of the menu command.
If you need the file on the CD to remain intact, just don't USE the command.

 

[Guest]

Hmmm, I would have thought CD-RW technology was something pretty basic. I
hope Vista has better support. The strange thing is, I was able to add new
files/folders to a CD-RW (with stuff already on it) at least once before. I
don't remember doing anything special.

I checked out the Nero web site. Thats pretty pricy for someone who just
wants to be able to add new files/folders to a CD-RW disc.

According to http://www.itsu.vt.edu/Workshops/CDBurning/HTML/whatis.htm I
should be able to erase a CD-RW after it is finalized (even though I don't
remember finalizing anything). Unfortunately Explorer does not seem to give
me the option to erase a disc the way Doug claims.

Can you think of any reason why I don't get the "Erase" menu item?

I may have to break down an go buy a USB storage device (or memory stick) if
I want to back-up special files reliably.

 

[Opinicus]

Hmmm, I would have thought CD-RW technology was something pretty basic. I
hope Vista has better support. The strange thing is, I was able to add new
files/folders to a CD-RW (with stuff already on it) at least once before.
I
don't remember doing anything special.

I checked out the Nero web site. Thats pretty pricy for someone who just
wants to be able to add new files/folders to a CD-RW disc.

According to http://www.itsu.vt.edu/Workshops/CDBurning/HTML/whatis.htm I
should be able to erase a CD-RW after it is finalized (even though I don't
remember finalizing anything). Unfortunately Explorer does not seem to
give
me the option to erase a disc the way Doug claims.

Can you think of any reason why I don't get the "Erase" menu item?

I may have to break down an go buy a USB storage device (or memory stick)
if
I want to back-up special files reliably.

 

[kurttrail]

Hmmm, I would have thought CD-RW technology was something pretty
basic. I hope Vista has better support. The strange thing is, I was
able to add new files/folders to a CD-RW (with stuff already on it)
at least once before. I don't remember doing anything special.

I checked out the Nero web site. Thats pretty pricy for someone who
just wants to be able to add new files/folders to a CD-RW disc.

According to
http://www.itsu.vt.edu/Workshops/CDBurning/HTML/whatis.htm I should
be able to erase a CD-RW after it is finalized (even though I don't
remember finalizing anything). Unfortunately Explorer does not seem
to give me the option to erase a disc the way Doug claims.

Can you think of any reason why I don't get the "Erase" menu item?

I may have to break down an go buy a USB storage device (or memory
stick) if I want to back-up special files reliably.

Please list the software titles you have been involved in developing.



--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[Opinicus]

(Sorry, I hit "Send" too soon.)

I may have to break down an go buy a USB storage device (or memory stick)
if
I want to back-up special files reliably.

If you want to back up *anything* reliably CD-RW is not a good choice as I
once discovered to my embarassment and cost. See:

"Written CD-RW discs do not meet Red Book or Orange Book Part II standards
for prerecorded or recordable CDs (e.g. reduced signal levels).
Consequently, CD-RWs cannot be read in CD-ROM drives built prior to 1997.
CD-R is considered a better technology for archival purposes as disc
contents cannot be modified and manufacturers claim greater longevity."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD-RW

"This is further complicated by the fact that is nearly impossible to
unformat a disc formatted specifically for packet writing thus rending it
unusable in computers that do not have support for the proprietary mode."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packet-writing

and

"Why your computer might not read a particular UDF disk"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Disk_Format

A memory stick is definitely the way to go in my opinion. In fact, the more
I think about it, the less justification I can find for using CD-RW at all.

 

[Doug Kanter]

A memory stick is definitely the way to go in my opinion. In fact, the
more I think about it, the less justification I can find for using CD-RW
at all.
Bob
http://www.kanyak.com

I always wonder about their susceptibility to damage by static electricity.
I've made no effort to investigate this - just wondering. Meanwhile, a tape
drive serves me nicely, with a series of tapes for alternate days, alternate
weeks, some stored off premises.

 

[Guest]

I have a second disk drive that I back-up the primary to, but I like to keep
all the software I've purchased on-line somewhere else just to be safe. I
don't want to burn a new CD each time I get new software or an update, that's
why I thought I'd use CD-RW.

Anyway, that's a good point about the Red Book Orange Books standards.

I think tape back-up is a little too exotic for my needs. Hopefully static
won't be too much of a problem with USB flash devices.

Anyway, I think I've pretty well given up on CD-RW technology now.

Thanks for all the info.

Cheers, Eric

 

[Doug Kanter]

I think tape back-up is a little too exotic for my needs. Hopefully static
won't be too much of a problem with USB flash devices.

Got any of those anti-static bags that hard drives & circuit boards come
packaged in? Maybe store the flash drives in those. Or, feel free to ignore
my paranoia, which has no basis in fact yet.

 

[Michael Stevens]

In

I don't burn CDs very often so please bear with me.

I have a CD-RW drive in my computer, so I bought some CD-RW discs. I
copied some folders to a disc, then a while later copied some more
folders to the disc, but now I can't copy any more files/folders to
the disc. The system says there's no free space left on the disk, but
there's less than 100 MB of stuff on it.

I understand that for RW discs there's something called finalizing,
but I don't recall ever finalizing my disc. Under what conditions
does Windows finalize a CD-RW?

I've checked numerous Microsoft on-line articles on CDs but nothing
mentions finalizing.

I used some ISO writing software to image a bunch of other RW discs,
and now I find I can't rewrite them either.

It's kinda pricy buying RW discs that can only be written to once.

Can someone please explain when and why you can't write to RW discs
any more, or point me to an article.

Adding audio or multi-media files to a CDRW will close the disk.
--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com
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