"Burning Rewriteable CDs for Dummies" Book?

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Jackliz

Jackliz

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Howdy.

I need very basic information about burning files to rewriteable CDs. I have run into different types of problems when trying to accomplish this goal.
I am going to ask about these problems one at a time. Here goes.

Basically, what I want to do is to be able to "write" a file to a rewriteable CD on Monday. Then on Tuesday, I want to "write" another file to th SAME CD. BUT I receive a message that the CD has info on it and that the data must be erased. DUH?? Why? The CD burning program I use is Sonic RecordNow Plus, Version 7.

TIA,
Liz
 
The problem is most likely a hardware/software conflict of come kind.  What version of Windows are you using?  What brand of CD-RW discs?  There are all kinds of possibilities unfortunately. 

CD-RW media was a great idea when it first was released 10 or so years ago, but they are not all that reliable.  Many current drives will have problems recognizing and burning to the CD-RW disc properly, especially on newer computers that aren't built to be compatible with the older CD-RW technology.  Anything you can do with a CD-RW drive anymore, is even easier with a cheap "flash drive" (those little keychain-sized things you plug directly in to your computer's USB port).  They are inexpensive, interchangeable between almost any computer, and can be purchased with more portable storage space than most people ever need.  Go to www.buy.com and type "USB Flash Drive" into the Search field, and you'll see just some of the available options.
 
scottydl said:
The problem is most likely a hardware/software conflict of come kind.  What version of Windows are you using?  What brand of CD-RW discs?  There are all kinds of possibilities unfortunately. 

CD-RW media was a great idea when it first was released 10 or so years ago, but they are not all that reliable.  Many current drives will have problems recognizing and burning to the CD-RW disc properly, especially on newer computers that aren't built to be compatible with the older CD-RW technology.  Anything you can do with a CD-RW drive anymore, is even easier with a cheap "flash drive" (those little keychain-sized things you plug directly in to your computer's USB port).  They are inexpensive, interchangeable between almost any computer, and can be purchased with more portable storage space than most people ever need.  Go to www.buy.com and type "USB Flash Drive" into the Search field, and you'll see just some of the available options.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply, Scotty.  For my needs, though, a flash drive is not the answer.

Regards,
Liz
 
Jackliz said:
Thank you for the reply, Scotty.  For my needs, though, a flash drive is not the answer.
Click to expand...

Well its not the only suggestion I'd have.  ;)  If I could ask, what are your needs for the CD-RW discs?  Standard CD-R discs are so cheap now and will probably work better - it may be just as economical to use those one-time discs.  For data, you shouldn't have any problem adding files one by one (1st file on Monday, 2nd file on Tuesday, etc).  For music, it wouldn't work that way because the program requires the disc to "close" after burning.  Some programs will ask you if you want to leave the disc open or closed after burning, although I'm not familiar enough with your specific version of RecordNow to know the specifics.
 
There are two ways to do what you want to do.  One is to use the CD-RW as a slow disk drive and that requires special software.  Windows doesn't directly support that mode of operation.  What you're looking for is something called a UDF driver, probably included with your RecordNow software, possibly not.  The disadvantage of UDF is you need the same software on any computer used to read the medium.

The other method writes the drive as a CD-R but you have to tell the burning program not to "close" or "finalize"the drive after writing.  Also, you may have to specify multi-session in the burning program.  This method allows you to add additional files to the medium until it's full.  It also allows reading it in any CD-ROM drive.
 
In addition to what Ned said, some software requires you to "Import" any files currently on the cd. It doesn't re-write them, but uses that info to determine space available and cd type. Also make sure you have the "Read Only" box (if present) UNCHECKED before burning the first session.
 
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