CD-R/CD-RW Clarifications?

[michaelh20]

I've been searching on the net for clarification on the differences, modes, etc. of Cd-r and CD-RW. Now can someone clarify the following for me...

(1) Cd-r is write only once. Duh! I knew that. But then you can do either DAO (write the whole thing) or TAO (write a track). And then there's something that if you write track after track, you might loose, not be able to see stuff anymore? Is this what finalize refers to, or is that only on CD-RW?

(2) Is Cd-RW essentially the same minus that it can be re-written (and hence used for DirectCD, etc.)? You have to always format it first to write anything or can you just do DAO and do DAO again, etc..?

(3) There are other funky modes too, like CD-2X or something like that( ??!?) What are those things? I think easy CD Creator said it recommended it be in one mode or another (came free with my burner, yaaaah)
(4) I'm most curious about what could be read from dos (or win 9x command prompt), since I would like to make me a nifty-recovery cd. Can CD-RW be read period from a normal CD drive at all? You can right, but not all, many of them do? Do you have to "finalize" it first to something else or another. Can you do anything else after you finalize it? (arrggg.. I read the Cd-R FAQ too, didn't clarify these details) If I do a whatchamcallit format (preserves long names on the cdrom) think I could read it at all from Win9x command prompt? What exactly happens with a CD that isn't finalized? Can only be read from the same computer, only the same burner/drive? Need directCD installed?

(5) maybe I should buy some disks and start burning stuff... sniff
(6) there should be better information on the internet, I saw alt.comp.periphs.cdr had some posts, uhhh, like 7000 of them, but most stuff didn't see to address the questions above.

Thanks a bunch.

 

[Playitagainsam]

Dude,

Here's a coupla things:

1) The "track after track" mode you refer to is just as good as "disc at once", only that it leaves a 2-seconds blank space between tracks. Which is something you don't want to have, say, on a concert CD or a mix by Paul Oakenfold. Of course, if something happens with the recording while you're at it - say, a buffer underrun, then you pretty much f*ck up the disc (At best you can use it for data, adding a second session later)

2) You can only read the FIRST session on a disc in a CD player. A computer will always read the LAST (most recent) session by default, but you can ask for adifferent session in Explorer, by right-clicking on the disc icon and selectin which session you want access to.

3) You always have to erase a CD-RW before using it again (if it's full). If it's not full, the program will say something likew "the disc is not blank, would you like to add a new volume to it?"

4) You probably can record as fast as you want, even 12x, but if you really care about your music, stay with nominal (1x) speed. Otherwise you might get small pops between tracks, which can be annoying.

5) more than likely, the Adaptec Easy CD Creator you have is not a full version, but a bare-bones one. Get a full version (buy it, copy it or steal it - it's pretty popular on warez sites) and don't forget to add patches from their site - this WILL help you.

6) only some CD-Rom drives read RW's, and ANY disc needs to be finalized, or have the last session closed, before you can read it.

7) Don't bother using DirectCD, it's a resource hog, and running in the background will not help, especially on a less performant computer. The bad news is, you can't really use the CD-R or CD-RW as a floppy, the good news is that, even if you just burn data occasionally on it, it'll still be solid. I'm not sure that you can really do "recovery" CD's, unless you have a third-party program, like Nuts And Bolts or something alike.

8) This is a good place to start sniffing around. cdmediaworld.com

 

[Workin']

<< A computer will always read the LAST (most recent) session by default, but you can ask for adifferent session in Explorer, by right-clicking on the disc icon and selectin which session you want access to. >>


You could also import the TOC from the ealier sessions into the current one when you burn it, then to the computer it will look like one big session.