How many times can you burn on a CD-RW before it degrades?

[janas19]

I'm asking because I'm trying to install an uncommon version of Windows (XP MCE) on an OEM HP PC using an OEM build of Windows that was not intended for this model. It's a slow and pain-staking process to figure out the correct iso directory which will install fully, and I've burned about 5 ISOs thus far onto a single CD-RW and now I'm getting errors. I will probably have to burn a few more, any ideas how many times each CD is good for before it starts slipping?

 

[Fallengod]

I dont fully understand what you are trying to do or why you would bother but, a cd-rw should have lots of possible burns on it. Like, in the hundreds or thousands on it....I believe.

If youre getting errors, it may be because you are not fully erasing the disc each time. I have had that issue burning DVDs on DVD-RW's before. You burn the first time its fine, but if you only do a quick erase, the next burn can end up having messed up video, pixelation, cause dvd to stop being read, etc...

 

[janas19]

I dont fully understand what you are trying to do or why you would bother but, a cd-rw should have lots of possible burns on it. Like, in the hundreds or thousands on it....I believe.

If youre getting errors, it may be because you are not fully erasing the disc each time. I have had that issue burning DVDs on DVD-RW's before. You burn the first time its fine, but if you only do a quick erase, the next burn can end up having messed up video, pixelation, cause dvd to stop being read, etc...

Oh wow, thanks. I just assumed you could only burn a CD a very limited amt of times (IDK why). I was just doing a quick erase. I didn't know that could affect the transfers.

Thanks!

 

[Fallengod]

Honestly cd-rw's and dvd-rw's arnt the best media to mess with. Ive always had issues using certain discs after you erase over them. When you do a full erase, it takes like 10X longer than quick erase so.....its kind of a pain in the ass. I hate messing with cd-rw/dvd-rw's. Its best to use blank cd-r/dvd-r's that are burn once and be done with it. Much more stable and reliable burns.

I would never store any important data you cared about on a cd-rw/dvd-rw for long periods of time.

 

[janas19]

Honestly cd-rw's and dvd-rw's arnt the best media to mess with. Ive always had issues using certain discs after you erase over them. When you do a full erase, it takes like 10X longer than quick erase so.....its kind of a pain in the ass. I hate messing with cd-rw/dvd-rw's. Its best to use blank cd-r/dvd-r's that are burn once and be done with it. Much more stable and reliable burns.

I would never store any important data you cared about on a cd-rw/dvd-rw for long periods of time.

Meh. Yeah, that's good advice, but I can't really use a CD-R because I'm trying to build a Windows XP MCE ISO for an older HP PC with a SATA hard drive using a disc that is meant for another model computer with an IDE hard drive. Lol. I can get the installer to recognize my hard drive, finish the text-based install, and load the drivers, but right now I'm hung up on the CD Key screen. I'm trying to insert an SIF file and BAT file that will allow for an unattended install, but a lot of the info on the internet has omissions and stuff so I have to keep burning and erasing different builds until I figure out how to get it completely installed. I've already burned one CD-RW 5 times so far, and will probably have to do more.

 

[abekl]

I have two boxes of discs, one dvd-rw and one dvd+rw. I have written over both types of discs literally hundreds of times before having any problems with them. Then again, I handle my discs very carefully.

 

[VirtualLarry]

CD-RW is junk. Use CD-Rs.

 

[janas19]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Can someone explain this to me: I'm using ImgBurn to create an ISO CD. I use Windows 7 native program to format (full not quick) a CD-RW which erases all the data. When I go to start the burn in ImgBurn, I get a message pop up which says, "Data must be erased before continuing. Erase data on disc?"

Wtf! I thought I already erased it??

 

[Coup27]

CD-RW is junk. Use CD-Rs.

And they are junk because?

 

[VirtualLarry]

And they are junk because?

Because unless you can source some Japan-made discs, they generally tend to start corrupting data after about 10 write/erase cycles, in my experience.

I had so much trouble with them, I erased them all, and stopped using them.

CD-Rs are cheap enough that they are disposable, they burn much faster (saving time), and are more reliable. If you need to dispose of critical data (such as backups) - they make CD/DVD shredders.

 

[Soulkeeper]

I've heard that they are good for about a dozen burns depending on quality.
But i've never re-burned one more than maybe 4 or 5 times
They end up getting scratched or lost before I could ever use them that many times.

 

[Coup27]

Because unless you can source some Japan-made discs, they generally tend to start corrupting data after about 10 write/erase cycles, in my experience.

I had so much trouble with them, I erased them all, and stopped using them.

CD-Rs are cheap enough that they are disposable, they burn much faster (saving time), and are more reliable. If you need to dispose of critical data (such as backups) - they make CD/DVD shredders.

I've only ever bought TDK discs so I've always had plain sailing.

Your other points are valid. I do have two TDK CD-RW's that I use for odd jobs like my SSD firmware update which are still going strong after many many years. For duties like that they save wasting a CD-R. Each to their own I guess.

 

[rabbitz]

Why not make a bootable usb key? Or am I missing something here?

 

[fastamdman]

Some people don't have flash drives heh. I actually just made a post asking about flash drives because of this. I am tired of putting random files on cd r's or rw's because its just to much of a pain.

IMO, get a flash drive, toss the iso onto it and be done with it

 

[Coup27]

I've used YUMI and other pendrive linux programs before to make a bootable ISO and it's been 50/50 on whether it's worked or not.

For something as serious as a BIOS or SSD firmware update, I'd prefer to keep it simple with a tried and tested method.

 

[janas19]

Why not make a bootable usb key? Or am I missing something here?

How do you do that? Is there a tool to let you mount a bootable iso to the flash drive?

Sent from my VM670 using Tapatalk

 

[exdeath]

People still use those things? 4GB flash drives are almost free. There is no excuse. I threw out the last of my optical media at the same time I threw out my floppies and hard drives. No point in having a computer faster than a 286 if you're limiting yourself to mechanical media.

Never had any issues booting and flashing firmware from a flash drive. If I can't boot off a flash drive, then the PC is so old it doesn't support it and I regard it as trash from then on and stop working with it.

 

[jacktesterson]

I honestly haven't used one in 5 years

 

[Magic Carpet]

Because unless you can source some Japan-made discs, they generally tend to start corrupting data after about 10 write/erase cycles, in my experience.

I had so much trouble with them, I erased them all, and stopped using them.

CD-Rs are cheap enough that they are disposable, they burn much faster (saving time), and are more reliable. If you need to dispose of critical data (such as backups) - they make CD/DVD shredders.

Larry is right. Even Verbatims, you can't rely on these days.

However, to aid your task. I would rather use a Virtual Machine instead for testing purposes. Nice and simple.

 

[machasm]

Got to agree with Magic Carpet here.
A VM is nice and easy and will mount iso's without the need to keep burning them to disk.
Otherwise a flash drive is a good alternative if the PC supports booting from USB devices.
If you want a prgram to help you build your windows install then I have used BartPE before although it has been a little while since building windows intall scripts (back when XP was in the main!).

 

[janas19]

Got to agree with Magic Carpet here.
A VM is nice and easy and will mount iso's without the need to keep burning them to disk.
Otherwise a flash drive is a good alternative if the PC supports booting from USB devices.
If you want a prgram to help you build your windows install then I have used BartPE before although it has been a little while since building windows intall scripts (back when XP was in the main!).

Thank you for helping me. I've never even considered building a VM to test this configuration setup. But that's a really great idea, I want to explore that! Right now, I'm literally burning install setups and loading them onto the drive one at a time, like it was 2004, lol.

The really sad part is, my only other machine working currently is my netbook, and it doesn't even have a CD drive in it. That means when I partition the hard drive and try installing the install setup on it, if it doesn't work then I have to re -install Windows 7 just so I can use the ISO burner to try again!

LOL - the trials of a poor, broke amateur. (I'm laughing at my situation because it's so friggin absurd lol).