How would i go about burning a file, which is too big for a CD, onto a CD?

imported_Salvatore

Senior member
Jul 9, 2004
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Hey guys. I have a file on my computer that I would like to burn onto a CD. However, the file is too big and returns an error that the CD is too small when I try to burn it. There are only a few files that could be that big, so you probably know what it is. Is there any way to break the file up(Probably in half), so that one half will go on one CD, and the other on another CD? Or maybe I could compress it?

Thanks for any assistance.
 

Cheetah8799

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2001
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using WinRar you can make an archive that is split to specific sizes.

Or burn to a DVD if you have access to a dvd burner...
 

ThePiston

Senior member
Nov 14, 2004
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Not sure if a burn program will do that, but you can get file splitters pretty easy online. Try and compress it into a zip file using XP first.
 

imported_Salvatore

Senior member
Jul 9, 2004
538
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I have a legal copy of WinZip, would that work? I notice the common Win in the names of WinZip and WinRar, so I'm presuming that means something.

Oh, and no access to a DVD Burner. I'm taking this file off my ancient computer to free up some space(It totals about 1GB, because there's a smaller file that goes with the big one), because I have only 1GB left on this 8-year-old 12GB.
 

ZYFER

Senior member
Nov 2, 2002
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Win means it is generally used for WIndows, they are different programs, Winzip isn't capable of compress and splitting archives into specific sizes, only compressing them. you would probably need two cds
 

imported_Salvatore

Senior member
Jul 9, 2004
538
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Thanks. I'll go about using WinRar. It seems free, but it says trial. After the trial is over, can I just keep clicking a "Test It For 7 More Days" button, a la "The All Seeing Eye"?
 

Calin

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2001
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You might use arj.exe, there is a MSDOS version of it free for personal use. But you must use a command prompt, as it doesn't have a graphical interface.
Command would be something like arj a -v 600M ... ... ...
I thought of overburning a CD, but it only works up to something like 800MB, for a 1GB file is useless.
 

Zepper

Elite Member
May 1, 2001
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7-zip may do it - I haven't checked all its options but you may not need to split the file as 7-zip's native compression algorithm is much more efficient than normal zip. It's free and will run on most Win versions.
.bh.
 

GfW

Member
May 27, 2004
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There is a utility I have used for years called G-Split that splits the file into as many parts as you want. Also, I think WinRAR compresses more effectively than WinZip and will give you a smaller file.
 

Calin

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2001
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WinRAR compress more efficiently and generates a smaller file, but it runs quite a bit longer. If that is OK with you, that's perfect.
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
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Originally posted by: Calin
WinRAR compress more efficiently and generates a smaller file, but it runs quite a bit longer. If that is OK with you, that's perfect.

WinRAR is a very good compression program, with a bunch of features that ZIP doesn't have. I find that WinRAR's self-extracting archives, with recovery data (parity data), are still usually smaller than standalone ZIP files.
I actually bought WinRAR too. Quite a useful program. The Explorer shell integration is good, and it can read ZIP and ISO files, plus a bunch of others.
 

imported_Salvatore

Senior member
Jul 9, 2004
538
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I used WinRar and "archived" the file to the point where it became small enough to put on one CD. However, when I try to burn it, Nero returns an error which says: Unexpected File Type. It then closes. The file type is WinRar archive. Is there any way to ever burn the CD, or convert it back to .ISO or .BIN while maintaining the smaller size?
 

Pretty Cool

Senior member
Jan 20, 2000
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So what you are asking is, "how do I burn a cue/bin?". If so, the bin files are usually bit bigger than 700MB, but they should fit on a cd-r. Is this a video? The video could be extracted and split onto 2 cd's if needed. On the other hand, if it is a game, spitting is not a good idea.
 

imported_Salvatore

Senior member
Jul 9, 2004
538
1
81
I hate to beat a dead topic, but one more problem arose. Nero won't let me burn the .BIN file. I remember burning this file a while back, and I had to do something in order to be able to burn it, but I don't remember what to do.

Should I burn it as a Data Disc, or as a Disc Image disc?
 

Pretty Cool

Senior member
Jan 20, 2000
872
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Example:

files:
image-name.BIN
image-name.cue

location of files: C:\downloads


Procedure:

-Open the cue file with a text editor. It should look something like this:

------------------------------------------
FILE "image-name.BIN" BINARY
TRACK 1 MODE2/2352
INDEX 1 00:00:00
-----------------------------------------

-Enter the path after FILE, so it looks like this:

----------------------------------------
FILE "C:\downloads\image-name.BIN" BINARY
TRACK 1 MODE2/2352
INDEX 1 00:00:00

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

-Save the changes
-Then burn it in Nero like this:

Nero Instructions