Is directCD a bad program?

[Special K]

I once had directCD ruin one of my CDRWs. I have heard people recommend against it. (Although in my case i was using directCD 3 with win2k which may have been a bad idea) Are programs like these not a good idea, and would i be better off just burning stuff to the cdrw just through the regular program?

 

[YoullMispronounceIt]

In my opinion, stay away from all Adaptec/Roxio burning programs. They're very bloated and unstable.

 

[Workin']

I would keep any data I wanted to keep far away from ANY packet-writing software.

And people who say Adaptec/Roxio products are unstable are clowns. Bloated, maybe. Unstable, no.

 

[Jedibus]

Workin', does that go for InCD also? Is it better to just use Nero?

 

[gtd2000]

I used Roxio EZCD 5 Platinum from around April 2001 until just a week or so ago when I upgraded to a Buslink 16x10x40 CDR.

Unfortunately it does not fully support the Roxio/Adaptec software.

I have had zero problems with Roxio software combined with my Panasonic 7586 CDR (8x4x32) - DirectCD was a very useful program - however, I did have one instance where I made a data CD of digital images for my GF to use on her laptop - but according to her PC it was a blank disk!?!? No big deal really though.

Other than that it was a very reliable program.

I'm now using the Buslink supplied Nero 5 software and this appears to work perfectly - just as the Roxio software worked perfectly

 

[corkyg]

Direct CD can cause many problems, and generally, is more trouble than it is worth. I have used ECDC since version 1.0 (when it belonged to Corel) and never even considered installing Direct CD when it came along after Adaptec bought it (I believe that was ver. 3.) There are many other much better ways to do the same thing . . . especially with things like Zip, LS-120, Firewire external HDD, etc., etc.

 

[Workin']

<< Workin', does that go for InCD also? Is it better to just use Nero? >>

In my opinion I would not use ANY packet-writing software to save important of irreplaceable data. Not DirectCD, not InCD, nor any other program of that type.

That being said, I DO have DirectCD installed on my computer, but I can't remember why.... I don't ever use it, like corky-g said there are lots of better ways to skin that cat.

 

[dummy2001]

Ok, well I have been using directcd 2.5d for over a year, and after disabling it from launching automatically with windows I've found it extremely useful. So if its not reliable whats the alternative? Don't tell me to buy another piece of hardware, thats why I bought a cdrw. Should I burn regular cdr's but leave the session open? Create a backup-backup cdrw in case one fails?

And when you say directcd killed the cdrw, do you mean killed the disc or the drive? That may be a stupid question but not to me. I have a samsung sc-140 cd drive that now reads every cd as unplayable audio. It won't accept the rom flash for its model, and samsung ignores me. So I'm sensitive to things killing cd drives.

 

[gtd2000]

Well coincidentally my new Buslink just died last night

I've only used it for just over a week...........and a couple of disks.............:disgust:

 

[Workin']

<< Ok, well I have been using directcd 2.5d for over a year, and after disabling it from launching automatically with windows I've found it extremely useful. So if its not reliable whats the alternative? Don't tell me to buy another piece of hardware, thats why I bought a cdrw. >>

If you use it you should set it to verify copies, or verify them yourself. However...

<< Should I burn regular cdr's but leave the session open? >>

I think this is a better option. It's what I do, after losing a few important files to corrupted CDRW discs.

<< And when you say directcd killed the cdrw, do you mean killed the disc or the drive? >>

I would imagine killed the disc. At least that's what's happened to me a few times. My drive still works fine.

 

[Special K]

Yes it just killed the disc. Actually I was later able to repair the disc, but then it just got corrupted again. I again repaired it but lost about 150 MB of the CD (the CD registers as a 500 MB CD now) and now I don't dare save anything on it after the 2 corruptions it has had. Also, what is it about these type of programs that make them so error-prone?

 

[gtd2000]

Actually now that you mention this I had the same problem using the NTI CD Maker software on my laptop at work.

I made a nice data cd - of which only half the data could be read at home due to some error or other in reading from the "data" CD

 

[manly]

I used to use DirectCD to backup Quicken data files (that wouldn't fit onto a floppy). It was the most convenient way.

However, after upgrading my OS, I don't feel compelled to stick w/ Roxio software at all. Are there any strong alternatives as far as packet-writing software goes? Any standard packet-writing formats that might even be cross-platform?

On a similar note, is there is any *real good* CD-R backup software for Windows (or Linux)? I used to manually Ghost off image files, and burn them. That was a great way to archive, but not really a true, flexible, nor automated backup routine.

 

[dummy2001]

Thanks Workin. From now on anything halfway important gets burned to cdr with session open. I mean cdr's hold more and are cheaper, for the price of a spindle of 50 it would be silly to risk losing something just so I can erase it someday.

Adaptec/Roxio always pissed me off anyway. 2.5d puts up annoying windows every time you insert or eject a cdrw. You can set it not to, but it won't hold the settings after a restart and launches itself with windows. Had to slap it down with msconfig. The joke is that Roxio has a fix for the behavior, but its not a patch, its a new version they want you to pay for.:disgust: