Seems like my CDRW is not running at it's fastest.

[optimistic]

DMA enabled, and it's running on its own channel (IDE2 as Primary). And when I use Nero's CD-DVD speed test, it spins up, and runs perfectly fast.

But during normal usage like installing software, or copying cds it seems kind of sluggish. Can anyone suggest any way to pep up the performance? Maybe like convince the drive to spin up before such operations?

 

[EeyoreX]

I do not believe there is anything to be done. The ability to spin a disk fast does not necessarily equate to being able to read the data from a disk spinning that fast. It also depends on the media quality, if there is any damage and the type of data being read.

\Dan

 

[optimistic]

Thanks! Maybe the drive I bought was just slow.

Sony 48X/24X/48X-CDRW - 16X-DVD-ROM Combo Drive.

 

[lucky9]

SpinDown time can be changed. Most of the time it's not a bother. If needed there are utilities that will change it and how long before it even starts to time out and spin down. Length of time before can be set to all the time. ie: always spun-up. It's tough on drives. They are cheap. I don't like to install HW that much.

When burning slowdowns occur check that WindowsXP or anything else can write to that drive. You turn off Windows burning in properties for the CD-RW. Some programs will tolerate other burning programs installed and some will not. If you need more than one all the time I'd check into a multi-boot or simply install/un-install as needed. two minutes or so to get setup right isn't much investment in time.

 

[Peter]

Burner drives are always slow in such non-linear access patterns as when installing software - particularly dual-laser DVD/CD systems. This is because their laser unit is much heavier, making seek times a lot slower than with read-only drives.

 

[Bassyhead]

Originally posted by: Peter
Burner drives are always slow in such non-linear access patterns as when installing software - particularly dual-laser DVD/CD systems. This is because their laser unit is much heavier, making seek times a lot slower than with read-only drives.

Peter hit the dot, you could try a regular CD/DVD-ROM and compare performance.