cd-rw

[big yankee]

Do you have to format a CD-RW? Each time I attempt to copt onto one I get the message 'will not fit' even though the CD is blank

[j2buttonsw]

A CD-RW is a re-writable CD which can be written to over and over again (rather like a big floppydisk). They usually have to be formatted in order for you to drag and drop files to them through Windows Explorer. I don't trust them as the ones I've used soon become unreadable. CD-R is a standard once only writable CD that do not need formatting.

[bluedolphin]

J2buttonsw you have given me a scare....I keep a lot of my family photos on cdrw...care to elaborate?

[j2buttonsw]

I think it is a general myth that CDs last forever (which was a big selling point when they first came out). I think everybody would agree that you have to take great care of them. I have found CD-R/CD-RWs to be even more fragile: one just has to scrape a tiny bit of the top layer for them, or some of their contents, to become unreadable. Maybe I've been unlucky or the technology was too new (I've not used a CD-RW for 3 years) but every CD-RW I've ever burnt (and looked after carefully) ended up not reading. Please tell me if I'm wrong (or paranoid), but for valuable data I've always burnt several copies to CD-R and kept them jewel cased in a safe area. I don't know whether the more expensive CD-R/CD-RWs are hardier.

[AussieGeoff]

If it is a brand new CD-RW and you are going to copy files using Easy CD Creator or Nero etc, no you dont, but if you are going to treat the CD-RW as a big floppy disk using DirectCD or InCD, you do have to format it from within DirectCD or, I assume InCD; I use Easy CD Creator which has DirectCD. InCD comes with Nero. The reason is that the blank CD-RW has no file table structure and formatting is used to create it. You only have to format it once, after that you can add or delete files as if it was a floppy or hard disk. When you have finished writing to the disk and want to remove it, do NOT push the button on the drive, use the program option to eject as it allows the program to close the session and update the file table. This may be your problem if you attempted to write to the disk before and then opened the door yourself. If this is the case reformatting it should solve the problem, but like formattting any other disk you will lose whatever was already on the disk.

[wildwood]

I have used formatted CD-RWs at least a hundred times (delete and write) and they are still going strong. Found some CD brands incompatable with particular older drives though. Recently installed a 48x cyberdrive and can no longer use CD creator or direct CD, but runs ok with Nero and InCD.
AussieGeoffs answer makes good reading. Badly scratched CDs can be restored with 'polish' available from your local music store. You won't harm the info on the disk because the stuff you actually write to is encased in plastic. Scratches on the disk may refract the laser beam that reads/writes the info.