Using CD-R/DVD-R or CD-RW/DVD-RW discs

NO you can't rewrite a rewirteable CD-R

"NO you can't rewrite a rewirteable CD-R"

That makes absolutely no sense, what-so-ever... Of course you can "re-write" a "re-write"-able CD-R

you can't overwrite but you can use the unused space (200mb) a good example would be adding photos

Let us clarify a few small points:-

A CD-R can be written to in two different ways, multi-session, where you can add data till the CD is full, or closing immediately after the data is written, when the rest of the space cannot ever be used further (if any is left over!).

Multi-session disks can be problematical to read with different software, I personally NEVER use multi session for this reason.

A CD-RW can be written to in exactly the same two ways, with the same effects, but can also be completely erased and re-used again.

It is not possible to erase only part of a CD-RW, its all or nothing.

Generally speaking, most software can erase both CDs and DVDs in two different ways, one way only the VTOC is erased, its quick but the data is still there and can be recovered, important from a security aspect not to be forgotten. Also there is a complete erase.

The complete erase takes far, far longer, but should be used from time to time to condition the whole surface of the erasable disk, otherwise you could get read problems. The surface needs to be carefully used in this manner, especially on DVDs when not always filling the disk completely.

DVDs & CDs are easily damaged by the Sun, keep in the dark when not in use.

The upper surface is easily scratched and can cause a complete data loss. The lower surface (that with nothing printed on iot, the data surface!) can be re-polished a little, though scratches here should still not be taken lightly.

A CD/DVD should either be in the drive or in its box or on the way to one or the other!!! Never put it down ANYWHERE ELSE!!

Firmware update of a drive will usually increase the different types of disk that can be written to as well as improving write/read quality.

Never forget that a CD/DVD after being written should be fully verified as it is written to "Blind" and the drive does not know if the data is written well or not!! Most good writing software can be set up to do this automatically. Do not trust the quality of the data otherwise!

CD/DVD have a limited life, nobody will put their hand in the fire for just how long!!!

Music CDs older than 10 years are also very suspect, keep all important data and copies of your music CDs somewhere else as well!!!! Copies are legal as long as you never, sell, give away or throw away the original disk, even if it cannot be played anymore!!

An excellent summary - just one area where we differ:

"A CD/DVD should either be in the drive or in its box or on the way to one or the other!!! Never put it down ANYWHERE ELSE!!"

At least half of all CDs/DVDs in my possession started life as junk mail, were used as temporary backs-up or are otherwise out of date, or are unnecessary duplicates. These make good coffee-mats, coasters and bird scarers. They come in handy in constructing childrens' toys, and KennyT has even found a use as two-dimensional balances. The uses are limited by my imagination...

Fyz

There are cd and dvd burrning programs that support multi session burns. Two that i use are Nero ,and Roxio. there is also a sub program on roxio that is called drag to disc that allows you to drag a file to a cd rom as if you were using the windows explorer. these programs will scan the directory of your used cd to find out what is on it and see how much space is left and then allow you to add more data to it.

If you "close" a CD-R or other similar disks you can't write to them anymore. a lot of disk writing software gives you the option of "closing" them or not.

If you choose not to close them you can keep adding files until they are full.

One problem you may run into is that if you write a disk with one brand of disk burning software and then try to add more with another brand of burning software, it won't let you.

Windows XP has burning software built in. To use it: right click on the file you want to burn and in the "send to" in the box that pops up, choose your burner(typically "D") and a ballon will pop up saying you have files to be written. Click on that balloon and then on "write these files to CD" at the top of the left column.

Some of the other burning software is better but more complicated.

The infos given above are generally correct, but i wonder if you fully understand what was said. If you did not, post your question again here and I will try and answer it fully for you.....

Dear all,

Thank you for your kind clarifications. Let me try now & I'll come back if I have any further questions.

Does that also apply to dvd?

Mostly.

Note also that there is DVD+R and DVD-R. My TV recorder only burns DVD+R, my internal DVD burner on the computer only burns DVD-R and my external burner can do either. They all read either type.

Depends on whether or not the disc has been finalized or not. A finalized disc cannot have anymore data written onto it even if most of it is still blank. If it hasn't been finalized yet, if you have software that support multi-session burning, it's not a problem.

http://www.cdrfaq.org/

My Reply
depends which SW you are using & the procedure you adopted to write/burn the previous files.
Normally all the Shareware CD Burning SW have the provision to write/burn the CD-R in sessions. In that case you have to Save the 1st session in a format of the SW.
When writing on the left-over space you have to re-call the 1st session's record.
This will show you the space & continue.
CD-RW are always Re-Writeable on the left-over space like a Floppy/ zip-drive etc but you have to Format before to write on the full space. To format a CD-RW requires special formatting SW.
Almost all the Shareware CD-RW writing Sw has also Re-Formatting. But the CD-R /DVD burning Sw may not do.
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What you have written, may be mostly true under certain specific (but unmentioned by you) circumstances, but your explanations are not quite good enough/full enough for a beginner (who asked the original question!).

Please be exact and anticipate that a beginner just does not know much.

The sentence " CD-RW are always Re-Writeable on the left-over space l...." is just so wrong.....it implies even that you do not fully understand the question or the formats either, sorry to be so blunt....

Basically there are only two major differences (as far as a beginner is concerned anyway) between CD-R and CD-RW, one is that the CD-RW tracks are thinner and not always read by all CD Car radios or CD players (usually anything younger than 2 years will have no problems!) and secondly that it can be fully erased and re-used as blank media again.

All of the other points are the same really for both formats for a beginner, although I would like to re-affirm that multi session software from different vendors can experience problems with each other, therefore I would NEVER recommend to use multi session software to a beginner, especially where important data is to be saved. Some software makes previous sessions unreadable, which is why I never ever use it.

With CD-RW its better to buy more disks that take risks and backup important data on good quality CD-Rs only......

Regards and thanks