This may be an IMHO, but here’s what I’m looking for. A program that will format rewritable CDs so they stay formatted.
Or am I the only one who has the problem that I have to actually reformat every time I reuse a CD?
I currently have a program that seems to have come with my computer, called B’s Clip. I just put in a CD that had two files on it. I wanted to erase them and copy some others onto the CD. Once I had erased them, the drive read my CD as a blank CD–but then insisted on reformatting it.
And here is the problem. It said a reformat would take 10-20 minutes, which it did. Then it had to verify. It said that would take (another) 10-30 minutes.
Well. It has been 2 hours and 29 minutes (and 36 seconds) and the CD is 57% done.
This just will not do. What am I doing wrong? What should I get to make these things work, and where should I get them? Are these questions general enough?
Toast will do a quick erase. Then you’ve got to use Toast to burn it. It only takes a minute or two. If you’re on a Windows machine, I’m pretty sure that EZ CD Creator has the same function. Finally, if you’re using some other program, look for the quick erase option there.
Oh, also if you’re using a packet mode, you shouldn’t even have to erase.
Erasing and reformatting are different things. You never have to “format” or by extension “reformat” a CD-RW for simple file burning. There is software out there that you can use to treat a CD-RW like it is a hard drive and simply drag and drop files into and off of it with Windows Explorer and this sort of program requires that you “format” the disk. However, using a disk in that way is distinctly different from simple file burning and erasing. Unless you are using your disks in that special way, you never have to format them.
Okay. I admit to being pretty simple-minded when it comes to computer things, although not THAT simple-minded. (On a scale of 0=complete Luddite and 10=expert I figure I’m a 4.5.) Obviously I need some help here.
Somebody suggested I download something called “Nero.” I had many problems with it, but they were different. I really would like a simple solution, if there is one.
When I do a music CD I have no problem–no need to format, just copy the files onto the disk and voila, it plays. (Now, the rewritable ones don’t play in my CD player. They do, however, work in my computer drive and in my car.)
It seems that it would be a lot easier simply to use them as another storage medium for files–these would be text files and the occasional graphics file, in such programs as WordPerfect, Word, PageMaker, Folio, Quark, and Ventura, but really heavy on the word processing rather than desktop publishing. That’s what I want, and that’s what I spend hours trying to get.
So, is Toast the thing? Can I download it? Or am I just misusing the software I have?
I guess there is one more possibility, which is that I got a whole boxful of bad CDs. Because the B’s Clip program just spent almost 3 hours attempting to format one CD, which it started out by saying would take 10-30 minutes, and then popped it out saying it had “too many bad sectors.” So I put the next brand-new CD in and it’s now chewing away on that one and has been for 14 minutes, and at this point that CD is now about 2% done, whatever “done” means to this stupid program.
I did some checking on the B’s Clip website and it is far more likely that you have a software issue than a box of bad CDs. They do have a techsupport area with a FAQ that specifically addresses the hanging issue so you should definitely check that out if you haven’t already done so.
http://www.bhacorp.com/support/faq_clipwin/03.html
As for the original question, I’m another one that uses and recommends Nero but the Roxio EZ Media Creator package is also quite popular.
The fact that you had problems with Nero and you’re now having these problems makes me want to suspect there may be underlying issues with your system. Does it run well other than this particular problem?
Hey, thanks for the link. I feel like I have learned a few things.
For one thing, I recently attempted to excise Symatec, and thought I had, but the FAQ gave me another place to check.
Really the only issue I have is with rewritable CDs. I have managed to load up non-rewritable CDs with no problem, but it seems like a waste given what I’m using them for. My purpose in using them is for sharing files, and I immediately move the files to my hard drive. While I’ve never had a problem reading files, I’ve had problems writing to the supposedly rewritable CD a second time, or writing onto a CD that was sent to me by someone else after I transferred files.
I did not realize there was “burning” and there was “drag and drop.” Getting more educated all the time.
What happened with Nero was that I selected files and got a message that it was ready to burn those files onto the CD, but then I wasn’t sure what to do to make that happen. I couldn’t see anything to click.
I did have Roxio EZ CD creator on my other computer, up to the point where I installed Windows XP. It was easy to use, but I still had the issue of having to format the CD the first time. I guess it might also be helpful to find out what the folks I’m sharing files with use.
I guess it might also be helpful to find out what the folks I’m sharing files with use.
This is especially true if you are both using the “CD as hard drive” approach as these types of disks are often not readable by any software but the one used to create them.
Get the newest version of Nero and use Nero Express to burn your disks. It has a wizard that will walk you though it. I think the first time around you were probably at the point where you should have clicked on the button that has flames on it (the burning button). Anyway, lots of Dopers use Nero so if you run into snags, help is available.
For file sharing, then, why not just get a USB flash drive? The iPod Shuffle is one such device, with the added benefit of being an iPod. And at 1GB, it’s bigger than a CD.