PC hardware forum: Reformatting CD-RW's.

Barney,

I use formatted CD-RW's frequently to transfer files, updates and install programs between computers and transport data between remote sites. They can be reformatted and written to repeatedly for quite a while, BUT....don't depend on them for permanent storage. Sooner or later, (a general figure is they can be written to about 1000 times), they will fail. I find that they file quicker when you start filling them to near capacity or use large files. And some users don't "format" CD-RW's, they simply do a standard "burn" of the CD-RW, and when they're ready to put something else on the CD-RW, ERASE it, then burn something else.

Still, if you're going to save permanent data, use CD-R's. They're cheaper and much more permanent.

In my case, I make double copies of backups, just in case one goes bad.

Hope this helps.

Grif

....and unfortunately, there still isn't really a definitive concensus by everyone involved. The discussion could be endless. CD disks haven't been around long enough to know for sure.

Here's a link to the "Slashdot" article.:

Slashdot's Website: The Myth Of The 100-Year CD-Rom
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/04/22/1658251&mode=thread&tid=137&tid=198

Here's a good study produced by NIST October 2003(The National Institute Of Standards and Technology). (It's a 1.3 MB pdf file)

Care and Handling of CDs and DVDs A Guide for Librarians and Archivists

There's a fairly decent section on longevity of CDs. Here's a quote from that study:

Among the manufacturers that have done testing, there is consensus that, under recommended storage conditions, CD-R,DVD-R, and DVD+R discs should have a life expectancy of 100 to 200 years or more; CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD-RAM discs should have a life expectancy of 25 years or more.

RW and RAM discs are generally not considered for long-term or archival use, and life expectancy tests are seldom done for this medium. Rewritable discs use a phase-changing metal alloy film for recording data and aluminum for the reflective layer. The alloy film is not as stable as the dye used in R discs because the material normally degrades at a faster rate;....
____________

Obviously, a broad statement that one media type lasts longer than an another is probably incorrect. (Although clearly for archiving of long term data, in excess of 75-100 years, CD's of any type seem to be out-classed by other media types.) And certainly, brandname and construction quality of the CD media is extremely important. If using for long term archiving, buy the "good stuff". Some types of CD-R media are now coming with guarantees of 100 years. (Stretching it, I know, but "gold" is being used.) The main problem I see with CD-RW disks is their inability to be read by all CD Rom devices and I've experence a number of CD-RW disks, become unreadable/unusable in short periods of time, especially after being used with various packet writing programs.

But, to each his own.

Grif

Look here for some info on cd-r/cd-rw life span.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=cd-rw+life+span

I have been burning/reading/reburning the same set of cd-rw's for many months and so far have not seen an issue.

What would happen if I put them in storage for a few years and then tried to read them, I have no idea.

That complete erasure involves a format and then leave data side up in the sunlight for an hour or so ( assuming a good sunny day (80 F +) I do know it worked for a disk which a wierd laptop burner had left un-enterable / un eraseable- so I left it for the sun and it completely blanked it- formatted fine(and quit using the burner in that laptop..)

I use CDRW's to archive my land surveying drawings after I complete a project. Recently, I became dissatisfied with the speed of my Yamaha burner so I browsed CNET and decided to buy the Lite-on unit. I use Roxio software with DirectCD. I tried to access a CDRW to retrieve a project from the past and I received a prompt that files were missing and the data could not be shown. Long story short, even though I used the same software to format my CDRW's, the different burners caused an incompatibility issue and I had to send my CDRW's to Ontrack for data retrieval. I am going to find a different, more reliable way to archive, possibly an external USB hard drive.

I have also had trouble with DirectCD over the years. I won't use it. Maybe new versions are better but CD-R's are SO CHEAP---why bother with RW's??? For back ups I burn 2 regular CDs of my new files so I have a copy.
Peachhead

They're only good for about 1000 rewrites, but if you're constantly putting data on them - like schoolwork, the're a good idea. I use good ones, and use InCD to format them, that way I can use "drag and drop" on them. Usually, when they wear out, they give you a message, not allowing any more to be written to them, but the data can still be transferred to the hard drive, the put onto a new disk when it's formatted!

As for using CD-R's instead, again, it depends on the type of CD-R and the type of ReWriter you have, mine is actually a combo unit, so I can set up DVD's to Write and ReWrite as well. I use Nero 6 (with the upgrades to bring it up to date) and in 5 years I've only had 3 bad CDRW disks, and 2 bad CDR disks. to date [touch wood] I havn't had any bad DVD disks!

It seems that good disks; a decent ReWriter AND a good programme is the best combination.

What burning software do you use?
What's your OS?
What are the "few complications"?

Kees

That's Windows Vista or XP or 98, for example. Or Linux.

Ativa seems to be more hardware then software. If it's software, please provide a link to the manual. If it's hardware, then please tell exactly and detailed how you burn data to a cd-rw.

Kees

Go to www.cdburnerxp.se, download and install the program, download and study the manual and after that you'll be able to reformat the cd-rw's.

Are you sure there's no "reformat" in the right click menu of the drive in My Computer or Windows Explorer (sorry, that are XP terms, not Vista terms)?
If there is, it might work (just try). If there isn't, you need a program like this one. I can't try it here, because I don't have Windows Vista here.

Kees

For example Ativa CDRW media is noted at http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/632250/Ativa-CD-RW-Rewritable-Media-Spindle/

You may want to make a warranty call to the maker of your machine and ask for the instruction manual on how to use the machine?
Bob