I recently bought a Dell XPS computer with Roxio creator. When I try to save data onto a CD-
RW it saves the file as a Read Only file and does not allow to change that. How do I creat a data disc that allows me to save writeable files?

You would have to create a multisession disk, however, keep one thing in mind.

A CD-RW is not a floppy disk. You have only two options when using a CD-RW:

1) Write data to it (Only if the disk is empty or if it is multisession)

2) Erase ALL data from the disk.


Heres a neat-o picture that shows you how to multisession it up.

http://forums.support.roxio.com/index.php?...hl=multisession

Actually, that won't do it. Unchecking that "Read Only" option allows you to create a multi-session disc, but while the disc won't be closed, the files will still be marked "Read Only". That's the nature of the CD/DVD medium, CD/DVD-ROM, Read Only Memory. And in this case, write once ( R ) and re-writable (RW) media work the same way, except, of course, that you can go back and erase an RW disc.

To save files such that when you read them back to your HD they don't have the Read Only attribut on, you have to use Drag-To-Disc, and format your disc first. Then you can simply drag and drop files to the disc in Windows Explorer, or use the "Save" option in your application and point to that drive. It's terribly convenient, but also the least reliable way of writing data to optical media. There is a good chance at some point that you will lose access to the files on your disc. As such, most people, myself included, don't recommend using Drag-To-Disc (D2D). Also, RW (erasable) media has a tendency to "fade" over time, to the point where the disc can become unreadable, even while being stored in a case. R (write once) media is more stable.

So, while you can do what you want to do, don't rely on it for archival purposes. "Never trust your only copy of irreplaceable data to a formatted or erasable disc."

Hope that helps!

Actually XP will automatically restore the correct Read Only flag when a file is copied from read/only media to read/write media. No user action is required.

Any idea how it does that? Because the CDFS file system has no attribute bits. And have you verified that a file that is Read-Only when it is written remains Read-Only when read? Or is XP automatically turning that bit off when reading from a CD/DVD ROM?

I never tried it with a R/O file…

Just did and poof the R/O bit is turned off! Nice touch, huh?

Give it a try yourself and see what you get.

Sorry, no XP here, only Win 2000. So, basically, XP is assuming you don't want the Read Only bit set on files you're reading from CD-ROM, and blindly turns the R/O bit off. Interesting concept.

unfortunately, if you have a CD written on XP (and so the file is set to read-only) but read it using W2K, moving the file from CD to hard-disc does not change the read-only setting.

which is ok, if it's just one file, but fairly tedious for larger groups.

Whenever I copy a data file (e.g. doc) from a backup CD or DVD back to the hard drive, the copy is not read only.
XP SP2.

Right, Jean. The apparent position MS took with XP, is that when XP reads files from a CD, it will automatically turn off the Read Only attribute. I don't know if that started with SP2 or before, but reading files from CD (R/ROM) will not result in them being Read Only, as with all previous versions of Windows.

I was using WinXP (not my computer) in 2002, and it did that automaticly. When did SP2 come out?

Lynn

Lynn is correct, the tests I ran here with files is on a PC with XP that has NO service packs installed!

Windows XP Service Pack 2
Release Date: August 25, 2004


cdanteek