3 replies to this topic

[still learning]

MY QUESTION IS:EVERYPROGRAM I RESEARCHED INSTRUCTS, CDs MUST BE INITIALIZEDOR FORMATED PRIOR TO BURNING. DO THEY OR DONT THEY? COMPAQ PC TECH SAID THATS A MISTAKE IN THEIR MANUAL,EASY CD GREATOR 5 INSTALLED, BOUGHT USER GUIDE, IT SAYS FORMAT IF I WANT TO BURN. NEW DELL CAME WITH SONIC RECORD NOW,DLA SAYS MUST BE INITIALIZED PRIOR TO BURN. AFTER FORMATING THE PROGRAM EJECTS THE CD, REQUESTS A BLANK. I'M NOT STUPID AND I CAN READ. CAN ANYONE TELL ME FORMAT YES OR NO?

[lynn98109]

If the idea is to KEEP the files, as, for example, long-term archiving, DO NOT format the disc.
More info in this post -
http://forums.support.roxio.com/index.php?showtopic=12382

For archiving purposes, you need to make a data CD or DVD with an authoring program like Roxio's Creator Classic or Sonic's Data Disc.  If it is closed, it can be read on any computer - almost as stable as a commercially pressed disc, altho for good luck it's not a bad idea to make two separate copies and store them separately.

Lynn

[d_deweywright]

CAN ANYONE TELL ME FORMAT YES OR NO?

Heh heh... "It depends."

To write a standard CD, readable in most any CD drive, you want to write "sessions," and for that, no, don't format.  The program will take care of all that during the writing process.

However, there is a second way of writing discs, called "Packet Writing" which does require the disc to be formatted before use.  Programs like DLA do packet writing, but to read this type of disc, either the packet writing application must be installed, or a special driver loaded, or the disc has to be "prepared" for reading on other machines.  And packet writing, which convenient, can have failures, which can cause you to lose access to all the data on the disc.  It's usually not considered terribly reliable.

So, my opinion would have you forget about formatting, and use a mastering program like Easy CD Creator to write your discs.

Hope that helps!

[still learning]

Heh heh... "It depends."

To write a standard CD, readable in most any CD drive, you want to write "sessions," and for that, no, don't format.  The program will take care of all that during the writing process.

However, there is a second way of writing discs, called "Packet Writing" which does require the disc to be formatted before use.  Programs like DLA do packet writing, but to read this type of disc, either the packet writing application must be installed, or a special driver loaded, or the disc has to be "prepared" for reading on other machines.  And packet writing, which convenient, can have failures, which can cause you to lose access to all the data on the disc.  It's usually not considered terribly reliable.

So, my opinion would have you forget about formatting, and use a mastering program like Easy CD Creator to write your discs.

Hope that helps!

thanks a whole bunch! I will omit formatting and see what happens.