6 replies to this topic

[sense2k]

Hello
I am trying to understand my options (pros/cons) of formats I can use when burning data (on DVD rewritables)
I have been using UDF1.5 for a long while to create backups and have always assumed I needed to format with UDF - but do I really have to?
if i get a blank disc and just launch roxio and setup a backup of some data (files) what format will be used?

thx all for your help

[ogdens]

Hello
I am trying to understand my options (pros/cons) of formats I can use when burning data (on DVD rewritables)
I have been using UDF1.5 for a long while to create backups and have always assumed I needed to format with UDF - but do I really have to?
if i get a blank disc and just launch roxio and setup a backup of some data (files) what format will be used?

thx all for your help

Just use the Creator Classic application.

[lynn98109]

Hello
I am trying to understand my options (pros/cons) of formats I can use when burning data (on DVD rewritables)
I have been using UDF1.5 for a long while to create backups and have always assumed I needed to format with UDF - but do I really have to?
if i get a blank disc and just launch roxio and setup a backup of some data (files) what format will be used?

thx all for your help

If the idea is to make an archive backup - that is, something that will KEEP the data long-term, DO NOT use RW media, and DO NOT format the disc.  RW is fine for things like testing, where if something doesn't work you can erase the disc and try something else, and formatting is ok if you are doing something like transferring data from one computer to another and the original file is safely on the originating compuer.

Both formatting and RW media have a tendancy to fail, causing the loss of any data on the disc.  If they are used together, the liklihood of failure is greater than if either is used alone.

As ogdens says, for backing up your data, use Classic Creator, make a Data disc, using a blank (lunformatted) dissc.

Lynn

[Brendon]

if i get a blank disc and just launch roxio and setup a backup of some data (files) what format will be used?

Using Creator Classic as Ogdens suggested on a blank disc, will format the DVD to the CDFS file system which is what standard data CDs and DVDs use.

[sense2k]

Thank you all for responding
I suppose the formatting is not optional in any case
I did however, test using a blank cd-r to back up a couple of files and when I did properties on it
it indicated UDF formatting not CDFS
Does that mean that my creator has that set as default?

[lynn98109]

Thank you all for responding
I suppose the formatting is not optional in any case
I did however, test using a blank cd-r to back up a couple of files and when I did properties on it
it indicated UDF formatting not CDFS
Does that mean that my creator has that set as default?

Did you just "drag" the file to an icon in the lower right-hand corner?  That's how Packet-Writing works.  (Packet-Writing includes Drag2Disc, DirectCD, Nero's InCD, Sonic's DLA, etc.)

You need to go to the Start button, select Programs, look for Roxio in the list, and from the options from Roxio, select Creator Classic.

(For Brendon's benefit: no, I do not have EMC 8 installed.  Most burning programs work similarly, however.)

Lynn

[Brendon]

Sense2k,

To avoid confusion, here's a step-by-step from my EMC 8, captured a few minutes ago.

[1] Firstly, turn off Drag-to-Disc to avoid it getting into the act. Click the menu button - the second button from the top right - and click 'Exit Drag-to-Disc'. This is a temporary thing, and it will come back next time Windows starts unless you want to disable it forever. You don't need to turn it off, but this stops it from interfering.


[2] From the home menu go to Data, and run Creator Classic.

[3] Set your default burning setting. Yours seems to have been set to UDF, here's how to set it right.
-Click the File button on the toolbar, and select 'Project Settings'. You'll see this box

Change the file system to Joliet, and click the 'Set as Default' button, then OK twice. You obnly need to do this once.

[4] If you are using an RW disc, use the Disc and Device utility button under 'Other Tasks' to do a Quick Erase on the disc and return it to blank status. If you are using 'R' discs, use a blank one for the first write.

[5] Make your project by pulling files/folders down into the bottom pane of the window, and when you're ready click the Burn button on the mid-line of the window. You'll see this Burn Setup box open.


[6] Ensure the 'Read-Only Disc' box is not checked. Checking it will close the disc after writing, and you'll have to quick-erase everything to write on the disc again.

[7] Click OK and the disc will be burned.


You will now have a disc written in CDFS.
It has a 'session' holding the files you wrote, and the disc is still open for more sessions to be written. You can write more sessions until either you check that 'Read-Only Disc' box, or until the disc gets full.

To write the next session:
[1] Run Creator Classic
[2] Insert the disc. A box will appear asking you if you want to "import" the previous session. Click it and import the previous session.


-note that the disc label will change back to what was on the original disc, and the contents will appear back in the project pane. These contents aren't burned a second time, it's just they are added to the cumulative index of contents for the disc. If you don't import previous contents the earlier session(s) will still be on the disc, but since they're not in the index you might not be able to see/access them any more.
-You can change that disc label manually if you want.

A final note, each session you write will use 15-20 MBs of space in 'overhead'. So rather than writing individual files to disc you might want to save them up until you have enough to make it worth it.

Regards,
Brendon