5 replies to this topic

[bndthrulz]

I hope this problem that I'm about to post makes sense:  Several years ago, I purchased an HP computer with WindowsME.  Adaptec and ECDC 5 were bundled into the system.  I used that program to burn several CD-R's with personal home movies.  That computer recently "died" on me and I purchased another HP computer with WindowsXP Media Center with a DVD+- writer / CD-writer.  My intention was to copy all the movies files from the CD-R's onto my hard drive and eventually burn them onto DVD.  I was able to get a few of these movie files copied to my hard drive, but now the DVD writer will not read ANY more of my CD-R's (and I estimate I still have a dozen or more CD-R's to go through).  Some of the CD-R's are "closed" while quite a few of them are not.  The few CD-R's that I was able to open were "closed," so I figured I was having a problem with those CD-R's that were not "closed."  However, even the "closed" CD-R's are not being recognized anymore.  Does anyone know of any programs I could download so that I can copy these movie files off these CD-R's and onto my hard drive?  Any help / suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

-- Juan

[d_deweywright]

bndthrulz, on Sep 7 2006, 03:05 AM, said:

I hope this problem that I'm about to post makes sense:  Several years ago, I purchased an HP computer with WindowsME.  Adaptec and ECDC 5 were bundled into the system.  I used that program to burn several CD-R's with personal home movies.  That computer recently "died" on me and I purchased another HP computer with WindowsXP Media Center with a DVD+- writer / CD-writer.  My intention was to copy all the movies files from the CD-R's onto my hard drive and eventually burn them onto DVD.  I was able to get a few of these movie files copied to my hard drive, but now the DVD writer will not read ANY more of my CD-R's (and I estimate I still have a dozen or more CD-R's to go through).  Some of the CD-R's are "closed" while quite a few of them are not.  The few CD-R's that I was able to open were "closed," so I figured I was having a problem with those CD-R's that were not "closed."  However, even the "closed" CD-R's are not being recognized anymore.  Does anyone know of any programs I could download so that I can copy these movie files off these CD-R's and onto my hard drive?  Any help / suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

-- Juan

From what you wrote, it sounds like you formatted your discs and used Direct CD to drag-and-drop your files to your discs, as that is the only way to leave a Data CD "open".  Can you clarify for us whether you used CD-R (write once) or CD-RW (erasable) discs?  The reason I ask is that CD-RW discs have a nasty habit of "blanking out" and becoming unreadable over time.  In either case, I would suggest you're probably going to need a recovery utility like ISO Buster or CD Roller to recover some or all of the data on those discs.  

For future reference, Direct CD (now Drag To Disc) uses a method of writing called "Packet Writing".  It is prone to errors and difficulty being read on other systems.  Use Creator Classic (assuming you're using a recent version of Easy Media Creator) to write data in Sessions to your blank (not formatted) discs, and you'll find they're much more readable.  Also, CD-R (write once) discs are much more stable for long term storage than CD-RW (erasable) discs.

Hope that helps!

[lynn98109]

When I first started burning, I thought CDs needed to be formatted before use, just like floppy-discs, and I had a "great-big floppy-disc".  I now call that Basic False Analogy.  (And, I permantly lost the 80% of the data that wasn't also on the Hard Drive.)

If you want to KEEP the data, NEVER format the disc.  Use a BLANK blank, directly out of the package or off the spindle, for the reliable programs like DataProject, Classic Creator, WindowsXP's built-in burning, etc.

If you made the mistake of Basic False Analogy, try the recovery programs Dave mentioned - and please let us know how it goes.  Good luck.

Lynn

Edited by lynn98109, 07 September 2006 - 03:43 AM.

[bndthrulz]

Dave and Lynn: Thank you for taking the time to reply.  And to answer your question Dave, all the CD's are CD-R's, not CD-RW's.  And to reply to your comment Lynn, I honestly cannot remember if I formatted the CD's or not before I started adding files to them.  Also, one thing I forgot to mention in my first post, my new computer does not have any Adaptec or ECDC software installed (as I mentioned, that software was bundled in the system when I purchased it, so I do not have any floppy's or CD's to install the software in my new system).  I will definitely look into cdroller and isobuster as Dave suggested.  In addition, I noticed another post from someone who seemed to have had this same problem and she discovered a solution using Adaptec-UDF-Reader.  I thought about trying that, but then I thought perhaps I actually need Adaptec/ECDC software installed in my new system.  Does anyone know if that is the case, or if I can install this without having and Adaptec software in my new system?  Again, thanks for the help thus fur!  I will definitely keep you all posted!  

[lynn98109]

WinXP has a very powerful .udf reader built in, and if WinXP can't read anything, that is a VERY BAD sign.  (Glad to hear you used CD-R - I didn't )

DON'T try the Adaptec .udf reader.  At best, it won't do anything; at worst either you will get a warning it has been disabled during startup, or it will lock the system.  Not worth the trouble.

Lynn

[bndthrulz]

First, thanx for the help with my previous post.  With the suggestions I received, I was able to get partial success using CDRoller (the trial version).  Let me explain:  As I had mentioned in my first post, my CD/DVD drive (which, by the way, is a TSSTcorp CD/DVDW TS-H552L) on my new computer wasn't "reading" any of the CD-R's I had burned using ECDC5 with my old computer, whether those CD-R's were "closed" or "not closed."  So, I downloaded CDRoller.  I used CDRoller on all the CD-R's and it was able to detect that all files on all the CD-R's are recoverable.  That was good news.

Next, I decided to try an experiment to see if I would be able to "view" these files and subsequently "copy" them to my hard drive.  Here is what I did with the "closed" CD-R's:

1) I inserted the "closed" CD into the drive.  I knew the drive was "reading" something because it was spinning and "whirring" and the "green light" was quite active.
2) I opened windows explorer and clicked on the E: drive.  As I expected, it didn't show any files on the CD.
3) Then I opened CDRoller and I let it do its thing.  After the program ran and found that there were recoverable files, I clicked on "open."
4) Finally, I went back to windows explorer, hit the "refresh" button and -- YAY!! -- the files were there.  At this point, I was able to select them and copy them onto my hard drive!!

Sadly, using this same process, I was not able to do it with the CD-R's that are "not closed."  So, it seems to me, the easiest thing to do is to somehow "close" these remaining CD-R's.  Purchasing CDRoller would obviously be the easiest solution; however, that is not an option for me at this time (I got laid off from my job this week so, financially, i will be somewhat strapped for the next couple of months, even if it is only $30).  So I figure my next best option is to "close" these CD-R's.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can do this?  Any (hopefully free) programs out there that I can check out?

Again, thanx again so much for all the previous help!  Hope someone can help me again this time...  

Juan