Brookstone

All, I can supply my old RCL files should you wish to try the FILE > OPEN PROJECT > FILE > SAVE PROJECT file corruption test. You could even load the RCL file in v 6 and right mouse click PROPERTIES on the files and see what "From" values show up between v 6 and v 10. Just let me know how to get the files to you.

Was it labeled as "$29.99"? You can see from the screen snapshot below how Easy CD & DVD v 10 is royally broken: In addition to all of the previous bugs, here are even more... 1) The Sonic programmers don't have enough sense to save the Easy CD & DVD Burning (version 10) window size, window position, or maximized state. I have to resize the window every time I launch EZCD/DVD Burning v 10. 2) If I open a RCL file from Creator Classic version 6.2, then immediately click FILE > SAVE PROJECT from within Easy CD & DVD Burning v 10, then exit, then try to open the very same RCL file in Easy CD & DVD Burning v 10, I get "There was an error opening the file". This happens for every single V 6.2 RCL file that I open and immediately click "FILE > SAVE PROJECT" for. No exceptions. v 6.2 RCL file after RCL file gets corrupted by simply opening it and clicking FILE > SAVE PROJECT. 3) On some of the RCL files I open, the software window displays a spinning "Please wait" cursor, and the app title shows "Not responding". 30 seconds can go by before Easy CD & DVD Burning v 10 frees itself. 4) RCL files are getting saved/modified without ever prompting me. I suspect when I burn a CD, and the validation process is complete, that the program is auto-saving the RCL file without my permission. 5) Surprisingly I can open the same RCL file 6 times, and half the time you see the screwed up "From" properties and the "folder" icons on actual EXE/HTML file, while the other half of the time the "From" properties are all correct and the folder icons are no longer used to display HTML/EXE files....all loading the very same RCL file!

There's no guarantee that your BestBuy has the Win7 version. I know that the Staples Office supply store right next to the BestBuy where I bought this was selling the Vista/XP version (no Win7 logo). Yes, I understand the RCL points to the path of the original file(s), along with the new name (if any) of the "to be" burned file(s).

Brendon, Yes, I understand this, and I confirm that "Validation" is available under Project Options. My complaint about this is that it should be on the "File" menu, like it was with v 6.2, which allowed me to validate a project at any time, without having to click the BURN button...which is what v 10 does. V 10 requires you to start a BURN before a validation takes place. I want to validate a project regardless of whether I burn a CD or not...which only makes sense, which proves that Roxio/Sonic programmers don't have much sense, since they removed something much more useful and replace it with something less useful.

Brendon, I cannot testify for version 9.0x... All I can tell you is that version 10 which comes in a box bearing a Windows 7 compatibility logo, is getting all confused with v 6.2's RCL files. I can only assume that the RCL file has changed since v 6.2, or else version 10 (perhaps even version 9) has a serious bug in restoring the "From" paths in the RCL files. The Help > About window shows 101B04A ENU The executable in memory shows Creator10.exe I bought it from BestBuy...walk-in, on the shelf. Labeled $29.99 but rung up at the register at $14.99. I asked the clerk if they made a mistake, but they said no. What comes on the DVD is beyond what I purchased 5+ years ago from Adaptec, when the software was closer to $100.

I just came back from purchasing Easy CD & DVD with the Windows 7 logo on it. I installed it, and checked for updates (it found none) and then proceeded to open a previous Creator Classic *.rcl project file. The file opened (although it took probably 20 times longer to stop showing the hour glass cursor symbol before I could use the Creator Classic dialog) but when I went to the File menu looking for the Validate option, I found it missing! Why would the Roxio programmers do something stupid and remove a useful function from a prior version? Don't these people ever use their own software in a real world? In any case, I later discovered that when you click the BURN button and commit to a burn, CC10 THEN attempts to validate the project (again, this is stupid, and should be something that can be performed before committing to a burn). In any case, all of this is minor nit-picking compared to the next shock. About 30% of the files in the project were discovered "not to be found" by EZCD&DVD CC10. Not to be found?! The files in question are plain as day on the hard drive, exactly where they were before I upgraded to Windows 7. The files are on drive D, in the same folders, with the same file names they had. I had a drive D before the new PC upgrade, and after the upgrade the same drive D existed (a second hard drive) with the very same folder/file structure. I mirror the new 2nd hard drive from the old hard drive. So I knew the CC10 software message was totally bogus and flawed. In investigating further, Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator Classic 10 has a very serious bug, in that, many of the files that were shown as files on the old PC (using the very same *.RCL file) are showing up as FOLDERS (not files) using Create Classic 10! And then for the files that the burn process said it could not find...when I highlight those files in the CC10 interface (the bottom pane) and right mouse click > Properties, you can see the CC10 is royally screwed up. The path for these "not to be found files" in my *.RCL project are screwed up. What was d:\path1 in the original RCL file on the old PC shows up as d:\path4 when the RCL file is opened in CC10 on the new PC. One 'cannot be found' file's "From" properties shows the "From" path for one of the other "cannot be found" files and vice versa. No wonder the burn process can't find so many files... the "From" paths are mixed up and scrambled between all the "cannot be found" files. Yet if I go to my old XP PC, running CC6.2, and highlight one of the supposed "missing files" and right mouse click > Properties on it, I see the correct "From" path listed. So in short, CC10 screws up the "From" paths on about 30% of the files in a RCL project file created with CC6.2. Is this a known bug? I have little faith that Roxio cares or has a solution.

Thank you for all your help. Brooks

Thanks Brendon!

Is it me, or is Easy CD & DVD missing from the Roxio web site? I don't see it listed as a current product under the "Products > CD & DVD Burning" menu. Brooks

One more question... Is Creator 2010 the only Roxio product that will read the *.RCL files? Is it possible that Easy CD & DVD honors the *.RCL files too? Brooks

I assume RecordNow Music Lab stores a user's track collection in a database on their hard disc. My question is, where is it stored? Can one provide details on whether the library database is a single file, or contained in multiple files. Also, is the database format a proprietary format, or something open like SQLite or MDB? Thank you.

Thanks Brendon, This is good news. The new PC will have the same drives/folder structure as the old one, therefore based upon what you wrote/encountered, I should expect not have any problem upgrading. Brooks

I have an old PC running Creator Classic 6.2 with which I've created dozens of *.RCL project files. I've just purchased a new PC running Windows 7 and I doubt (although I don't know for sure) that CC6.2 will not run on the Win7 PC. Assuming that is correct (and feel free to correct me), can anyone tell me if the latest version (2010) supports the 6.2 *.RCL project files?

I ended up uninstalled ECDC 7.1 and installed version 6.2. I could not find my version 6 CD at the time I did the install and when I made my posting. I like version 5 more than I like version 6, but I love version 6 compared to this buggy, iTunes-wanna-be version 7. I can't believe how backwards Roxio went from v6 to v7. It's as if they rewrote the whole app from scratch, and hired the job out to the Chinese. So many things are missing from v 7 that were there in prior versions. If v 7 is any indicator, later versions must be worse. Seems like the software gets better the further back in time you go. I can't do ISO because the files in the project change (in size) frequently. Something is wrong with a company that releases a new major version every year, and then drops support for the product 2 years later. If version 7 is any indicator, Roxio's products are getting worse, not better. If this is true, I dread seeing v 10.

I just upgraded my PC from Windows 2000 to Windows XP. My old PC had Roxio Easy CD Creator 5 on it, and I had saved dozens of project files (*.cl5 and *.rcl) When I now attempt to open these project files, some of the .EXE files and .HTM files are being displayed as FOLDERS! And Easy CD Creator 7.1.0.135 even shows file sizes next to these (supposed) folders! How can this be? How can a folder be 1,423,123 bytes in size? It obviously can't. Folders do not have file sizes. Yes, they can contain files, which has bytes, but the folder itself has no byte size. And yet this EZCDClassic software shows a folder named 'challeng.exe' with 1,150KB ! In short, Easy CD Creator Classic is bugged out. What is going on? I no longer can burn CDs from these project files, because when I attempt to burn a CD from these project files the validation procedure prevents the CD burn from continuing, since the validation procedure stops and warns '\challeng.exe cannot be found'. Help!