Thoughts And Advice Please

[Deltatango]

I have been helping an older couple with their computer issues, they have used Windows 98 for years the wife tends to use MS word and is now getting the hang of MS Office 2010's version of Word under Windows 7 (so far so good).

 

The husband is more computer intense and has used this old Roxio software to create discs under the Packet Writing system, when I set up his wife's system it could not read his discs (has not done so before or wanted to) I tried the stand alone reader software thats around but it spat install out because it could not find anything it liked under hardware (adaptec stuff maybe)?

 

To get around this I had to use my isobuster software, but then gave her in the end Magic iso which looked an easier option for her to use.

 

I am now terrified that if I create a newer system for him he may lose this packet writing he likes or will not be able to read his discs, he also has made use of his old MS office much more in creating database situations so there must be endless linkups with data and files.

 

My thought was to create a dual boot machine so I could copy his drive onto a larger one to do it this this way and with luck (I know driver issues with Win98 and later hardware) that would keep the database intact and I hope I can get this old Roxio software to work with this new setup.

 

I gather that this old Roxio software was altered to enable drag and drop with some data compression method for Win 98 under the udf system, will later versions of Roxio software that can run under Windows 7 cope with this older created data discs and still packet write in the same style or will it create a new breed of discs that only Windows 7 can read.

 

Other options of course is to keep his old system lurking about but that then brings other issues in that you need to wake it up now and again to keep it "alive" Cmos batteries going down and possible Bios corruption.

 

Just need to sort out what can be done or not.

 

Thanks for any help from David

[cdanteek]

Earlier version Adaptec/Roxio V4-5 was DirectCD,later up to EMC9 Drag To Disc,

 

I would suggest recovering all previous disc's burned with those packet writing apps and backing them up with other means.

 

As soon as possible because most have experienced failure with RW media and packet writing software.

 

FYI, Vista and W-7 have there own form of packet writing comes in the operating system.

 

Same warning I wouldn't use it for any long term backup!

 

 

Burn a CD or DVD in Windows Explorer

 

If your computer has a CD or DVD burner, you can copy files to a writable disc. This process is called burning a disc. Windows burns discs in the Live File System format or in the Mastered format, depending on which disc format you choose. For more information about deciding which format you should choose when burning a disc, see Which CD or DVD format should I use?

The following procedures explain how to use Windows Explorer to burn a data disc (a type of disc that is useful for storing, archiving, and sharing files among different computers and devices). If you want to create other types of discs, such as a DVD-Video disc (to play in a regular DVD player) or an audio CD (to play in a regular CD player), you’ll need to use a different program or feature of Windows.

To burn a disc using the Live File System format

 

 

Choose the Live File System format when you want to burn a data disc that will play in a computer running Windows XP or later.

1. 
   Insert a writable disc, such as a CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, or DVD+RW disc, into your computer's CD, DVD, or Blu-ray Disc burner.
    
   
2. 
   In the AutoPlay dialog box that appears, click Burn files to disc using Windows Explorer.
   If the AutoPlay dialog box doesn't appear, click the Start button , click Computer, and then double-click your disc burner.
    
   
3. 
   In the Burn a Disc dialog box, type a name for this disc in the Disc title box, click Like a USB flash drive, and then click Next.
   This is the option for burning a disc that uses the Live File System disc format. It might take several minutes for the disc to be formatted. When the formatting is complete, an empty disc folder opens.
    
   
4. 
   Open the folder that contains the files you want to burn, and then drag the files into the empty disc folder.
   To select more than one item, press and hold the Ctrl key, and then click the files you want to burn.
   As you drag files into the disc folder, they are copied automatically to the disc.
    
   You can copy files (or entire folders) to the disc folder by dragging them to the disc icon or to an open disc folder
    
   
5. 
   After copying the files and folders, you might need to close the disc session. For more information, see Close or finalize a CD or DVD.
   Tip
    
   
   • 
     Instead of dragging and dropping files as described in the procedure above, you can select the files you want to burn in Windows Explorer, right-click one of the selected files, point to Send to, and then click your disc burner drive.
     

To burn a disc using the Mastered format

 

 

Choose the Mastered format when you need a disc that will play on any computer or in different consumer electronic devices, such as CD, DVD, and Blu-ray Disc players, that can play digital music files, pictures, or video files.

1. 
   Insert a writable disc, such as a CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, or DVD+RW disc, into your computer's CD, DVD, or Blu-ray Disc burner.
    
   
2. 
   In the AutoPlay dialog box that appears, click Burn files to disc using Windows Explorer.
   If the AutoPlay dialog box doesn't appear, click the Start button , click Computer, and then double-click your disc burner.
    
   
3. 
   In the Burn a Disc dialog box, type a name for this disc in the Disc title box, click With a CD/DVD player, and then click Next.
    
   
4. 
   Open the folder that contains the files you want to burn, and then drag the files into the empty disc folder.
   To select more than one item, press and hold the Ctrl key, and then click the files you want to burn.
    
   
5. 
   On the toolbar, click Burn to disc, and then follow the steps in the wizard.
   The selected files are copied to the disc. When the disc burning is complete, the disc burner tray will open and you can remove the disc. You can now use the disc in another computer or in a CD or DVD player. This type of disc doesn't need to be closed.
   Tips
    
   
   • 
     To burn a Mastered disc, you might need free space on your hard disk that's up to twice the capacity of the disc. A typical CD has a disc capacity of 650 megabytes (MB). For a typical DVD, it's about 4.38 gigabytes (GB). For a typical Blu-ray Disc, it's about 23 GB.
     

• 
  The time it takes to burn a Mastered disc will be reduced and require less available free hard disk space if the files and folders that you're burning are stored on the same drive as the temporary folder location (typically C:\), and the drive is formatted using the NTFS file system.
  

• 
  Instead of dragging and dropping files as described in the procedure above, you can select the files you want to burn in Windows Explorer, right-click one of the selected files, point to Send to, and then click your disc burner drive.
  

• 
  If you decide not to burn the files to a disc, you can delete the temporary files to recover hard disk space. To delete the temporary files, open the disc folder, and then click Delete temporary files on the toolbar.