Drag and drop issues

[Dom]

I have Easy CD Creator Version 5.1 (79) but this is not the issue.

 

I used drag and drop (version unknown) at work to fill two cd-rs with stuff I wanted to keep when I left work. When I came to open them on my pc today (Windows XP home edition) they didn’t work.

 

Initially both cd-rs showed having 3 files amounting to 400ish kb. One of the files was a udfrdr.exe. I knew one cd-r was full (700mb) and the other about a quarter full. I tried both my cd-r drive and my dvd drive

 

HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8160B

SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW-224B

 

In the dvd drive it offered to install something for me (I now can’t remember what it was). So I did, rebooted, and tried the cd-r again. The partially full disk became readable, showing the 186mb of content, which I have now copied onto my hard drive.

 

In “My Computer” the full cd is now showing 702mb as its total size. When I click on the drive to open the content, there is a single file of 3,130kb (one of the ones that I copied). Moments after I burnt the disk at work I tried the cd in another computer and it showed all the content.

 

Easy CD Creator recognises the disc is full too.

 

Do you have any ideas what I could do or why the dick seems to have hidden content?

 

Thanks

 

Dom.

 

PS: if this is the wrong section, I'm sorry, but please help me anyway!!!

[sknis]

I have Easy CD Creator Version 5.1 (79) but this is not the issue.

 

I used drag and drop (version unknown) at work to fill two cd-rs with stuff I wanted to keep when I left work. When I came to open them on my pc today (Windows XP home edition) they didn't work.

 

Initially both cd-rs showed having 3 files amounting to 400ish kb. One of the files was a udfrdr.exe. I knew one cd-r was full (700mb) and the other about a quarter full. I tried both my cd-r drive and my dvd drive

 

HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8160B

SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW-224B

 

In the dvd drive it offered to install something for me (I now can't remember what it was). So I did, rebooted, and tried the cd-r again. The partially full disk became readable, showing the 186mb of content, which I have now copied onto my hard drive.

 

In "My Computer" the full cd is now showing 702mb as its total size. When I click on the drive to open the content, there is a single file of 3,130kb (one of the ones that I copied). Moments after I burnt the disk at work I tried the cd in another computer and it showed all the content.

 

Easy CD Creator recognises the disc is full too.

 

Do you have any ideas what I could do or why the dick seems to have hidden content?

 

Thanks

 

Dom.

 

PS: if this is the wrong section, I'm sorry, but please help me anyway!!!

 

Moved it here because you may get someone with knowledge of that program version. Most of all, it will be suggested to never use Drag to Disc unless it is for very, very short term storage.

[lynn98109]

Packet-Writing is NOT standard, like floppy-discs. Different Packet-Writing programs (DirectCD, Drag2Disc, Nero's InCD, Sonic's DLA, etc) can't read each other's work, and often can't read between Vesions of the same Program.

 

WinXP has a built-in .udf reader, so if it can't be read, that is a VERY BAD sign.

 

I'd suggest one of the recovery programs, such as cdroller (www.cdroller.com) or ISOBuster (www.isobuster.com). Both have impressive testimonials on their websites and in the Roxio boards. Both have a "trial" version that lets you see if anything can be recovered before you have to pay.

 

For future reference, NEVER format the disc if you want to KEEP the data. Use a sessions-based program such as DataProject in ECDC 5 (Classic Creator in V. 6 or 7 or 8), or Windows built-in drag-and-drop style burning (which is rally Sessions-based).

 

Let us know how it goes.

 

Lynn

[Brendon]

Hi Dom,

 

You've landed in the right place now, so we can work from here.

 

Here's a very brief, rough and ready explanation for why you got the result you did. It's because you used a non-standard method of writing CDs.

 

-The "standard" way of making data CDs is with a process called "Authoring", which is done by programs such as CD Creator (part of the Easy CD Creator suite) or Nero's main program. You run the program, point out the files you want to write, and the program creates and writes a standard CD-ROM which can be read on any PC drive.

 

-Another method called "packet-writing" was devised to allow people to write a file at a time to a formatted CD, rather similar to the way a floppy disc is used. Versions of this method are used by Direct CD (another part of the ECDC suite) by Drag'n'Drop, and other similar programs such as Nero's InCD program.

 

-Alas, there is very little in the way of "standards" governing how to implement packet writing, and each program tends to use its own proprietory methods. The discs produced aren't standard, and the ability to interchange data on them is very low. Even different versions of the same program tend to produce different discs, and you can have trouble with the same version of software on different drives. Forget discs made with other manufacturers' programs.

 

Now, a Roxio packet disc is written in two separate parts. There's a standard part which is rather small and contains a reader and installer programs, and a specially formatted part which contains your data.

 

If you have the right software running on your computer, the disc should be recognized immediately for what it is and only your data will be shown, and you will be happy.

 

If you don't have the right software running on the destination machine the specially formatted part will be invisible. All you will see is the small "standard" part with the UDF reader and installer on it, and you'll be invited to install it.

 

At this point if everything goes perfectly a reader will be installed and you'll be able to get the data off the disc. It's only a reader you installed, so you won't be able to write to the disc. In the real world however, it's more likely that the reader on your disc will be incompatible with your machine or operating system, so effectively you'll be screwed and it won't work.

 

In your case it has shown you part of the contents of a full CD, and all the contents of a part CD. You're probably lucky to have got that far, to be truthful.

 

 

To guarantee compatability, you need to use the authoring program on your work computer rather than the drag'n'drop one. It will be called CD Creator, or Creator Classic, or it might even be from another manufacturer. It will be designed to write a group of files to an unformatted CD-R or CD-RW, and to make a standard CDROM. You'll be able to take the resulting CD to any other PC and have it read, whereas you have seen that the other method is really only useful between a bunch of similar machines at a workplace which are running similar software.

 

There are other ways such as USB pendrives etc for getting data from work to home and back, but if you're going to use CDs then the authoring program on an unformatted disc is the way to go.