F.A.Q.

Andy McFadden's
CD-Recordable FAQ

Last-modified: 2005/07/23
Version: 2.60
 

Table of contents:

[0] Introduction

[0-1] Legal noise (disclaimers and copyrights)

[0-2] What does this FAQ cover (and not cover)?

[0-3] What's new since last time?

[0-4] Is the FAQ only available in English?

[0-5] Appropriate use of the newsgroups

[0-6] I'm having trouble, how do I ask for help?

[0-7] Spelling and name conventions

[0-8] Can I advertise on the FAQ pages?

[0-9] Can you mail the FAQ to me?

 

[1] Simple answers to simple questions

[1-1] What's CD-R? CD-RW?

[1-2] Are they identical to normal CDs?

[1-3] Can I create new audio and data CDs?

[1-4] Can I use it to copy my CDs?

[1-5] How much can they hold?

[1-6] Can I just copy files onto a CD-R like I would to a floppy?

[1-7] What can you tell me about DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, etc?

[1-8] Can I copy DVDs with a CD recorder?

[1-9] What's the cheapest recorder and best place to buy media?

[1-10] Can I get step-by-step installation and use instructions?

[1-11] Can I download MP3s from the Internet and make an audio CD?

[1-12] What does this term mean? Is there a glossary?

[1-13] Do I need "music" blanks to record music?

[1-14] How do I learn more? Is there a good book for beginners?

[1-15] Why is this FAQ so far out of date?

 

[2] CD Encoding

[2-1] How is the information physically stored?

[2-2] What is XA? CDPLUS? CD-i? MODE1 vs MODE2? Red/yellow/blue book?

[2-3] How do I know what format a disc is in?

[2-4] How does copy protection work?

[2-4-1] ...on a data CD-ROM?

[2-4-2] ...on an audio CD?

[2-4-3] ...on an audio CD (Macrovision - SafeAudio)

[2-4-4] ...on an audio CD (SunnComm - MediaCloQ and MediaMax CD3)

[2-4-5] ...on an audio CD (Midbar Tech - Cactus Data Shield)

[2-4-6] ...on an audio CD (Key2Audio / Sony DADC)

[2-4-7] ...on an audio CD (BayView Systems - Duolizer)

[2-4-8] ...on an audio CD (Sanyo)

[2-4-9] How does the Doc-Witness OpSecure CD-ROM work?

[2-5] What's a multisession disc?

[2-6] What are subcode channels?

[2-7] Are the CD Identifier fields widely used?

[2-8] How long does it take to burn a CD-R?

[2-9] What's the difference between disc-at-once and track-at-once?

[2-10] Differences between recording from an image and on-the-fly?

[2-11] How does an audio CD player know to skip data tracks?

[2-12] How does CD-RW compare to CD-R?

[2-13] Can DVD players read CD-Rs?

[2-14] Should I buy a DVD recorder instead?

[2-15] What are "jitter" and "jitter correction"?

[2-16] Where can I learn more about the history of CD and CD-R?

[2-17] Why don't audio CDs use error correction?

[2-18] How does CD-R compare to MiniDisc?

[2-19] What does finalizing (and closing and fixating) do?

[2-20] How are WAV/AIFF files converted into Red Book CD audio?

[2-21] What does MultiRead mean? MultiPlay?

[2-22] If recording fails, is the disc usable?

[2-23] Why do recorders insert "00" bytes at the start of audio tracks?

[2-24] How many tracks can I have? How many files?

[2-25] Will SCMS prevent me from making copies?

[2-26] Is a serial number placed on the disc by the recorder?

[2-27] What's a TOC? How does it differ from a directory?

[2-28] What's an ISO? A CIF? BIN and CUE? .DAT?

[2-29] Why was 74 minutes chosen as the standard length?

[2-30] Why is there a visibly unwritten strip near the CD-R hub?

[2-31] What is "BURN-Proof"? "JustLink"? "Waste-Proof"?

[2-32] Can playing CD-Rs in a DVD player hurt the discs?

[2-33] Who *really* made this CD-R blank?

[2-34] Can I make copies of DTS-encoded CDs?

[2-35] Why 44.1KHz? Why not 48KHz?

[2-36] What format are .CDA files in?

[2-37] What are DD-R and DD-RW?

[2-38] What's an ATIP?

[2-39] What are "ML" discs and devices?

[2-40] What's CD-MRW? Mount Rainier? EasyWrite?

[2-41] What's Audio Master Quality (AMQ) recording?

[2-42] Can I draw pictures on a disc with the recording laser?

[2-43] What are the gory details about how are 1s and 0s encoded?

[2-43-1] How does the laser read or write a disc?

[2-43-2] How do pits and lands turn into 1s and 0s? What's EFM?

[2-43-3] What's a frame? CIRC encoding? How does ECC work?

[2-43-4] What's in a sector?

[2-43-5] What's in a subcode channel?

[2-43-6] I want even more details

[2-44] Digital is better than analog, right?

[2-44-1] What is "digital" and "digitization", anyway?

[2-44-2] How does this relate to CD-DA?

[2-45] What's a CDR-ROM? CD-PROM?

[2-46] What's HD-BURN? GigaRec?

[2-47] What are C2 errors? What do they say about disc quality?

[2-48] What are CD+R and CD+RW?

[2-49] What's HighMAT?

[2-50] What's VariRec?

[2-51] Will my CDs work on players in other countries?

[2-52] Do CD-Rs have deeper pits? Are "shallow burns" bad?

[2-53] What's a stacking ring?

 

[3] How Do I...

[3-1] How do I copy a CD-ROM?

[3-1-1] Why can't I just do a block copy like a floppy?

[3-2] How do I extract tracks from ("rip") or copy an audio CD?

[3-2-1] How do I remove the voice from a CD track, leaving just music?

[3-2-2] How do I encode a CD track to MP3?

[3-3] How do I get rid of hisses and clicks on audio CDs?

[3-4] How do I copy game console discs (e.g. Playstation, Dreamcast)

[3-5] How do I get long filenames onto a disc?

[3-5-1] ISO-9660

[3-5-2] Rock Ridge

[3-5-3] HFS/HFS+ and Macintosh extensions to ISO-9660

[3-5-4] Joliet

[3-5-5] Romeo

[3-5-6] ISO/IEC 13346 and ISO/IEC 13490

[3-5-7] ISO-9660:1999

[3-6] How do I use a CD-i disc on a PC?

[3-7] How can I extract disc and track titles from an audio CD?

[3-8] How do I write more than 80 minutes of audio or 700MB of data?

[3-8-1] How well do 80-minute CD-R blanks work?

[3-8-2] How well do 90-minute and 99-minute CD-R blanks work?

[3-8-3] How can I exceed the stated disc capacity ("overburning")?

[3-9] How do I put photographs onto CD-ROM?

[3-9-1] How do I create a PhotoCD?

[3-9-2] How can I set up a photo album on CD-ROM?

[3-9-3] How can I show digital photos on my DVD player?

[3-10] How do I make a CD that will work on a PC or a Mac?

[3-11] How do I access different sessions on a multi-session CD?

[3-12] How do I transfer my records or cassettes to a CD?

[3-12-1] ...with a stand-alone audio CD recorder?

[3-12-2] ...with a CD recorder attached to my computer?

[3-12-3] How can I clean up the audio before recording?

[3-13] How do I transfer an audio DAT tape to CD?

[3-14] How do I put audio and data on the same CD?

[3-15] How do I make a bootable CD-ROM?

[3-16] How do I convert home movies into video on CD?

[3-16-1] How do I create a VideoCD from AVI or MPEG files?

[3-16-2] How do I create an SVCD?

[3-16-3] How do I create an AVCD?

[3-17] How can I burn several copies of the same disc simultaneously?

[3-18] Can I make copies of copies?

[3-19] How can I compress or encrypt data on a CD-ROM?

[3-20] Can I do backups onto CD-R?

[3-21] How do I automatically launch something? Change the CD icon?

[3-21-1] How does Windows "autorun" work?

[3-21-2] How do I launch a document (like a web page)?

[3-21-3] What autorun software is available?

[3-22] How can I be sure the data was written correctly?

[3-23] How do I create, copy, or play Audio Karaoke/CD+G discs?

[3-24] How do I copy a CD-ROM with 3GB of data on it? A huge VideoCD?

[3-25] How do I get my CD-R pressed into a real CD?

[3-26] How do I make a CD without that two-second gap between tracks?

[3-27] How can I record RealAudio (.ra), MIDI, WMA, and MP3 on a CD?

[3-28] How do I add CD-Text information?

[3-29] Can I distribute a web site on a CD-ROM?

[3-30] How do I clean my CD recorder?

[3-31] Is it better to record at slower speeds?

[3-32] Where do I get drivers for my CD recorder?

[3-33] Can I copy discs without breaking the law?

[3-33-1] ...in the United States of America?

[3-33-2] ...in Canada?

[3-34] Can CD-Rs recorded at 2x be read faster than 2x?

[3-35] How do I make my CD-ROM work on the Mac, WinNT, and UNIX?

[3-36] How do I put "hidden tracks" and negative indices on audio CDs?

[3-37] Do I need to worry about viruses?

[3-38] How do I cover up a bad audio track on a CD-R?

[3-39] How do I duplicate this hard-to-copy game?

[3-40] Should I erase or format a disc? How?

[3-41] How do I equalize the volume for tracks from different sources?

[3-42] How do I make a bit-for-bit copy of a disc?

[3-43] How do I put punctuation or lower case in CD-ROM volume labels?

[3-44] How do I extract audio tracks from an "enhanced" CD on the Mac?

[3-45] How do I disable DirectCD for Windows?

[3-46] How do I specify the order of files (e.g. sorting) on ISO-9660?

[3-47] How do I put a password on a CD-ROM?

[3-48] Can I record an audio CD a few tracks at a time?

[3-49] How do I copy DVDs onto CD-R?

[3-49-1] I heard about software that copies DVDs with a CD recorder!

[3-50] How do I copy Mac, UNIX, or "hybrid" CD-ROMs from Windows?

[3-51] How do I copy something in "RAW" mode? What's DAO-96?

[3-52] How do I do cross-fades between audio tracks?

[3-53] How do I create a CD with my favorite songs on it?

[3-54] How do I record directly onto CD from a microphone?

[3-55] Is it okay to record a CD from MP3?

[3-56] How can I test a disc image before recording?

[3-57] How do I clear the "read-only" flag under Windows?

[3-58] How do I share a CD recorder across a network?

[3-59] How do I write a large file across multiple discs?

[3-60] What's the safest, most reliable way to write data to CD-R?

 

[4] Problems

[4-1] What does "buffer underrun" mean?

[4-1-1] What's the deal with Windows Auto-Insert Notification (AIN)?

[4-1-2] What's all this about Win9x VCACHE settings?

[4-2] I can't get long Win95 filenames to work right

[4-3] I can't read the multisession CD I just made

[4-4] Write process keeps failing N minutes in

[4-5] Why did my CD-R eject and re-load the disc between operations?

[4-6] My CD-ROM drive doesn't like *any* CD-R discs

[4-7] How do I avoid having a ";1" on my ISO-9660 discs?

[4-8] I keep getting SCSI timeout errors

[4-9] I'm having trouble writing a complete disc

[4-10] What's the CDD2000 Write Append Error / spring problem?

[4-11] Getting errors reading the first (data) track on mixed-mode CD

[4-12] My recorder ejects blank discs immediately

[4-13] I'm getting complaints about power calibration

[4-14] My Adaptec 2940 pauses after finding my recorder

[4-15] I can't see all the files on the CD-R

[4-16] My multi-session disc only has data from the last session

[4-17] I'm getting SCSI errors

[4-18] Why doesn't the copy of an audio CD sound the same?

[4-18-1] Why doesn't the audio data on the copy match the original?

[4-18-2] The audio data matches exactly, why do they sound different?

[4-19] Digital audio extraction of a track is shifted slightly

[4-20] I can't play extracted audio files by double-clicking in Win95

[4-21] I can't read an ISO-finalized packet-written disc

[4-22] I'm finding corrupted files on the CD-ROMs I write

[4-23] Having trouble playing an audio CD in a home or car player

[4-24] Having trouble using a CD-ROM on a different machine

[4-25] I can't copy a VideoCD

[4-26] The test write succeeds, but the actual write fails

[4-27] I can no longer erase a particular CD-RW disc

[4-28] Having trouble formatting discs with DirectCD

[4-29] I can't write CD-Rs after installing Windows 98

[4-30] I can't use the copy of a CD-ROM after installing Windows 98

[4-31] The disc I was writing with DirectCD is now unreadable

[4-32] I'm getting a message about 100 form transitions

[4-33] My system hangs when I insert a blank disc

[4-34] My CD-R discs don't work in my DVD player

[4-35] I need help recovering data from a CD-ROM

[4-36] What does "not convertible to CD quality" mean?

[4-37] I inserted a CD-ROM but Windows thinks it's an audio CD

[4-38] I get read errors when trying to copy a game

[4-39] Restarting or shutting Windows down after recording causes hang

[4-40] Why do CD-Rs play poorly when anti-skip protection is enabled?

[4-41] I'm having trouble recording under Windows 2000 or WinXP

[4-42] I formatted a CD-RW and only have about 530MB free

[4-43] My CD recording software keeps crashing

[4-44] Do I need to update my ASPI layer?

[4-45] The write process completes, but the disc is still blank

[4-46] My CD-RW drive doesn't work with my CD-RW blanks

[4-47] Audio discs have crackling sounds on the last few tracks

[4-48] Files in deep directories can be seen but not opened

[4-49] My CD-ROM drive stopped working after uninstalling software

[4-50] Audio CDs recorded from MP3s play back fast and high-pitched

[4-51] Windows says access denied, can't create or replace file

[4-52] I can't see any files on a CD-R or CD-RW from MS-DOS

[4-53] My OS doesn't support ISO-13346 "UDF"

 

[5] Hardware

[5-1] Which CD recorder should I buy?

[5-1-1] Yamaha

[5-1-2] Sony

[5-1-3] Smart & Friendly

[5-1-4] Philips

[5-1-5] Hewlett-Packard (HP)

[5-1-6] Plasmon

[5-1-7] Kodak

[5-1-8] JVC

[5-1-9] Pinnacle

[5-1-10] Ricoh

[5-1-11] Pioneer

[5-1-12] Olympus

[5-1-13] Optima

[5-1-14] Mitsumi

[5-1-15] DynaTek Automation Systems

[5-1-16] Microboards of America

[5-1-17] Micro Design International

[5-1-18] MicroNet Technology

[5-1-19] Procom Technology

[5-1-20] Grundig

[5-1-21] Plextor

[5-1-22] Panasonic (Matsushita)

[5-1-23] Teac

[5-1-24] Wearnes

[5-1-25] Turtle Beach

[5-1-26] Creative Labs

[5-1-27] Taiyo Yuden

[5-1-28] Memorex

[5-1-29] Hi-Val

[5-1-30] Dysan

[5-1-31] Traxdata

[5-1-32] BenQ (nee Acer)

[5-1-33] Waitec

[5-1-34] BTC

[5-1-35] Caravelle (Sanyo)

[5-1-36] Micro Solutions

[5-1-37] Pacific Digital

[5-1-38] Iomega

[5-1-39] Goldstar (LG Electronics)

[5-1-40] AOpen

[5-1-41] Toshiba

[5-1-42] TDK

[5-1-43] Lite-On

[5-1-44] CenDyne

[5-1-45] VST (SmartDisk)

[5-1-46] ASUS

[5-1-47] Samsung

[5-1-48] APS / LaCie

[5-2] How long do CD recorders last?

[5-3] What kind of PC is recommended?

[5-4] What kind of Mac is recommended?

[5-5] Which standard CD-ROM drives work well with CD-R?

[5-6] What kind of HD should I use with CD-R? Must it be AV-rated?

[5-7] What SCSI adapter should I use with a CD recorder?

[5-7-1] Adaptec - 1510/1522A/1540/1542CF

[5-7-2] Adaptec - 2840/2910/2920/2930/2940

[5-7-3] ASUS - SC-200/SC-875

[5-7-4] Tekram - DC-390U/DC-390F

[5-7-5] Adaptec - 1350/1460/1480

[5-8] Can I use a CD recorder as a general-purpose reader?

[5-9] To caddy or not to caddy?

[5-10] Can I burn CDs from a Jaz drive? Tape drive?

[5-11] What is "Running OPC"?

[5-12] What's the story with stand-alone audio CD recorders?

[5-13] What's firmware? How and why should I upgrade my recorder?

[5-14] How well do parallel-port, USB, and 1394 recorders work?

[5-15] How should I configure my system for an ATAPI CD recorder?

[5-15-1] Should I have DMA enabled for an ATAPI recorder in Windows?

[5-16] How important is CD-RW?

[5-17] What is an "MMC Compliant" recorder?

[5-18] What do I need to record on a UNIX (Linux, Solaris, etc) system?

[5-19] What do I need for recording CDs from a laptop?

[5-20] I need to make *lots* of copies

[5-21] How do I connect two drives to one sound card in a PC?

[5-22] How fast is 1x? What are CAV, CLV, PCAV, and ZCLV?

[5-23] Will playing CD-Rs damage my CD player?

[5-24] Can I "overclock" my CD recorder?

[5-25] I need some help installing the drive

[5-26] How much power does a CD recorder use?

[5-27] Will the laser in my drive wear out?

 

[6] Software

[6-1] Which software should I use?

[6-1-1] Adaptec - Easy-CD, Easy-CD Pro, and Easy-CD Pro MM ("ECD")

[6-1-2] Adaptec - CD-Creator ("CDC")

[6-1-3] Gear Software - GEAR Pro

[6-1-4] Roxio - Toast

[6-1-5] CeQuadrat - WinOnCD

[6-1-6] Young Minds, Inc. - CD Studio+

[6-1-7] Golden Hawk Technology (Jeff Arnold) - CDRWIN

[6-1-8] Optical Media International - QuickTOPiX CD

[6-1-9] Creative Digital Research - CDR Publisher

[6-1-10] mkisofs

[6-1-11] Asimware Innovations - MasterISO

[6-1-12] Newtech Infosystems, Inc. (NTI) - CD-Maker

[6-1-13] Cirrus Technology/Unite - CDMaker

[6-1-14] Hohner Midia - Red Roaster

[6-1-15] Dataware Technologies - CD Author

[6-1-16] CreamWare - Triple DAT

[6-1-17] MicroTech - MasterMaker

[6-1-18] Angela Schmidt & Patrick Ohly - MakeCD

[6-1-19] Liquid Audio Inc. - Liquid Player

[6-1-20] Jörg Schilling - cdrecord

[6-1-21] Prassi Software - CD Rep and CD Right

[6-1-22] Zittware - CDMaster32

[6-1-23] Dieter Baron and Armin Obersteiner - CD Tools

[6-1-24] PoINT - CDwrite

[6-1-25] PoINT - CDaudio Plus

[6-1-26] Roxio - Easy CD Creator Deluxe ("ECDC")

[6-1-27] Padus - DiscJuggler

[6-1-28] Ahead Software - Nero

[6-1-29] CharisMac Engineering - Discribe

[6-1-30] István Dósa - DFY$VMSCD

[6-1-31] RSJ Software - RSJ CD Writer

[6-1-32] James Pearson - mkhybrid

[6-1-33] JVC - Personal Archiver Plus

[6-1-34] Roxio - Jam

[6-1-35] Pinnacle Systems - InstantCD/DVD (was VOB)

[6-1-36] Sony - CD Architect

[6-1-37] Eberhard Heuser-Hofmann - CDWRITE

[6-1-38] CeQuadrat - JustAudio!

[6-1-39] Digidesign - MasterList CD

[6-1-40] Thomas Niederreiter - X-CD-Roast

[6-1-41] Jesper Pedersen - BurnIT

[6-1-42] Jens Fangmeier - Feurio!

[6-1-43] Iomega - HotBurn

[6-1-44] DARTECH, Inc - DART CD-Recorder

[6-1-45] Interactive Information R&D - CDEveryWhere

[6-1-46] DnS Development - BurnIt

[6-1-47] Andreas Müller - CDRDAO

[6-1-48] Tracer Technologies - (various)

[6-1-49] SlySoft - CloneCD

[6-1-50] IgD - FireBurner

[6-1-51] Jodian Systems & Software - CDWRITE

[6-1-52] Erik Deppe - CD+G Creator

[6-1-53] Micro-Magic - CD Composer

[6-1-54] Earjam, Inc. - Earjam IMP

[6-1-55] Emagic - Waveburner

[6-1-56] Zy2000 - MP3 CD Maker

[6-1-57] Integral Research - Speedy-CD

[6-1-58] Desernet Broadband Media - Net-Burner and MP3-Burner

[6-1-59] Stomp, Inc. - Click 'N Burn

[6-1-60] Steinberg Media Technologies - Clean! plus

[6-1-61] Enreach - I-Author for VCD/SVCD

[6-1-62] VSO Software - Blindread/Blindwrite

[6-1-63] Microsoft - Windows XP

[6-1-64] An Chen Computers - CD Mate

[6-1-65] E-Soft - Alcohol

[6-1-66] Stomp Inc. - RecordNow MAX

[6-1-67] James Mieczkowski - Cheetah CD Burner

[6-1-68] Blaze Audio - RipEditBurn

[6-1-69] Acoustica, Inc. - MP3 CD Burner

[6-1-70] MagicISO, Inc. - MagicISO

[6-1-71] Simone Tasselli - Burn4Free

[6-1-72] Sonic Solutions - Record Now!

[6-1-73] Freeridecoding - BurnAgain

[6-2] What other useful software is there?

[6-2-1] Optical Media International - Disc-to-Disk

[6-2-2] Gilles Vollant - WinImage

[6-2-3] Asimware Innovations - AsimCDFS

[6-2-4] Steven Grimm - WorkMan

[6-2-5] Cyberdyne Software - CD Worx

[6-2-6] Arrowkey - CD-R Diagnostic

[6-2-7] DC Software Design - CDRCue Cuesheet Editor

[6-2-8] Astarte - CD-Copy

[6-2-9] Frank Wolf - CDR Media Code Identifier

[6-2-10] Logiciels & Services Duhem - MacImage

[6-2-11] Erik Deppe - CD Speed 2000

[6-2-12] Andre Wiethoff - Exact Audio Copy (EAC)

[6-2-13] Earle F. Philhower, III - cdrLabel

[6-2-14] Adobe - Audition (formerly Cool Edit)

[6-2-15] Elwin Oost - Burn to the Brim

[6-2-16] Mike Looijmans - CDWave

[6-2-17] ECI - DriveEasy

[6-2-18] Jackie Franck - Audiograbber

[6-2-19] High Criteria - Total Recorder

[6-2-20] Smart Projects - IsoBuster

[6-2-21] GoldWave Inc. - GoldWave

[6-2-22] Naltech - CD Data Rescue

[6-2-23] Jufsoft - BadCopy Pro

[6-2-24] CDRoller Soft Co. - CDRoller

[6-2-25] FlexiMusic - Wave Editor

[6-2-26] Nic Wilson - DVD Info Pro

[6-2-27] Audacity

[6-3] What is packet writing (a/k/a DLA - Drive Letter Access)?

[6-3-1] What's UDF?

[6-3-2] Do I want to do packet writing?

[6-4] What packet writing software should I use?

[6-4-1] Roxio - Drag-to-Disc (a/k/a DirectCD)

[6-4-2] CeQuadrat - PacketCD

[6-4-3] SmartStorage - SmartCD for Recording

[6-4-4] Gutenberg Systems - FloppyCD

[6-4-5] Pinnacle Systems - InstantWrite (was VOB)

[6-4-6] Prassi - abCD

[6-4-7] Ahead - InCD

[6-4-8] Oak Technologies - SimpliCD ReWrite

[6-4-9] NewTech Infosystems, Inc. (NTI) - File CD

[6-4-10] Veritas - DLA (Drive Letter Access)

[6-4-11] BHA - B's CLiP

[6-5] Can I intermix different packet-writing programs?

[6-6] I want to write my own CD recording software

[6-6-1] PoINT - CDarchive SDK

[6-6-2] Golden Hawk Technology (Jeff Arnold)

[6-6-3] Gear Software - GEAR.wrks

[6-6-4] VOB - CD-Wizard SDK

[6-6-5] Dialog Medien - ACDwrite.OCX

[6-6-6] ECI - The Engine

[6-6-7] NUGROOVZ - CDWriterXP

[6-6-8] Ashampoo - DiscForge Plug & Burn

[6-6-9] NuMedia Soft - CDWriterPro

[6-6-10] Sonic Solutions - AuthorScript

[6-7] What software is available for doing backups?

[6-7-1] Adaptec - Easy-CD Backup

[6-7-2] D.J. Murdoch - DOSLFNBK

[6-7-3] Dantz - Retrospect

[6-7-4] Veritas - Backup Exec

[6-7-5] Symantec - Norton Ghost

[6-7-6] PowerQuest - Drive Image Special Edition for CD-R

[6-7-7] Centered Systems - Second Copy

[6-7-8] FileWare - FileSync

[6-7-9] Novastor - NovaDISK

[6-7-10] Roxio - Take Two

[6-7-11] NTI - Backup NOW!

[6-7-12] CeQuadrat - BackMeUp LT

[6-7-13] Duncan Amplification - disk2disk

[6-7-14] Pinnacle Systems - InstantBackup (was VOB)

[6-7-15] Microsoft - Backup

[6-7-15] Portlock Software - Storage Manager

[6-7-16] Willow Creek Software - Backup To CD-RW

[6-7-17] TeraByte Unlimited - Image for Windows

[6-8] How do I get customer support for bundled recording software?

 

[7] Media

[7-1] What kinds of media are there?

[7-2] Does the media matter?

[7-3] Who manufactures CD-R media?

[7-4] Which kind of media should I use?

[7-4-1] What's the best brand of media?

[7-5] How long do CD-Rs and CD-RWs last?

[7-6] How much data can they hold? 650MB? 680MB?

[7-7] Is it okay to write on or stick a label on a disc?

[7-8] How do CD-Rs behave when microwaved?

[7-9] What can I do with CD-R discs that failed during writing?

[7-10] Where can I find jewel cases and CD sleeves?

[7-11] What's "unbranded" CD-R media?

[7-12] How do I repair a scratched CD?

[7-13] What's this about a Canadian CD-R tax?

[7-14] Can I get 80mm (3-inch "cd single") CD-Rs?

[7-15] Where can I find CD-ROM business cards and "shaped" CDs?

[7-16] Can you tell pressed CDs and silver CD-Rs apart?

[7-17] What's the difference between "data" and "music" blanks?

[7-18] How do I convert data CD-Rs into "consumer audio" blanks?

[7-19] Is translucent media bad?

[7-20] How do I destroy CD-R media beyond all hope of recovery?

[7-21] Can I recycle old CDs, CD-Rs, and CD-RWs?

[7-22] Is there really a fungus that eats CDs?

[7-23] How do I clean CD-R and CD-RW discs?

[7-24] Are "black" discs different from other discs?

[7-25] My disc just shattered in the CD drive!

[7-26] How do I tell which side on a silver/silver disc is up?

[7-27] How should I handle and store CDs?

[7-28] What causes the rainbow effect when looking at the data side?

 

[8] Net Resources and Vendor Lists

[8-1] Information resources

[8-2] Magazines and other publications

[8-3] Net.vendors

[8-3-1] Consumer software, hardware, and media

[8-3-2] Net.vendors (duplication services and hardware)

[8-4] News sources & mailing lists

 

[9] Contributors

The last-modified date of each section is shown below the Subject line. The date format used is YYYY/MM/DD. The date stamps were added on 1998/04/06, so you won't find any older than that.

This version of the FAQ is generated automatically by faq2html, an application developed specifically for converting the plain ASCII version of the CD-Recordable FAQ to HTML. The program is available in source form.

You are visitor to this page since June 1st, 1998.

Send corrections and updates to Andy McFadden. If you have a question you'd like to see answered in here, either post it to one of the comp.publish.cdrom newsgroups (if you don't have the answer), or send it to fadden@fadden.com (if you do).

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