CD-RW reading problem / UDF reader question

[mittene]

I've recently bought a computer with the XP home version. I have cd-rw's that I had created on my old computer with Easy CD Creator version 3.5. Whenever I insert the cd-rw's into my burner drive, I only see a file that would install a UDF reader from Adaptec along with some autorun file.

I do not want to install this since I know that Easy CD Creator 3.5 is not compatible with XP. I looked around and found out that I can install the latest version of Adapect's (Roxio's) UDF reader which supposedly had worked for some people using XP, but crashed the computers of others using XP. I really don't want to install this if I don't have to. I've also read somewhere that XP already has a UDF reader built in. Does anybody know anything about that?

My burner drive can read cdr's that I had created with Easy CD Creator 3.5 on my old computer, however. I'm guessing at least part of the problem is because I had formatted the cdrw's and not the cdr's on my old computer. Thanks.

[jman1980]

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Oper..._20327125.html
take a look here about the udf reader.

as far as roxio, 5.1 is the lowest version that works with xp, i dont know if you can upgrade for free, but it would be worth a trip to their site to see.

[mittene]

Thanks for the quick response, but I already had come across that page you linked and didn't find much there. Also, I cannot upgrade to 5.1 free, and I have no plans to buy the new version since I already have a decent burning program that came along the burner.

[jman1980]

The reason it probably wasn't viewable was because you didn't create it properly. This is a normal problem. If you don't choose to close the session on the CD when you create it, alot of Cdroms can't read the cd because the FAT table has not been fully created yet. Whenever you create a cd that you know your not going to add anything to later on, and that your not going to give to someone, you need to close the session on the cd. Using XP, it automatically closes the session when the cd is created

[NoBoB]

You are mistaken. mittene has created his discs properly (I'll leave the argument over whether using DirectCD is considered "proper" for another thread).

Some earlier versions of DirectCD installed the UDF reader installer on the disc so that systems that did not have UDF reading capability could be given the option to install it, thereby making the disc readable. I don't remember when (or if) that feature was withdrawn, but discs made with those versions will definitely behave as this one does when inserted in a system that lacks UDF reading.

mittene, you've stumbled into a common Adaptec/Roxio quandry. Some people install their stuff with no trouble at all. Others find their systems rendered unbootable. Others find a spot in between. Myself, I prohibit their product line from my own systems and any I support, so you can read into that what you may.

Unless the data on those discs is irreplaceable (and if it is, it shouldn't be on erasable media), I'd erase them and not give it another thought. If you absolutely must recover them, your only real option is to do a full backup and give the reader a shot. If it works, great. If not, that's why you did the backup.

If your old system is still available, you could copy the discs back to it, erase the discs, and re-record them without DirectCD (that is, with Easy CD Creator). They'd then be readable in any drive that reads erasable media, regardless of operating system.

Yet another reason to avoid packet writing...

[SuperSparks]

Yes, my experiences of Packet Writing have only ever been an unmitigated disaster I've tried DirectCD which just plain wouldn't work and InCD which was the only app that I've ever found that was guaranteed to crash WinXP, though never in the same way twice!

Hopefully when Mount Ranier comes out things'll be better, but until then I agree with NoBob, it's best to give packet writing a miss.

[Rapmaster]

IMHO, cd burning is easy enough with XP's built in stuff that DirectCD/InCD aren't worth the hassle

[ahmedalmatook]

Hi SuperSparks,
InCD works just fine on my machine, never crushed any thing.


Rapmaster

WinXP build in CD writing for CDRW is fine but you can never Erase a single item from your CDRW, in fact XP will only ask you to erase the entire disk which in most of the times not required by the user, while with InCD you can delete a single comma or a single digit without effecting the remaining content of your CDRW and that’s a great deference.

[mittene]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I will try to do a little more research on this, and at the very worst I suppose I can bring the cd-rw to work and copy the files to a cdr there, and close the disk.