Re: Formatting a CD-R disk

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I have an HP CD burner that I use with my old computer. When I put a CD-R
in, it tells me that I have to format it. I cannot write to it in its "raw"
form. After I have formatted it, I can write to it. Then it gives me a
choice: leave it "open" to add stuff to, or "close" it so I can read it in
any CD drive.

That's what I know.

The Toshiba doesn't work that way, so I'm trying to find out how to use the
Toshiba.

Phil



"Shenan Stanley" <newshelper@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23AsXSjwUHHA.4872@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Phil James wrote:
How do I do this? When I right-click on the device's icon in the
system tray, one option is "format." When I click on that I get a
message saying that the formatting tool doesn't work with CD-R's.

So how do I do those?

I've got a Toshiba Satellite A105-S4344 running W XP.

Shenan wrote:
CD-Rs - other than multi-sessions (where you can continue building upon
your last session - but you can still only write until you close the
CD...) - are write once media...

CD-RW are 're-writable' CDs - or those you can erase and write all new
stuff to.

Phil James wrote:
Yes, of course, I know that. But how do I get the CD-R so I can
copy files to it? On my old computer I had to format it, but the
format tool I described doesn't work with CD-R.


You do not format CD-R media.
There is no formatting of this media (CD-R) - you write to it or read from
it - but there is *no* formatting it.

It is ready 'out of the box' to be written to as long as you have the
right hardware and software to do so.

Once it has been written to (or you have a bad CD-R, or you have a bad
drive, or you do not have a drive capable of doing so, etc..) - it is used
and cannot be formatted for re-use either.

You are recalling something incorrectly or you have CD-RW media and just
keep calling it CD-R. ;-)

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html



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