WIX Archives

A different opinion ......

Posted by Christer on Thu Jun 19, 2003 07:11:00 PM

In reply top Re: Sorta worked posted by AndyG on Thu Jun 19, 2003 05:41:28 PM

Hi guys!

This is what I (think) I know about CD/R and CD/RW.

They work in exactly the same way when being written to. There?s no FAT (File Allocation Table) which means that the contents is "written and forgotten". A simple label is added to each burning session containing folder tree structure and file names. This label takes up quite some space (overhead) and is approximately the same size no matter what size the burnt contents is. Add one file of 1 kB and consume 1 MB space. Add 100 MB and consume 101 MB space.
The difference is that the CD/RW can be erased and reused.

To be able to change the contents on a CD/RW you need to use e.g. Nero's InCD or Roxio's Direct CD. InCD, which I use, formats the CD/RW and it can be used in the same way as a 3.5" floppy. Files can be dragged and dropped to it and files can be changed or deleted and the freed space reclaimed.

If a CD/R or CD/RW is used the "classic" way, files shouldn?t be burned one by one due to the big write overhead on multisession CD's. Use CD/RW's for temporary backups and when a CD-layout containing the full 700 MB has been composed on the HardDisk, then burn it to a CD/R in a single session.

Just my humble opinion,
Christer

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