CD-RW (free) Software?

HellOoOOooOOoOOooOoo!!!!

Anyone know any good free software for CD-RW?

I had Easy CD and the CD-RW program that came with that, but it couldn't install on XP.

I've been using Feurio (Thanks Ian for the reccomendation) for a while now for standard CDR duties, but now need something for RW.

Does XP Pro have anything built in? I've tried reading from CD-RW I'd burnt previously on easy thinkgy, but one wouldn't recognize any contencts at all, while others will let me add to the disc, but not erase.

Is this just a compatibilty with the way the discs had been formatted? Or is that the limit on the XP software? Can't rease from them?

Cheers

MO

 

Mo

I use nero and got it from kazaa

 

Does nero do RW too?

I think I had a copy of Nero from kazaa, but never installed it as I was happy with easy cd. However, sods law, the CD-RW I burnt with all my programs and stuff like that when I was preparing to put XP on, is the one which I can no longer read.

Any idea if XP has built in stuff?

I guess the compatibility issue is down to the different ways the cd-rws get formatted?

Also, if i go for the p2p route, how do i tell what's legit and what's just a virus in disguise? Last time I looked for software like this just about every copy was a different size.

 

yep, Nero does RW


I dont use XP so cant help with that 1, maybe try searching the MSN stuff for info

Yea, i think RW does use a different way of formating from the drive/software point of view. More a magnetic tape man than optical - sorry

A lot does seem to be crap on p2p, couldnt say what was what tbh. The copy of nero i got is around 27MB file.
I may be able to stick it on some webspace and give you the addy, not till the weekend. Or i could burn and mail but god knows when ill get to the PO, still got SB's tape deck here:shame:
Dont know if my version will work with XP tho.

 

Got a copy of Nero 6 Ultra Edition.

Weighed in at 50MB

I've never used Nero before so this is all new to me. Seems very substantial and gonna take some time to get used to. Not seen any mention of CD-RW though

Guess I'll have a nose through the manuals, may be a good start

 

Windows XP does have built in CDRW capabilities, you basically drag/drop files onto the CDR/CDRW and then right click on it in my computer and click "write CD".

Not the best though, better using dedicated software. You can grab nero 6 which is far superior from Kazaa as previously mentioned. However to do this you obviously need a valid license, so if you don't have one, you should buy a copy

 

Right, I'll start from the begining.....

Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a guy called MO.

He had Windows ME and Easy CD.

He was preparing to put XP onto his computer, so thought best to save his programs (things like Zone Alarm, anti virus, etc etc...) to a CD-RW.

He then went ahead and put XP on his computer. All went well. Then he tried to put on his anti virus and zone alarm firewall before setting up his internet connection again. However, the CD-RW which he'd burnt all the prog's to couldn't be read! EEEK! He thought!

Perhaps it's just that the was easy cd formats the rewritable is unique (perhaps it is to each individual burning software?), so he tried to install easy cd (which came free with his cd burner).

Unable to install due to drivers which wil make the system unstable!!! Clicked ok and thought might aswell try it anyway, then just get it to update itself. But it wasn't to be. Unable to install at all

Sooooooooooooooooooo

Now MO has Nero 6 ultra fancy pants edition. MO also has a hard drive that seems to like cutting out on him. So MO wants to burn a cd-rw of prog's again. This time using Nero.

BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If MO was to burn this cd-rw, and burnt Nero on it too. Then should be looking to install all the stuff off the disc onto his new hard drive when he gets it. Will XP be able to read the disc? Will he need to install nero first, to let him read it?

If Nero is on the disc that he can't read without having nero, he can't install nero to read that disc to enable him to install nero..... etc etc....


The End (of this chapter at least )

 

put the setup files on a seperate disc?

 

put the what on the where?

I take it you mean put Nero onto a seperate disc? Don't get how this would make a difference if I wont be able to read the disc without having nero installed. This may not be the case, not sure. Can anyone confirm if I can read a Nero made CD-RW without having Nero on the computer?

 

MO

I dont beleive that burner software encrypts the data it copies. Anything burnt in easy cd can be read by any PC regardless of what burner is installed - you dont need a burner to read a burnt cd. It sounds like something went wrong with the original burning with easy cd.
Cant you just download the firewall and virus software from the net? This is what I do as often the software has been upgraded since you last installed.

 

Hmmm.....

Well like you say, something must have just gone wrong with that cd.

It's not just zone alarm and anti virus, other things like browsers, p2p, messengers, and various other odds and ends that woulld take a few hours to download. The reason for putting them on a rewritable cd was as you mentioned, to keep them upto date rather than just burning once and the disc being outdated.

Also, in the time it took me to download a firewall and anti virus etc... after putting XP on, I'd managed to get a worm on my machine! This must have been within 20 miin's or so of connecting to the net!

I've managed to make a disc with Nero now

One thing though, I don't seem to have a "format rewritable disc" option anywhere, like mentioned in the user guides

 

Neither do I, I have Nero 5.5 and that simply has erase disc options "quick erase rewritable or full erase rewritable medium".
Which should be all you need.
I have had a few problems writing data to rewritable medium. Try writing to a normal blank disc.