Latest special offer - Ricoh 32x8x8 Cdwriter boxed with 6 discs and Adaptec CR creator 4 .full product details here

only £169.00

Are they identical to normal CDs?

Are they identical to normal CDs? The CDs you buy in a store are pressed from a mold. CD-Rs are burned with a laser. They may look different (often green, gold, or blue instead of silver), they're less tolerant of extreme temperatures and sunlight, and they're more susceptible to physical damage. Whether CD-Rs or pressed CDs last longer is difficult to answer. While they're not physically identical, they work just the same. Some CD players and CD-ROM drives aren't as good at reading CD-R and CD-RW discs as they are at reading pressed CDs, but by and large they work just fine. By the way, you can't write data onto pressed discs. Buying a bunch of old CDs in the hopes of http://www.fadden.com/cdrfaq/faq01.html 02/03/99 CD-Recordable FAQ - section 1 Page 2 of 3 writing new stuff onto them is a bad idea. You have to buy blank CD-R or CD-RW media.

Document available in Adobe PDF format

Getting windows ready for CD Recording

Factors in recording to CD

Avoiding CDR disc failure

Buffer underuns

CDR Hardware guide

CDR Software Guide

CDR Media guide

CDR Resources guide

CDR Basics

FAQ on CDR and CDRW

How do I

Set up notes for recording CD.s

Can I create new audio and data CDs?

Yes. You can create CD-ROMs from data on your hard drive, and you can create new audio CDs from anything you can record into a WAV or AIFF sound file. With an audio-only CD-Recorder, which hooks up to your stereo system instead of your computer, you can record directly from CD, cassette, DAT, or whatever. The CD-ROMs you produce will play in ordinary CD-ROM drives, and the audio CDs you create will work in your home or car CD player. Writing to CD-Rs and CD-RWs requires a special drive. You can't write CDs with an ordinary CDROM drive.

Can I use it to copy my CDs?

Yes, both audio and data CDs can be duplicated. You can even create audio CDs that are compilations of other audio CDs (perhaps a personal "best of" disc). Bear in mind that most CDs are protected by copyright laws.

How much can they hold?

About 74 minutes of audio, or about 650MB of data.

Can I just copy files onto a CD-R like I would to a floppy?

Yes and no. The process can be a bit more involved than that, and requires special software that (usually) comes bundled with the drive. With "packet writing" software, and a recorder that supports it, you can treat a CD-R or CD-RW disc like a floppy. Generally speaking, you can only write to each part of the disc once, so deleting files doesn't gain any space. There are other limitations as well. With more traditional software -- necessary if you want the broadest possible compatibility -- you usually end up writing everything to the disc all at once. When you're doing the writing you can't interrupt the drive, and you can't reclaim the space you've used. If you want to write your files in smaller bunches, you lose a fair bit of space every time you stop and start again

What can you tell me about DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, etc?

Nothing. This FAQ is about CD-R and CD-RW, and only crosses over into DVD when the two http://www.fadden.com/cdrfaq/faq01.html 02/03/99 CD-Recordable FAQ - section 1 Page 3 of 3 technologies rub up against each other. To learn more about DVD, try http://www.unik.no/~robert/hifi/dvd/ (http://www.multimania.com/abela/DVD/DVDfaq.html if you prefer French).

What's the cheapest recorder and best place to buy media?

You can purchase media from Nemesis, we carry the cheapest, and best quality discs singles, and packs and are guaranteed to be of the highest quality.

Can I get step-by-step installation and use instructions?

Yes, from the manual that comes with your recorder and software. There's no information of this type in the FAQ because there are far too many permutations of hardware and software, and the instructions would have to be updated with every new release of the software.