disk types, format types and drive types

Unbanable · Mar 30, 2008

Something that I'm simply stumped on...

Disk types (CD+RW, CD+R, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW), drive types, and format types(different versions of UDF, mastered, etc).

I thought I had the basic gist of it, until I was trying to get a driver onto a disk to use in an old 98 machine. I simply could not understand it.

All of the different disk types, format types, what's compatable with what... Even when I see charts like the one in Windows Vista's Help and Support page, I'm still confused.

Is there any website or someone here that can spell everything out? All the differences between format types, all of this write once business, or write to more than once but can't erase, or only format once, all that stuff that doesn't ever seem to be the case when you actually go to burning files and formatting?

DavidGP · Mar 30, 2008

Hi

The HowStuffWorks website is fairly good for this, example on CDs http://www.howstuffworks.com/cd.htm

Main Computers page http://computer.howstuffworks.com/computer-hardware-channel.htm

But quickly and as simple as possible off top of head.

CDR or DVDR disks allow you to write once on these with no erase, however if you format one of these disks to UDF ( drag and drop ) by formatting them as such, you can write data to them, then at later date add more data, and add more data, until the disk is full, if you finalise any CDR/DVDR you cannot add more data to them as they are locked.

CDRW or DVDRW disks allow you to write and erase data many times.

More indepth info here http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Hardware_Software/2003/DVDFormatsExplained.asp

Unbanable · Mar 30, 2008

Thank you very much.

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disk types, format types and drive types

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DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

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