Hi David,
Here are some thoughts...
From: "David W. Fenton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
1. writing to CD-R/RW is problematic.
[snip]
Dragging and dropping in Windows Explorer, i.e., treating the drive
like any other removable media (which was possible in previous
versions of Windows).
Absolutely. Packet-writing is a mess. But, hasn't this always required a
third-party driver? However, with CD media being so inexpensive, I treat it
as a write-once medium (I don't ever use CD-RWs). Relatively decent
writable DVD media can even be had for about $1 per 4.7 gig disc. But you
are correct, this write support requires third-party software.
2. Windows does not natively support DVD drives.
[snip]
The DVD drive doesn't work. The hardware is detected, but it only
reads CD-ROMs. It won't read DVDs of any type. There were Win2K DVD
drivers for that particular model of Dell box, and I downloaded and
attempted to install them, but it could never read DVD drives (unless
they had a CD-ROM compatibility layer). The client doesn't need a DVD
drive (it was a free option when they purchased the machine; it was
pretty much standard equipment on all Dell boxes by that point), so
we didn't pursue it with Dell tech support.
That really sounds like a hardware problem to me. A firmware or BIOS
upgrade may be available. WinXP provides a DVD-ROM driver, which supports
the DVD-ROM industry-defined MMC-3 specification - there is no need for a
third-party driver to obtain read support. Windows XP *does* natively
provide DVD-ROM read support. Write support requires third-party software.
We went through all the troubleshooting with Dell, and they never
went into the realm of the possibility of hardware failure -- all of
their troubleshooting was directed at software/driver issues. When
they suggested re-installing Windows as a solution, I escalated to a
higher level of support, and eventually got an acknowledgment from
them that they hadn't yet been successful resolving this kind of
problem.
I would be a little bit careful using Dell's (or any other manufacturer's)
tech support as a reliable means of diagnosing a problem. While some of
their staff certainly are knowledgeable, most are just reading from a
pre-determined checklist. If your problem doesn't fit a pretty narrow set
of criteria, the standard response is to 'reinstall windows'. As well, they
will generally avoid the notion of hardware problems, as this then escalates
a support request into a much more expensive repair request.
Writable disks require specific software installed on the machine to
be able to read them (back in the days of taking my own CD-Rs and CD-
RWs to older Win9x machines, I'd get to see the installation of this
software onto a number of older machines that didn't already have the
support for the writable drives). Non-writable CD-ROMs should not
require any special support for the file system of a CD. I would
assume that DVDs use a variation on the same file system, so it makes
no sense to me that the DVD would be unable to read non-writable
DVDs, but that is the case.
Not necessarily true - for packet-writing (i.e. making your CD/DVD writer
function in the same manner as any other removable drive in Windows), you
will certainly need third-party drivers. But, as you've discovered, this is
a pretty unreliable and messy way of working with CD/DVD writeable media.
You need to have these drivers installed not only to write to the disc, but
also to read from it, so you can't just bring that CD-RW over to another
computer if you need to access its data. However, if you just write with
the standard ISO-9660 file system (also UDF 2.0 for DVDs), Windows does not
need any external software/drivers to be able to read the disc, be it a CD
or DVD.
Backup scripts don't rust.
[snip]
Well, I don't like to buy software when the same thing can be
accomplished without it. Until WinXP, it was possible to use XCOPY, a
built-in function of the OS. After WinXP, it's not reliable.
Sure, but your script clearly has rusted. It no longer works reliably in
newer versions of Windows. This is due to a change in WinXP, of course, and
really has no bearing on the quality of the script. But, practically
speaking, the end result is the same. You should migrate your clients
forward to new solutions. I would recommend Nero (www.ahead.de) for CD/DVD
writing, and Acronis True Image (www.acronis.com) for a data backup
solution. Yes, you will have to purchase extra software, but these examples
are very easy to use, and most important, are reliable. With True Image,
you can schedule unattended incremental backups, as well as create an entire
image of your system onto bootable media in case of a serious system
failure. Once setup, your client has to do nothing except pop-in the CD or
DVD media.
Other options also exist - with hard drives being so cheap these days (e.g.
less than $1 a gig), you could put in a 120 gig hard drive and schedule
daily backups to it (completely unattended, the user wouldn't have to do a
thing) - and then do a weekly image of that drive to CD/DVD media.
I categorically deny ever suggesting not purchasing a DVD or CD-ROM
drive. I just posted a warning about potential problems.
[snip]
I posted a warning about potential pitfalls and about basic
weaknesses in WinXP optical drive support, nothing more.
That is a bit of a half-truth. You were warning a Finale user who had
discussed purchasing the DVD of Finale 2006 that DVD support in Windows XP
was broken. I don't have access to the original message(s) right now, but I
inferred from the tone of your post that you were suggesting to Windows
users to *not* use DVD drives with WinXP (which translates into not
purchasing them). It seems that the other list members who have responded
to this thread also essentially read your message as saying: "Don't use/buy
DVD drives with Windows XP because their support is problematic". Perhaps I
made a connection that was not intended, but this paraphrased statement is
very misleading. DVD media and drives work just fine in Windows XP.
Cheers,
Jim
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