James, By -R mode I mean the same format/mode as the CD or DVD you buy with software on it. Readable on almost all systems by software from Windows 3 onward
When you use something like Nero to write a 'data CD or DVD' it writes to the platter it will do so in the same format/mode as the CD or DVD you buy with software on it (You have the option of writing to the platter in a closed mode - or in a multi-session mode ) The other way of using -RW media is to write to them as if they were a hard drive partition (A-Drive, or large floppy diskette etc) , That packet mode maintains a FAT table, an amendable directory structure and writes data in 'sectors' ( the -R mode writes in a continuous stream - sort of like the old LP's where you can have 1 musical performance on the disc - as in a CD closed session or you can have gaps where the creation process wrote one performance, then another ) The -R mode does not allow you to change data that has already been written - a multi-session mode process starts writing the new stuff after the place it stopped writing the earlier lot, and it writes a complete new directory set at the end of that new data - it's up to the creator to get the program to include (or not include) details of all, or each of the files recorded in the prior directory set. The -RW mode overwrites the allocation and directory structure at the start of the platter as it writes each block of data not only a lot slower, but also far more risky due to the repeated writes to the directory area - With a platter having a quality indication of a re-writeable count of 1000 - you can expect to use a RW in -R mode 500 times because the write process only uses each part of the platter once - until you erase the platter - when it writes to the start of the platter to mark it as 'empty' In -RW mode, every block written can cause the portion of the platter holding the FAT table to be re-written and each file causes the directory to be re-written, so you should expect writing 1 set of data files to a platter in RW mode to exceed the 1000 rewrites quality qualification by many times and that's in the most critical portion of the platter - where location information on all the files is held And just for added fun - the various software packages can write control information to a packet mode -RW data set that stops the other packages reading the data properly as a directory structure - Great fun recovering data a file at a time because Search, and copy at directory level access doesn't work And - watch for Nero and InCd using a -RW platter at the same time .. Nero writing a -R mode image to the platter, and InCD formatting it .. The problem being that InCD writes to the first 30 or so sectors of the platter when it finishes the format process overwriting the data that Nero put there - avoid that by writing a single small file to the platter in -R mode, accepting the delay, and error due to the InCD formatting. Then over-writing the disk with the full set of data that you want Nero to put on the platter, and telling Nero to erase the existing data on the platter when it reports that the -RW platter is not empty. JimB ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Maki" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 7:15 PM Subject: Re: R/RW Backups (was: Operating System Not Found Error and OT) > > It's better to do backups in -R mode to a cycle of -RW > > platters than to use -RW mode > > Could you explain this comment further? What is -R mode versus -RW mode? > What do you mean by "cycle of -RW platters?" > > James Maki > [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- ---------------------------------------- The WIN-HOME mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
