I recently tried a CD/RW in Win XP Pro, and promptly got confused. It did copy files to the CD, but it did not format the CD-RW as I expected it would. In older machines, the CD was formatted before use. Does Win XP understand how to use an RW? Is there something I need to be aware of in using XP to write to CD/DVD disks?
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Windows XP and CD/DVD RW
- Thread starter kiddpete
- Start date
If it was a new CD it was probably already "formatted" before you purchased it.
To write to a CD-RW in XP there just has to be free space on the CD-RW. XP will continue to write to it, until the CD is full.
The term "format" is a bit misleading when using XP's in-built CD burning software. To prepare a CD for writing that has old unwanted data on it, use the "Erase" option which then prepares the CD for writing.
279157 - Description of CD-ROM Recording in Windows XP
306641 - HOW TO: Erase Files From a CD-RW Disc in Windows XP
294883 - Cannot Delete Individual Files from a CD-RW Disc in Windows XP
To write to a CD-RW in XP there just has to be free space on the CD-RW. XP will continue to write to it, until the CD is full.
The term "format" is a bit misleading when using XP's in-built CD burning software. To prepare a CD for writing that has old unwanted data on it, use the "Erase" option which then prepares the CD for writing.
279157 - Description of CD-ROM Recording in Windows XP
306641 - HOW TO: Erase Files From a CD-RW Disc in Windows XP
294883 - Cannot Delete Individual Files from a CD-RW Disc in Windows XP
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