Useful sites for CD-R and CD-RW users
So, you have a CD-R or CD-RW drive and you need some tips on using it. Here are two tremendous sites that you should visit for your CD-R/RW questions.
WWW.CDMEDIAWORLD.COM - features articles, interviews, how-tos, firmware updates, drivers, and information on which drives are the best to buy, which disks perform better, etc. This is one of the best sites for all around information on CD-R and CD-RW usage.
WWW.GAMECOPYWORLD.COM - This site is good for finding patches and updates to your game as well as making many of them playable without having the CD in your drive. If you need to make a backup and it uses some strenuous copy protection this site will often help you find solutions to that as well.
TOOLS OF THE TRADE:
If you are going to use your CD-R primarily to make occasional backups of your data, the occasional audio CD, and copies of audio CDs and Data CDs then the software that comes with CD-R drives is usually adequate. This usually consists of Adaptec Easy CD Creator and Adaptec DirectCD. DirectCD is without a doubt one of the easiest ways to drag and drop your data. Disks created with DirectCD will not work in ALL CD-ROM drives but, this can be remedied by downloading and installing a UDF READER on the machine that is having problems.
POWER USER TOOLS OF THE TRADE:
So, you want to push the CD-R/RW drive to the limits of its capabilities. The most important things will be discussed here.
Uninstall the ADAPTEC Easy CD Creator and ADAPTEC DirectCD if they are installed. Any serious CD-R/RW user will not want to use these as there are much better alternatives.
Step #1 - Update the firmware for your drive. Visit WWW.CDMEDIAWORLD.COM for more help with this
Step #2 - Get these two programs if you can
afford to do so.
Nero Burning ROM
CloneCD
Step #3 - If you can afford to get any additional
programs then this one is worth it
CDRWIN
NOTES ABOUT WHAT THESE ARE FOR:
Nero Burning ROM is a great program that will let you design virtually any type
of CD-ROM there is. It is easy to use and is VERY reliable. This
will be your all purpose tool for creating CDs. It will be what you use
instead of Adaptec Easy CD Creator or whatever comes with your drive.
CloneCD is probably the best CD Duplicator on the market. IT can make exact duplicates of virtually any disk. It makes duplicates of Playstation disks as well. This will probably be what you want to use when all you are doing is copying an existing disk.
CDRWIN serves the same functions as NERO. It is as good as Nero in its own ways but, is not as user friendly. It is listed simply because, there will be the occasional patch or instructions on the internet that utilize files specifically created to work with CDRWIN. For this reason alone it is a good program to have in your arsenal.