formating cd's

[Mike Daytona600]

Can't do it for some reason. Have been trying to put some photos on cd and it keeps failing. One of the reasons is that the cd needs formating. I follow the intructions in the help thingy but the option for formating isn't there. I'm using a new cd so should I have to.

Please help cos my PC has been P!ssing me off today and the monitor is very close to going out the window. I'm also getting through discs like a kid through sweets.

[Banditmax]

You shouldnt have to format the cd at all. Just choose the files you want on it and burn them too it.

[Mike Daytona600]

ummm. Typical Pc problem then. It should do it but it won't and no explination why cos Bill Gates thinks we all know as much as him

[DynaMight]

What are you using? Windows Built in program? Are you trying to burn onto a CD-R or CD-RW?

[Mike Daytona600]

Microsoft Digital Image 2006 has a utility for making a photo cd for sharing so others can put on their pc or dvd player. It also has an archiving utility for soting your photos incase your hard drive throws a wobbley. I've used before and they've both been fine. I wanted to create a sharing disc to send some photos to my sister in Aus (they're not alowed the internet out there until they've been working there for 3 months) and when I did it throw a wobbley and wouldn't download all the photos.

So I tried it the other way using windows explorer. This time it wrote all the photos to the cd but when I put it back in the drive it wouldn't read them. In properties it was like it was a new cd but with less space.

I'm trying to burn to a CD-R and it's a Sony one as well, so not crap.

[Mike Daytona600]

This is what it says in the hekp for MS DI 2006.

Why can't I burn pictures and videos?
If your attempt to burn pictures and videos failed, the cause could be one of the following:

Files you selected to burn are on removable mediaAny external disk or device that stores data, such as a CD, floppy disk, or Zip disk. that is not currently in a drive in your computer.
The burn location you selected is not available.
You tried to burn to a CD or DVD that is not blank.
You tried to burn to removable media that is the wrong type, damaged, or write-protected.
You tried to burn picture files or folders or video files that contain characters not supported by your computer's character set.
You tried to burn to an unformatted floppy disk.
To fix the problem:

Make sure the files to burn are available.
Since the Library catalogues pictures and videos and does not actually store them, the actual picture and video files must be available for burning. If files you selected to burn are on removable media, insert the removable media into the drive on your computer. If you need the media drive to be able to burn, copy files to your hard disk, and then burn them.

Make sure the burn destination is available.
On the Windows Start menu, click My Computer, and then check to make sure Windows recognises the burn destination. If the destination does not appear in the My Computer window, it might need to be reinstalled. If the destination is a network location, you might need to connect to it.

Make sure the CD or DVD is blank.
If you have already copied files to a CD or DVD, you might not be able to save more files to it. Insert a new piece of blank removable media, and then click Retry.

Make sure the CD or DVD is writable.
If the CD or DVD already has files saved on it, it might be write-protected so that new files cannot be copied to it. Insert a new piece of blank removable media, and then click Retry.

Rename the unsupported file and folder names.
If your picture and video file names or folder names contain unsupported characters, rename the files and folders, using only unaccented letters and numbers. To rename multiple files at the same time, you can use the Library's batch rename feature.

Make sure the floppy disk is formatted.
If the floppy disk is unformatted, you cannot store information on it. Insert a new disk into the floppy disk drive. Click Start, and then click My Computer. Click the floppy disk you want to format, and then, on the File menu, click Format. Specify your options and then click Start.

Caution

Formatting a disk erases all information on that disk.

Notes

Before you insert any removable media, make sure the disc is the correct type and is not damaged.
You cannot format a disk if files are open on the disk, the contents of the disk are displayed, or the disk contains the systemThe volume that contains the hardware-specific files that are needed to load Windows on x86-based computers with a BIOS. The system volume can be, but does not have to be, the same volume as the boot volume. or boot partition.
When burning a share disc, RAW image files are converted to JPEG file format. When archiving to a CD, DVD, or other removable media, however, RAW image files are saved without being converted to another format.

[Mike Daytona600]

And this is how compaq say to format a disc but there's no format in the file menu

To format a disk
If the disk you want to format is a floppy disk, insert it into its drive. Otherwise, skip to step 2.
Open My Computer, and then click the disk you want to format.
On the File menu, point to the name of the floppy drive, and then click Format.
Specify the following options:
Capacity
File system
Allocation unit size
Volume label
Quick Format
Enable Compression (NTFS only)
Create an MS-DOS startup disk
Click Start.
Important

Formatting a disk erases all information on that disk.
Notes

To open My Computer, click Start, and then click My Computer.
Quick Format removes files from the disk without scanning the disk for bad sectors. Use this option only if the disk has been previously formatted, and you are sure the disk is not damaged. For information about any of the options, click the question mark in the upper-right corner of the Format dialog box, and then click the option.
You cannot format a disk if files are open on the disk, the contents of the disk are displayed, or the disk contains the system or boot partition.
You can also format a disk by using Disk Management. For more information, click Related Topics.

[Banditmax]

You can only format floppy disk sip disks or CDrw's mike thats why it wont do your cdr's. Still doesnt explain why its not working though.

[adelbertz]

CD-Rs come preformatted mike so it's probably lying to you if it's telling you that you need to format it.

Some questions.

What Operating System are you on?
What Make/Model is your CD Drive?

Am Downloading Digital Image 2006 now to take a closer look at it for you.


Andrew

[adelbertz]

Well I downloaded the Starter Edition from Microsoft and had a look at it this morning. Sorry to say I can't see how to Burn CDs with it at all, maybe that's a limitation of the Starter Edition. The only things I can suggest:

Take out the drive and give the lense a good clean. A friend had a problem where his drive wouldn't recognise CDR/Ws but read normal CDs fine, just needed a clean, then it was fine. Or, try another software package. I use Nero 7 myself, alongside http://cdburnerxp.se/ CD Burner Xp (free). Trying some different software should determine whether it's a software or hardware problem. Good luck,


Andrew

[Johnnyb]

Agree with adelbertz there, get a copy of Nero 7 its so easy and works everytime no problems, if you still have probs i have an earlier version of Nero you can have only does CD's though not DVD's (i think), just pm me your adress and i'll stick it in the post if it helps

[Mike Daytona600]

Some questions.

What Operating System are you on?
What Make/Model is your CD Drive?
Andrew

Windows xp home ed

Hang on this is weird

I just went into my computer to see what drive I've got. Remember how I said that when I tryed putting the pics on CD using Windows Explorer it did the whole thing but then wouldn't let me see the pics andd was like a blank CD with less speace, well the pics have just come up But why do they have the little 'e' with the gold ring around, like internet explorer?Still doesn't explain why I can't do it on digital image though.

Anyway the drive is HL-DT-ST DVDRRW GCA-4164B

The burn thing is in M/S D/I 2006 libary (digital Image comes in 2 parts, libary and Editor). It' the icon next to 'Lable' or you can find it in 'Tasks'

Thanks very much for your help guys and I will check out Nero 7

[TLS-Moose]

I have a "spare" copy of Nero 6, and might have a copy of 7 somewhere ...... but remember pirating is illegal

[Johnnyb]

I would think the images on the disc have the little blue E because you used Explorer to move them rather than another prog that would just move them as the JPEG or BMP image they were saved as.........