CD-RW for CD-ROM: Last word??

[Genepoz]

OK. As far as I can tell, if I want to give instructions to people on how to record a CD-RW disk so that all CD-ROM players will be able to read it, they should do one of the following.

(1) If their burner software has the option to "record" vs. "rewrite" they should choose "record" (which also prevents further rewrites);
but
(2) if they don't, then you can 'close' the disk to ISO 9660, which will write in a Table of Contents and enable it to be read as a CD-ROM (also preventing further rewrites).

Have I got this right?

 

[ETasse]

CD-RW (rewritable) media cannot be made compatible with older CDROM drives (rule of thumb: if the speed is less than 16X it probably doesn't support CDRWs)-- nothing can change that.
As for compatible CD-R (write once) like you said, make sure to finalise the session. Even then, some really old CDROM drives (1X to 4X) cannot handle multi-session disks. So for broadest support, cut a single-session closed disk in Disk-At-Once mode if you can.
To make it even more compatible: Disable Joliet, use only 8.3 filename lengths and use ISO 9660 MODE I and keep directory trees shallow (less than 8 levels)

 

[ANFPS26]

A CD-RW disk has to be Played on a "multi-read" disk only. Older CD-ROMs are not multi-read and won't work. You can make ANY CD-ROM drve into a "multi-read" drive that is installed on a computer. Simply install a UDF reader program on the computer and it will enable the CD-ROM to play CD-RWs no matter how old the drive is. You can find a UDF reader for Windows 98 at this address:

http://www.hp.com/cgi-bin/cposupport/swindex.pl?p=hpcd-write10788&l=en&c=MicrosoftWindows98

 

[Genepoz]

Thanks folks. I've downloaded that UDF reader and will try it. Then I'll do some experimenting with my coworker's CDRW machine.
-Gene

 

[ANFPS26]

Your welcome. Let us know if the UDF reader does the trick for you.