Alfred and Arlene, Actually, using a CDRW disc, you do not need to format the disc first, as long as you use a mastering program (Like Easy CD Creator) and write to the disc in multisession mode. This means the program doesn't "close" the disc after each write.... it just closes the "session". Using this technique, you can write many many sessions of backups before filling the CD. Then just switch to another CDRW and erase the old one to use again. Moreover, this technique also works with regular "write once" CDs (and they are much cheaper). When the disc is eventually filled, just archive it as secure backups, and start filling another one. Formatting implies that you are using "packet writing" using a program like Direct CD to write to the CD "seamlessly", that is, just like copying files to another drive on your computer. This is a technique that sounds very good, however many people have experienced data loss and corrupted CDs using this method, so for those of you using packet writing, it's very important to keep several different CDs in rotation in saving your files. Alfred Eller wrote: > > Have you formatted the CD? I have to study up on this usage, but it seems > to me that to be able to write directly to a CD in multiple sessions, you > have to format them first. > > You can burn a CD in one session without formatting it, but you can not > write to it again. > > If you are using the rewriteable CDs, of course you can, but then the first > part is erased and the new files overwrite it. (I think!) > > Good luck, > Alfred > > =========== > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Arlene" <aparnes@earthlink.net> > > > I've been backing up both to MY DOCUMENTS folder and to a CD-RW. > > > > Now I need to use a new CD. > > > > I am getting the following message: "You do not have permission to open > > this file. See the owner of the file or an administrator to obtain > > permission." > > > > The CD is empty. There is no password on my entire HD (I am the only > user). > > > > What can be wrong? > > > > Thanks > > Arlene > > > > > > ==== FAMILY-ORIGINS-USERS Mailing List ==== > Family Origins GenForum - http://genforum.genealogy.com/fo/ > Tech Support Knowledge Base http://www.familyorigins.com/support/ > > ============================== > Join the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > Linking the world, one GEDCOM at a time. > http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com -- Charlie Hoffpauir http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

Charlie wrote: > ...Using this technique, you can write many many sessions of backups > before filling the CD... > > Moreover, this technique also works with regular "write once" CDs (and > they are much cheaper). When the disc is eventually filled, just > archive it as secure backups, and start filling another one. I am trying to "get my arms around" how CD's work. This may be off topic, but I think it is important to those of us who back up our FO databases everytime we work on them, and want to protect our work from loss as well as we can to removable storage. If a person puts several backups of a FO database on a CD in "sessions" over a period of days, what do you have to do in order to identify which is the most recent one? It is my understanding that if the same file name is written to a CD as a name previously written on it, the earlier one is "blocked" from access even though it is still on the CD? I have not personally tried this. My CDRW is new and I'm still trying to figure it out. > Formatting implies that you are using "packet writing" using a program > like Direct CD to write to the CD "seamlessly", that is, just like > copying files to another drive on your computer. This is a technique > that sounds very good, however many people have experienced data loss > and corrupted CDs using this method, Is there a risk of data loss or corruption of a CDRW once it has been written to, and the file opened for verification? Are you saying a CDRW is no better than a floppy for data integrity if it is used for updating files like you would on a hard drive? John Fiala