Cage wrote:
The problem with using CDRW for a removable storage device is that it
can only be re written to about 15 times. You'll notice after some
time that the edges of the silver media will start to flake off. I
had this happen to me and my father had the same thing. What will
happen is the edge will flake off. This is where the disk volume is
written. And when this is corrupted it will render the disc useless.
You might be able to read what was already written but it won't write
anymore. I had one that got so bad that it wouldn't even read. I
wish I had teh original magazine article I read about this in. But
when I read it and inspected my cdrw media it was on the money. For
the price it's easier to just get cdr's and use them. Or if you
definitely need a removable media you're going to be transferring
with continuously definitely look into flash drive or compact flash
card with card reader. The second will come in handy with digital
cameras also. Or like I do. I have all my computers, 2 desktops, a
laptop and a pda, networked together with a hub. I haven't needed to
use any transfer media in ages.
There is no hard number of how many times you can write to a CD-RW
disc. It depends entirely on the quality of the disc. I've had
Memorex CD-RW's that failed within a week. I have TDK CD-RWs that
have never failed so far. I have some made by "Prime Peripherals"
(who really manufactures the discs I don't know) that are still going
strong after several years of reading and writing.
I don't understand how the edge could "flake off." The metal is
covered in polycarbonate, thicker on the data side than the label
side; the plastic on the label side is extremely thin, while on the
data side it's pretty thick (you can see this by looking at the disc
edge-on). You'd have to break through the plastic in order for the
metal to flake off. If that's happening to you, you must have some
*extremely* cheap discs. Buy quality TDK or Taiyo Yuden discs and you
probably won't have any more trouble.
For more info check out <www.cdrfaq.org>.