> This brings me to a question that's been bugging me. When CD burners first became available to the public, there was only CD-R. You could write to the disk once and *only* once, and then it was permanent. I think CD-Rs hold about 650 MB, but if you don't fill it up when you burn your disk, then any unused space is wasted.
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> I have been under the impression, perhaps mistaken, that the difference between CD-Rs and CD-RWs is that you can make multiple burns to the same disk, eventually filling it up. But what you've said makes it sound like you can actually erase information you've saved onto a CD-RW and/or overwrite it.
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> Which is the case? I'm sure that someone can answer my question in no time flat.
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> Gri"can always rely on RinkKnowledge"shny

If you have the right CD-R software and know that you're burning less Backup data to a CD-R than its maximum capacity, you can create an "open session" (multisession) which will allow you to 'resume' your previous burn session at a later date. However, each additional session will cost you about 20 MB's worth of space on the CD-R (because it needs that space to write a new Table of Contents). Dave has been able to recover original ToCs from improperly-closed CD-R burn sessions created by his computer clients, so you shouldn't have to worry if you mess up an additional session.

CD-RWs, on the other hand, can theoretically be overwritten about a thousand times before they wear out.


> The original ZIP disks only held 100 MB, and the newer ones hold 250. I just saw a new product on the shelves the other day, a ZIP 650 drive, which I would assume writes to zip disks that can hold 650 MB.
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There are also portable Jaz disk drives, which hold 1 or 2 Giga each; and then there's the new pocket-sized Peerless, which holds... um... lots.

Wolf "probably could hold half the studio's 3D renderings from Toy Story 2" spirit