9
Overview
A Word About CD-R and CD-RW
CD-R
is the term used to denote CD-Recordable me-
dia, or discs. CD-R discs are recorded permanently.
Once information is written, it cannot be erased. Data
can be added until the disc is full (see “Multi-Session
recording). CD-R media is good for creating archived
information that does not need to be changed, or for
distribution thanks to the rapidly declining price of
CD-R media over the past few years.
CD-RW
is the term used to denote CD-Rewritable me-
dia. CD-RW media allows your CD-RW drive to erase
the disc, and then write to the media again as your
backup scheme requires. CD-RW media is rated for
approximately one thousand complete writes to the
media (the actual number of writes may vary depend-
ing upon type and brand of media). CD-R and CD-RW
drives differ only in the fact that CD-RW drives can
write to both CD-R and CD-RW discs.
CD-RW drives are also capable of erasing CD-RW
discs (through the Discribe interface) and allowing
you to write to them again. Discribe handles the writ-
ing process to either CD-R or CD-RW media in the ex-
act same fashion. The steps of writing to a CD are
exactly the same with the exception of which type of
media is inserted prior to the write process (CD-R or
CD-RW). With this in mind, the term CD-RW will be
used throughout this manual to denote a CD-Record-
able device, disc or format.
Launching Discribe
Double click on the Discribe icon and you’ll be greet-
Overview
