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Mac newbie looking for CD-R advice

J

jacksinnj

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 21, 2010
6
0
My computer experience has been up to now limited to Windows boxes. I am ready to take the plunge into possibly getting an Apple machine but would appreciate some advice on both my application & the choice of the best way to go before spending $$$.

I create databases & burn them to standard CD-R 1.44 Mb discs using the WXP CD Burning Wizard, which is a Roxio product. It is my impression that these data CDs are not compatible on Apple machines but I now need to make that happen.

I have found an app called MacDisk which appears to be able to let my Dell XP box selectively burn CD-Rs in either PC or Apple data formats. I need to check the integrity of the data on a disc after I burn it. It is not clear to me yet whether MacDisk will let me read as well as write an Apple data CD-R. If it will do this I won't have to invest in an Apple box.

Is anyone familiar with either MacDisk or this data compatibility question?

Many thanks in advance!

Jack
 
CD-R is 640 meg. 1.44 meg is the old 3 1/2 floppy drive.
CDs are usually written in ISO format, which is readable on both Mac and PC. The format of the program data can be different though.
 
old-wiz said:
CD-R is 640 meg. 1.44 meg is the old 3 1/2 floppy drive.
CDs are usually written in ISO format, which is readable on both Mac and PC. The format of the program data can be different though.
Click to expand...

The CD-Rs I use have a capacity of 700 MB, not 640. I get them at Staples when they are on sale so they are nothing special.

I do not think that a CD burned on my PC will be usable on an Apple. That format of the data is what I'm trying to get info on.
 
jacksinnj said:
The CD-Rs I use have a capacity of 700 MB, not 640. I get them at Staples when they are on sale so they are nothing special.

I do not think that a CD burned on my PC will be usable on an Apple. That format of the data is what I'm trying to get info on.
Click to expand...

It depends on what you are putting on the CD. If you put an mp3 file on a CD it will be usable on both mac & pc. If you put a windows .exe file. The mac will not be able to run it.
 
xlii said:
It depends on what you are putting on the CD. If you put an mp3 file on a CD it will be usable on both mac & pc. If you put a windows .exe file. The mac will not be able to run it.
Click to expand...

The file type is .pdf.

I sent my first CD-R of this type to a fellow who had both a Mac & a PC. He tried to read it with the Mac & emailed me that the CD-R was blank. When I explained how I had generated it, he successfully viewed the .pdf with the PC.
 
old-wiz said:
CD-R is 640 meg. 1.44 meg is the old 3 1/2 floppy drive.
CDs are usually written in ISO format, which is readable on both Mac and PC. The format of the program data can be different though.
Click to expand...

640MB was the original capacity size for CDR and then not long after they started making them at 700MB.

Does anyone still make a 640MB CDR? Who would want one? I think it's probably been at least 10 years since I've seen one.
 
A couple of things:

PDF's are by default compatible with Mac. 100%

700mb is the default size of blank CD's these days.

If you are burning a disc on certain windows programs, you'll need to "close" the disc to make it readable on any other machine. You may want to check the options in the application you are using currently on your PC to make it compatible with Mac & PC.

When you burn a disc on a Mac when you get one, it should be PC compatible.
 
SandboxGeneral said:
640MB was the original capacity size for CDR and then not long after they started making them at 700MB.

Does anyone still make a 640MB CDR? Who would want one? I think it's probably been at least 10 years since I've seen one.
Click to expand...

I haven't really looked at the capacity of CD-Rs for quite a while. I just remember back when I started using them they were 640MB. I look at a CD-R in my file cabinet, and it doesn't state the capacity.

Wonder if the OP is forgetting to finish the session and close the disk? It's been a while since I burned anything on CD-R or DVD-R.
 
At this point I'm thoroughly confused, so I called Dell Pro Tech Support, which I subscribe to.

After consulting among themselves, the technicians advised me that I need to use a full-version of a dedicated CD-R burning app such as Nero or Roxio & select either ISO 9660 or Joliet when burning Mac-compatible CD-Rs. The XP CD Writing Wizard was said to create a 'live file.' So, according to Dell, there is a compatibility issue between platforms & data types.

I have the installation disc for Roxio Creator 9.0 DE which came with a prior Dell laptop. If I recall correctly, it gave me erratic writing results for large files by randomly neglecting to burn the contents of folders within the main file.
 
I just finished online chat with Roxio. According to them Roxio Creator 2011 will let me burn Mac-compatible CD-Rs & then be able to check the data on the disc (count files, data size, open pdfs, etc).
 
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