CD-RW and CD-R Formatting Question

CD-R disks CAN be formatted and used in much the same way as a CD-RW disk..One BIG difference though..Since CD-R disks can only be written to once, when you finally copy/paste enough data to the disk to fill it up, (even if you copy/paste and delete) it can't be erased and used again. The data on the disk doesn't really disappear after deletion. It still takes up space on the disk and as such, formatting a CD-R doesn't really serve it's intended purpose.

A CD-RW disk can be formatted, copied to, filled up, erased, formatted, copied to, filled up, erased, over and over again.

That said, I agree that a user only needs to format a disk if they intend to use it as mentioned in the original post.. To "Save As", copy/paste, or drag/drop, the disk must be formatted.. Although it's an easy and quick way to save data, I've found them to be unreliable for long term backup.. Formatted disks tend to fail at the most inopportune times.. They may not have reached their full lifespan but they can easily become unreadable. On the other hand, I frequently use formatted CD-RW's for transferring data or program installation from one comp to another.

For use a a permanent backup of important documents, I DON'T use formatted disks. Instead, I use both CD-Rs and CD-RWs burned traditionally and finalized.. CD-RW disks are nice in this instance because even a finalized CD-RW disk can be erased and used again, over and over and it can be read on any multi-read CD-Rom..

Hope this helps.

Grif

I thought about that after I posted it.

But depending on the software used, you can reopen a session on a normal burn. I've used it for years.