Formatting DVDrw

[plynnem]

How do I format a dvdrw (sony)? It won't let me copy anything to it.

[jester1x]

Is the disc blank? Or, was there something else on it prior to your trying to make a copy? If you were using it for something like DLA (drive letter access with say the Sony DRU-500AX) or InCD (Nero) which utilizes RW (CDs or DVDs) like a floppy disc, then you must completely erase the disc. The same applies to using the disc for simple storage like DirectCD in which you can add new data, but cannot erase data without erasing the whole disc (reformatting). Whether the disc is blank or had something on it before, you must completely erase (do a full erase) on the disc. If you plan on using it for DLA, the you must format the disc for DLA first. You will sometimes get a prompt asking you to do this when first inserting a disc. All DirectCD needs is a blank disc. Why do a full erase? Well...a quick erase only erases the data while leaving the TOC (table of contents) intact. Info regarding what was on the disc prior is still on the disc. This must be completely obliterated in order for the disc to be considered blank. Hope that helped you out.

[SVCDummy]

You would have to use a utility form one of the companies like Stomp Inc. to format the disk and make it ready for drag and drop file transfers. There are several such utilities out there. Some are cheaper than others but I don't know of any free ones.

I have the same trouble at work. I use a Veritas program to automatically back up to DVD-RW but the program to format the disks only exists on one of the 15 machines doing backups. I have to format several boxes of DVD-RWs on a single machine to support the rest of the office because they are too cheap to buy the program for the rest of the PC's.

You might try a search of www.tucows.com for a similar utility in the shareware domain.

[plynnem]

I have InCD and Nero but neither of them recognize the DVDrw (or sony dvdrw drive). It is only finding the cdrw drive and only has options for cd's. I'm really only trying to find a software to format my dvdrw. Then i will use dvd decrypter to copy my dvd. bottom line: can (or how) does incd format/erase my dvdrw?