Something Overwrote/Ruined CD-RW Data

[CobraPilot]

I opened a CD-RW, which I could read in Windows Explorer.

After a bit, a message popped up and said that due to a problem with the CD-RW, it was being changed to Read Only.

Examining the CD-RW again, I found that something (Nero 6.6x?) had overwritten all data, and left an autorun.inf file and a UDF reader, ready to install.

What the heck happened here? I've lost a LOT of data, fortunately not critical, but I've got other CD-RWs that DO have critical data on them.

I'm also having almost NO luck in formatting CD-RWs with Nero 6.6x on THREE different machines, using THREE different types of CD-RW (Princo, Plasmon, and Infodisc), using W98SE and WXP, even after doing a full erase via Nero Burning ROM and trying to format again.

[waheed]

Try using ISO Buster to recover your data.

[craiggus365]

I think you need ISO Buster pro to extract UDF but the free version will let you see if the data is recoverable before you pay for the full prog.

[CobraPilot]

Thanks for the tip on Isobuster! That should prove useful.

However, I'm still concerned as to what happened in this instance. I'm beginning to think WXP is the culprit, somehow deciding that, in spite of the CD-RW being opened in Windows Explorer, the disc was found to be defective and this produced the problem.

The disc was NOT made "read only" as the message said would happen.

Instead, all the information was overwritten by the addition of a UDF reader.

Help!