I don't understand a need for a packet writing. Can't someone just make say on their HD a partition of say 700MB and just write little by little all files there, move them around, delete etc. Then make one time write to a CD?

Packet writing let you use the cdrw like a floppy and there is no need to burn the whole disc every time you need to change something. So it's more convinient than a full burn. But it's not recomended to use packet writing when storing important data because of it being unreliable.

Its helpful if you are trying to make a cd and goof up because with a cd-rw/packet writing you can format the cdrw disc and start over whereas a cd-r you can't, the cd is finished and not further writing is available as an option. Its also helpful if there are documents that are needed for a backup and file and restoration. I used to work for a company that wrote to a cd-rw.
And copied them to cd-r.

It just depends what YOUR needs are.

And yes you can make a partition of 700 or so megs to by able to burn a cd. Usually when Im ready to burn a bunch of cds, the mp3s and the porn are put into folders, When I have 650-700 in the folders I burn them.

Thought I'd jump in here for my first post.

I use PacketCD on my Liteon 40125S cdrw in conjunction with a .vbs backup script that runs in my task scheduler or manually.

Extremely conveinient! Haven't had any problems.

PacketCD will also format a cdr for use as a "floppy". Formatting a cdr takes less than a minute as opposed to 35 minutes for a cdrw.

As far as a partition goes, I see no use. Why bother other than installing a second O/S.

I'd make a backup folder, keep an eye on the bytes, and just right click and send to my PacketCD drive.

I used to use a 1.3 gig partition just for this. Fill it up and burn the cd. Another thing that partition was de-fragged before each burn session, because it easier to defrag 1 gig then a 30 gig.

thats a really clever idea. did you write the .vbs script yourself? or where could i find it or read up about it? also, i have the same writer, but...
doesnt this writer support mt. rainer?? in that case, it shouldnt take so long to format a cdrw.

for my two cents...i use a separate hard drive for all the stuff i havent backed up yet...and have all my mp3s on that drive as well. when i have enough to burn, i, like cloakdoa, yank out a cd and burn it to data.

havent had much reliability with cdrws for the convenience of packet writing... although its like a floppy...i dont like that you cant delete stuff off of it...unless i just had crappy results/bad discs.

I didn't make the vbs script.

Here is a direct link:
http://cheqsoft.com/downloads/backup_script_zip.exe

Here is a link to the download page:
http://cheqsoft.com/other.html

Please read the readme file that comes with it. You have to manually edit the file to your liking.

To run it in your task scheduler, comment out the confirm messageBox that pops up when you run it.

As for my burner supporting mt. rainer, I don't know, and probably won't try to find out. Don't fix it if it isn't broke I guess.

I'm now using CDR's with packetcd. You mentioned your concern about data being erased.

I've tried to finalize a CDR, but I think the packetcd puts something on the disc to stop this from happening. Just have to be careful I suppose.

I originally had EasyCD Creator 3.?? with directcd, it came installed on my system. But after upgrading to my liteon, it didn't support my new burner.

After quite a long search on the internet for packet writing software, I came across PacketCD. I couldn't tell you from where, and I haen't been able to find it again.

The weird thing is I had to go to Roxio and download an upgrade to packetcd. It's worked ever since. Install packetcd, then install the upgrade.

HI. I have been reading all your interesting posts about PacketCD. I have recently been looking for a program that can make a cdrw and cdr act like a floppy. Now from what i read Packet CD sounds like the one but would it be possible if one of you could please tell me where to get it from ? Can i download it for free ? If so could you please either email me or post a url for it pleeezz. That would be a great help. Thanx all