Just a generic tip:

Most modern computers can read CD-RWs without problems, and can boot from them as well. Actually, if the computer can run XP, it can probably read CD-RWs.

Saves you a ton of CDs and you can erase it when a new release of a plugin is out!

EDIT: I forgot: CD-RWs only let you rewrite to them about 25 times and the data only lasts for a little over a year (in my case anyway), so this is a good solution for testing the WindowsUBCD or Bart's PE. Then, after you get all (or most) of the bugs worked out, you can burn it to a CD-R and not waste so many!

Good luck!

You know with so many things going on and trying to meet deadlines the little things are so often forgotten. When I have the chance I will recommend this in several places on the site. I've wasted about 6 CD's so far in the past month checking out different changes I've made to see if they work. I've heard in the past that some systems or drives cannot boot from RW's so I just never tried it. I also have roughly 7 RW's laying around for the past year unused because I really found no use for them Thanks for the reminder and the awesome money saving tip!

You're right though. Older CD-ROMs can't read CD-RWs, but like I mention, if the computer's modern enough to run XP, there's a good chance it can read CD-RWs...but then, after posting that, I realized that really CD-RWs are good for testing and not production (because of the low reliability).

Still a good tip and reminder though!!

Although it really depends on the drive. It should work for an individual. If a person builds the CD on an RW drive on that system it should work on that system. If they use it on a system with a regular CD drive it might not work. Another point also is that the CD is not OS dependant, you can run it on any machine as long as it has enough memory. XP is only needed to build the CD.

Thanks again, hopefully it will work for me. I'm already spending a lot for my webhost and those 2-4 CD's a week add up, thanks for saving me money!!

Ok so really dumb question. Do I format the CD-RW and then copy the image to the CD? Or do I burn it to the CD-RW like a normal .iso??

First erase the CDRW and then burn it just like you would a CD-R.

Yes, correct. Just make sure you choose the options (for any ISO that you burn) similar to "Finalize CD" and "Disc-at-Once", and you'll be fine.

Yep some Cd-roms just don't like cd-rw, they won't boot or read them (esp the older ones, but I have seen this on newer cd-roms as well).

With the rate of AV updates it's far better to burn onto cd-rw.

This might be added to the instructions for CD Burner XP Pro 3 on the How to Build Page.

Well, it's not just for that one burning app, but for any. And I thought there was already something there...? Oh well...

I have burned my first CD-RW recently and didn't realize that it could be erased with CB Burner XP Pro 3.
I thought "finalizing" the CD-RW would render the disc unusuble for further writes.

Not selecting "finalize" renders UBCD4Win, burned on CD-R or CD-RW, unusable.

The erase option within CDBurner XP Pro 3 makes the CD-RW usable for another burn.

This is something that I was not aware of until recently and I'm hoping to eliminate it from the concerns of any potential new builders. I hope this is one less thing for people to worry about when building and diagnosing--- for new builders and mods alike.

The finalize option only means that further data can't be added to CD after you've finished the burn. It doesn't mean that the CD-RW can't be erased again.

Just in case anyone's wondering what finalize means.

To correct the CD-RW life span. It depends on the media that you use. Most quality RW's use a crystaline structure for RW whilst some cheaper ones use dies. The ones based off of dies can only be burned a few times since the die can't be manipulated but so much. Crystal based ones can be written up to about 1000 times before it can not be written to again. Also the crystaline based ones hold there data for a lot longer then die based ones as you change the physical structure of the media not just the die.

My suggestion, don't get cheap RW's. If you get a quality one it should be about $20 for a 5 or 10 pack of RW's. Persoanlly I like Memorex brand RW's for my testing.

That is my 2 cents on this... Hope someone finds this info useful!! lol L8r!!

I like Memorex too...I used to use their labels also for the ordered CD's. They were a good quality and priced very cheaply at WalMart. Also the newer "cake boxes" for their CD's, when you purchase a 50 pack are a different more quality style than other manufacturers.

I say used to because, I just ordered a 100pk of "printable" CD's from Meritline. I had a coupon for taking a survey and the price was pretty good! Now they just need to do a special on ink for Epson printers again....the other "cheapo" company I used has crappy ink!! Just a warning, you get what you pay for! I've never had ink problems with Meritline, or PrintPal. However I changed 3 of my color cartridges in the middle of printing some of my CD's. I noticed an immediate change, the new ones didn't look as good! If I didn't have anything to compare to then I may not have noticed, hmmm well...I just wouldn't have been able to confirm. So I suggest and warn, spend an extra dollar or two per cartridge and DO NOT order from "inkliquidators!!"