Transcript: Chat About Burning CDs in Windows XP
Published: April 22, 2003
Please note: Portions of this transcript have been edited for clarity
Moderator Brian_B (Microsoft): Welcome to today's Windows Expert Zone chat. Our topic today is Burning CDs with Windows XP.
Moderator Brian_B (Microsoft): We are pleased to welcome our experts for today I will have them introduce themselves now.
Special Guest Chris (Microsoft): I'm Chris Norred, tech editor for the Expert Zone.
Special Guest GalanBridgman (MVP): I am a software developer, a tech enthusiast, and a columnist for the Expert Zone - primarily on the subject of Digital Media.
Special Guest GalanBridgman (MVP): My column on CD burning appears at: http://www.microsoft.com/WINDOWSXP/expertzone/columns/bridgman/august13.asp
Special Guest Emily (Microsoft): I'm Emily a program manager in the Windows Storage Drivers team.
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): Hi, I'm Tyler Beam, a software developer on the Windows Shell team. I worked on CD writing of data in Windows XP.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Hi, I'm Patrick. I'm a test lead in the NT group at MS. I was in charge of testing the drivers and the API set used by the inbox CD Recording solution in XP.
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): I was the Program Manager for CD burning in Media Player for Windows XP and Media Player 9 Series.
Moderator Brian_B (Microsoft): ...and lastly your pleasant, but firm Host; Brian Boston :). I am a Community Program Manager working with the Windows Product Team.
Moderator Brian_B (Microsoft): Here is how it works - Participants are welcome to post their questions for our experts in the lower window during today's chat. The answers will be posted in this window by our experts. We will try and answer as many questions as we can today.
Moderator Brian_B (Microsoft): Let's actually begin the chat. You may begin posting your questions in the lower room. Please start your questions with a Q: as this will assist us in quickly identifying your question in the window.
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): Q: Kathy are you guys now moving onto a Nero based solution for WMP9 and CD-Burning in Windows XP or still sticking with a slightly less popular product, roxio? A: Actually, we don't use Roxio on Windows XP, we only use it on Windows 2000 and Windows 98/
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): In any case, Nero is a partner who has happened to write a plug-in for the Media Player, but the player going forward will use IMAPI, which is the Windows XP burn engine.
Special Guest Emily (Microsoft): Q: why isnt there better native burn support for XP at the GUI level and is Microsoft planning to build on this in future service packs
Special Guest Emily (Microsoft): A: It was our intent with the burning support in XP to provide essentially the "notepad" version of burning to cover the basic functionality needed by most end users. You can expect to see new versions with new functionality in future OS's.
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): Q: BMXer22n : I got windows xp home edition and it has roxio cd creater on it why?
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): A: Your computer manufacturer (we call them OEMs) decided to include it on your computer.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q: (Darn fat finger...) I have one machine from HP with DLA software on it that allows me to talk to the CD-R and CD-RW with a drive letter just like a floppy or hard drive. When can we expect to see something like this native to XP.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: We don't have any specific plans to add support like this natively to Windows XP.
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): Q: Is it best to disable XP's CD Recording Program when installing a third-party CD Recording Program? What is the best way to accomplish this?
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): A: XP's CD recording should coexist with many third-party CD recording programs.
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): A: For example, if the third-party program supports UDF packet-writing on the disc, the Windows Shell will allow drag-drop to write files directly to CD instead of to the CD writing "staging area".
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): A: That said, if there are incompatibilities you can disable the Windows Shell integration by going to the "Recording" property page on the CD-R/RW drive.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q: How is it that Microsoft rely on other parties to write nits of code for CD aspects. I would have imagined MS had all the in-house expertise needed to do it?
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: We do have a lot of talent at Microsoft. We only have a finite amount of time to invest into development and testing. We believe that it is very important to make an operating system that enables application developers the ability to extend the features of the operating system
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): creamhackered : Q: Are we likely to see big updates or improvements of the burn interface and engine in terms of a SP or individual upgrades?
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): A: No, no big updates or improvements are scheduled for SPs.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q: I am having some trouble recording on one machine, but not another. I am beginning to suspect the drive hardware. Is there any test software that can tell me if my drive hardware is writing correctly?
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: We don't have anything specific, however installing a demo version of Nero can verify if the drive is faulting. Posting to the microsoft newsgroups with your machine configuration and usually someone there (maybe me) will help you.
Special Guest Emily (Microsoft): Q: so am I right in thinking that to backup to CD, with no 3rd-party software and using NTBackup (or the XP version of it), I must backup to an alternate location and then burn to CD later...i.e. I can't backup directly to CD?
Special Guest Emily (Microsoft): A: That's correct. At this point you can't back up using ntbackup straight to CD.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q: What drives work?
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: http://www.microsoft.com/hwdq/hcl/search.asp
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): creamhackered : Q: So just to be clear no more updates on burning with Windows XP but purely development for future Operating Systems such as Longhorn?
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): A: I can't be specific about future OS improvements, but yes, that is our focus right now.
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): Q: Speaking of backing up, does XP provide any mechanism to break up big files and spread them across multiple CDs?
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): A: No, XP does not provide such a mechanism. However there are a variety of third-party solutions available for this task.
Special Guest Emily (Microsoft): Q: Emily_MS: thanks for the answer - you said "at this point", though - does that imply that it's been identitifed as a possible future enhancement?
Special Guest Emily (Microsoft): A: Like Kathy said, we can't talk about specific future OS improvements.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q:If I write files to CD will I still be able to be able to write to the same cd in future?
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: If you make an audio disc though media player, no. If you make a data disc through Windows Explorer, then yes until the disc is full. If you use a third party program then it depends on their implementation.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q: Sometimes erasing an entire CD-RW disk does not restore the CD to its original capacity. Why is this occurring?
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: We're not sure on this one. Please post your hardware and software configuration in the newsgroups.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q: Does burning to a rewritable through XP' native burning take advantage of burnproof features or is it only effective on a CDR?
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: Yes, it supports burnproof.
Moderator Brian_B (Microsoft): For those just joining the chat – our topic today is Burning CDs with Windows XP. You can post your questions for our experts on this topic in the lower chat window, prefaced by a Q: to alert us. We will answer in the upper window.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q: What's 'burnproof?'
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: Burnproof is a hardware feature that protects against buffer underruns. The hardware has to be told to enable this feature. We turn it on for data and off for audio because audio can have artifacts.
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): JonCD : Q: are you going to make it possible to burn DVD's from medi player like you can with audio?
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): A: I can't speak in detail about future plans - but we are aware of how important DVD is and we are still investigating all options.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q: Can you burn CD-RWs using packet writing using XP
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: Only with third party software like Nero IN CD and Roxio Direct CD
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q: Does Roxio sell just DirectCD so you can do packet-writing?
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: I'm not sure. You'll have to ask them.
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): grover : Q: Is there a way to burn individule files to a cd-r in XP?
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): A: You cannot do packet writing without a 3rd party program, such as DirectCD or InCD, but you can burn one file, then close that session. However, closing a session on the CD takes up space, so it's not the best way to go.
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): Q: Why is the interface not simple drag and drop, I find it vey confusing the folder with files waiting to be writen folder
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): A: The Windows Shell supports drag and drop onto the CD-R/RW drive icon, at which point the files are placed into the "staging area". (cont.)
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): A: Data writing to CD in XP does not use packet-writing, so if it were to write directly to the CD for every file copy the CD would quickly (cont.)
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): A: fill up due to multisession overhead. For this reason the files to be copied are staged until the user decides to commit them to CD.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q: Are the panel allowed to comment? Do they have a prefered 3rd party product, Nero or EZCD, I understand if you cannot say
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: We aren't allowed to comment on this.
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): Matt : Q: Is anyone using the Windows Media Player 9 Series auto playlist "Favorites- One CD worth"?
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): A: Are you asking us? :-) Do you have a question about the auto playlist?
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): Q: so if I install a 3rd-party UDF driver (to let me use a CD like any writable drive), the built-in burn system will transparently step aside when I drop files (e.g. in Explorer)...that is, I won't see the burning wizards?
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): A: That is correct, if the media is formatted as a UDF disc.
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): Q: and how do I format the media as UDF?
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): A: This should be a capability built-in to your 3rd-party UDF software.
Special Guest Emily (Microsoft): Q: with DVD writing, may you remove the satging area you talk about due to media capacity?
Special Guest Emily (Microsoft): A: At this point Windows doesn't support DVD burning natively.
Special Guest Sean (Microsoft): Q: Do we have a preferred burning application?
Special Guest Sean (Microsoft): A: No, but the Nero CD burning plug-in for WM Player 9 Series is getting good peer reviews on http://www.wmplugins.com. Can remove 2 second gap.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q: What is the optimal Read/Write/Recording speed of a CD when using XP's CD Recording Program?
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: Usually the max speed of the drive. Factors such as the speed of the HDD and the load of the machine could make this a lower speed. If your system can't handle the full speed the inbox software will detect buffer underuns and lower the speed of
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A2: of future recording attempts.
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): Q: I have some media, don't recall exactly how they were formatted but I believe it was with some version of DirectCD under Win2K...WinXP refuses to see them as writable
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): A: Windows XP should be able to read DirectCD-formatted discs. However to write to them with packet-writing you will need to install that 3rd-party software on XP, (cont.)
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): A: or the disc can be erased using XP and written to by the built-in CD writing.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q: Is it possible to erase or delete individual files on a CD-RW CD using XP's CD Recording Program? How is this done?
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: Unfortunately, No.
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): Q: can XP read a UDF cd formated by say, INCD? or do you have to install a plug-in?
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): A: Windows XP can usually read UDF-formatted discs. There are some cases where a 3rd-party UDF system has value-added features (cont.)
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): A: (such as data compression) that are only compatible with that 3rd-party driver, in which case you would need to install the 3rd-party software to read it.
Special Guest GalanBridgman (MVP): Q: whut is udf
Special Guest GalanBridgman (MVP): A: UDF stands for Universal Disk Format. It's a new file system format defined by the Optical Storage Technology Association.
Special Guest GalanBridgman (MVP): A2: It's the successor to the ISO 9660 standard we've all been using for years now.
Special Guest GalanBridgman (MVP): A3: Info: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/prkc_fil_ipge.asp
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q: I use a third party product on top of XP, can you tell me why often the actual burn speed comes up as less than the one I chose. Is it just lack of grunt on my processors part?
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: I don't know how each recording software package chooses its burn speed, but likely processor speed and hard disk efficiency are large factors.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q: any tips / hints / suggestions / pitfalls that the experts can shed light on?
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: Don't forget to wear sunscreen :)
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: Honestly we'll need something a little more specific :P
Moderator Brian_B (Microsoft): We have about 15 minutes left for today's chat is on Burning CDs with Windows XP. Please keep your questions coming for our experts in the lower chat window.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q: What do you folks like most about the internal XP writing? What do you like least?
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): z1ppeh : Q : Does XP support burning video cds? or just files to cd? z1ppeh : Q : Does XP support burning video cds? or just files to cd?
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): A: No, XP does not support burning video CDs.
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): Q: my understanding of sessions is a bit vague...do I get a new session each time I burn contents of staging area to CD?
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): A: That is correct. After every write, the disc is left open for future sessions by default.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q: Will Service Pack 2 include any new features as far as CD Burning under XP is concerned?
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: We're not planning on adding any features to service pack two.
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): Q: Does XP support multisession?
Special Guest Tyler (Microsoft): A: Yes.
Special Guest Emily (Microsoft): Q:I've heard some rumors that ResKit team was planning to release something related to ISO image burning. Could you confirm that?
Special Guest Emily (Microsoft): A: I believe there already is one called "cdburn.exe"
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q : cd 'burning' yes...does it support DVD burning?
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: The inbox software doesn't support DVD Burning.
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): zammis : Q: so it's left open "by default"...can it be forced closed? would I ever WANT to? (no clear understanding of sessions in general, as you can tell)
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): A: there are some portable CD players that play digital media files (such as Wma OR mp3), and these require that the CDs be closed. However, you don't know until you buy the device if this is required or not.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q: Hmmm, XP always closes my CDs. Do you know how to turn multisession on? (I might have turned off multisession in some box and forgot about it)
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: There is no way to turn it on or off. It is always on for data CDs and always off for Audio.
Special Guest Emily (Microsoft): Q: Alex_Feinman_MVP : Emily: There was a powertoy with that name - discontinued early
Special Guest Emily (Microsoft): A: Really? That's news to me.
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): Q : would inbox software change in the future to encompass DVD burning?
Special Guest Patrick (Microsoft): A: We are not prepared to discuss our future plans in this area at this time. ;)
Moderator Brian_B (Microsoft): We are wrapping things up...please post your last questions or comments now...thanks!
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): misterone : pls some1 tell me how to get my media player 2 play rightside up
Special Guest Kathy (Microsoft): A: What you're seeing is a problem with the codec for the file you're playing and/or the driver for your video card. I recommend posting your configuration to the newsgroups.
Moderator Brian_B (Microsoft): I like to thank Galan from the Windows Expert Zone, as well Kathy, Tyler, Sean, and Patrick from the Windows Product Team for joining us today for this Windows Expert Zone Chat Microsoft Community Chat.
Moderator Brian_B (Microsoft): ...and the rest of you for your questions and comments.
Moderator Brian_B (Microsoft): Thanks for your interest and feedback! We are going to leave now. You are welcome to continue chatting in the lower window. This is a place for anyone in the Expert Zone community to connect with each other. We encourage you to use it anytime we are not doing a scheduled chat.
