Can I burn a bootable ISO on a CD+RW or only on a CD+R ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Leslie Brooks
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Leslie Brooks

Can I burn a bootable ISO on a CD+RW or only on a CD+R ?

I read somewhere in the past that burning a bootable image on a re-writeable media cause
often problems because the boot sector is NOT recognized successfully.

Is this true?

Do I have to setup some special options when I use a +RW (or -RW) ?

Les
 
Leslie Brooks said:
Can I burn a bootable ISO on a CD+RW or only on a CD+R ?

I read somewhere in the past that burning a bootable image on a
re-writeable media cause
often problems because the boot sector is NOT recognized successfully.

Is this true?
Click to expand...


I've never had any problems burning ISO to disk on a CDRW disk - I do it all
the time with different Linux Live CDs so that if I don't like them I just
erase the disk and re-use it...(yes I know I'm a skinflint...not really, I
live MILES out in the wilderness and need to shepherd scarce resources!)
 
Yes you can burn a bootable iso onto a rewritable. Years ago some CD-Roms
wouldn't boot rewriteable media but for the past few years that hasn't been
a problem.
 
I've done it with no problems. Try it and see what happens, nothing to
loose, just erase it if it doesn't work.
 
Leslie Brooks said:
Can I burn a bootable ISO on a CD+RW or only on a CD+R ?

I read somewhere in the past that burning a bootable image on a
re-writeable media cause
often problems because the boot sector is NOT recognized successfully.

Is this true?

Do I have to setup some special options when I use a +RW (or -RW) ?
Click to expand...

There is no boot sector as such on a bootable CD. Instead an image of a
bootable floppy is stored in a special file. When you boot (as long as the
BIOS supports it) the file is mapped onto drive A: to look like a bootable
floppy with a boot sector but stored in RAM*. The system then boots as
though from a floppy disc. If you have a real floppy, it becomes drive B:.
If you have two the second one is temporarily lost. A CD-RW is just as able
to hold the file as a CD-R and should boot equally well.

*You can even examine the file contents by selecting drive A:
 
Can I burn a bootable ISO on a CD+RW or only on a CD+R ?

I read somewhere in the past that burning a bootable image on a re-writeable media cause
often problems because the boot sector is NOT recognized successfully.

Is this true?

Do I have to setup some special options when I use a +RW (or -RW) ?

Les
Click to expand...

CD-Rs and CD-RWs are now all treated "equal" sime most CD/DVD drives
can read them.

ISO files contain all the info to boot from the CD, if the source used
to create the ISO contains the boot records.

CDs do not have a +RW model. The +RW is a different DVD media.

Windows XP can not burn ISO files to any disk. You need to use some
other burning software than just XP.
 
Leslie Brooks said:
Can I burn a bootable ISO on a CD+RW
Click to expand...

Yep, I've done that heaps of times.
or only on a CD+R ?
Nope.

I read somewhere in the past that burning a bootable
image on a re-writeable media cause often problems
because the boot sector is NOT recognized successfully.
Click to expand...
Is this true?
Click to expand...

Nope, the only problem I have ever had is that real old dinosaurs
with ancient cdrom drives dont like CDRWs as much as CDRs so
its not a great idea to put diagnostic stuff like Hiren's on CDRWs
if you want to use them in dinosaurs that ancient.
Do I have to setup some special options when I use a +RW (or -RW) ?
Click to expand...

Nope, not when using decent modern burner software like Roxio EMC.
 
Leslie Brooks said:
Can I burn a bootable ISO on a CD+RW or only on a CD+R ?

I read somewhere in the past that burning a bootable image on a
re-writeable media cause
often problems because the boot sector is NOT recognized successfully.

Is this true?

Do I have to setup some special options when I use a +RW (or -RW) ?

Les
Click to expand...

Have only seen "+" and "-" applicable to DVD media and DVD writers. Never
regarding CD media or CD writers.

I have successfully copied bootable CDs to write only media. I've never
attempted CDRW as my intent was to keep such copies indefinitely. Done both
with a CD writer and 2 different DVD/CD writers.

There's more than one CD boot rendition out there by the way. None of which
can be "seen" by windows explorer, whether bootable or boot failure results.
Dave
 
Can I burn a bootable ISO on a CD+RW or only on a CD+R ?

I read somewhere in the past that burning a bootable image on a re-writeable media cause
often problems because the boot sector is NOT recognized successfully.

Is this true?

Do I have to setup some special options when I use a +RW (or -RW) ?

Les
Click to expand...

No, you can't burn a bootable CD from XP.
 
NoConsequence said:
No, you can't burn a bootable CD from XP.
Click to expand...


Moron strikes again. The OP said NOTHING about "using XP" - your
comprehension skills REALLY are moronic aren't they.....
 
Leslie Brooks said:
Can I burn a bootable ISO on a CD+RW or only on a CD+R ?

I read somewhere in the past that burning a bootable image on a
re-writeable media cause
often problems because the boot sector is NOT recognized successfully.

Is this true?

Do I have to setup some special options when I use a +RW (or -RW) ?

Les
Click to expand...

There is no + or - designation for cds'.
 
In the case of CD's there's only Recordable or ReWritable hence the "CD-" is
not a minus but instead a hyphen and the "logo" usually has "CD-R" or
"CD-RW" to indicate which type of cd it is. With DVD's that character is a
mimus sign and DVD's have both "DVD-R", "DVD-RW", "DVD+R" and "DVD+RW" and
of course the new dual layer are "DVD-DL" I believe.
 
No, that's really just a hyphen, not a minus sign as opposed to a plus
sign.
Click to expand...

Well, there are CD-R's and CD+R's, so what difference does it make if it's a
minus sign or dash? They are both recordable but in slightly different
formats. And some players work better with one than the other (I think
the CD-R is more compatible with most players).
 
But as I said in the other post, we have recordable CD-R's and CD+R's, using
slightly different formats, (I think the CD-R disk is more compatible with
most players). So what difference does it make if you call it a dash or
minus?
 
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