Ed Cryer wrote:
W wrote:
I have an application trying to write to blank CD-Rs that keeps
failing. Is
there a good way to determine if the CD-R is still blank, that doesn't
rely
on having some third party software installed?


I'd trust Win7 itself. Load a CD in the drive, see what it says about it.

Ed


You could use a Device Manager or Explorer approach, do Properties,
and see if there is a tab for the thing. Then, look for a "Populate"
button, to scan the current media and tell you stuff about it.

It might record three sizes in KB. If all three were zero,
perhaps that means the media is blank. Not sure. The other possibility,
is the disc could be burned multi-session and not be closed, in
which case you could add another session to it. I didn't see anything
in that interface, that indicates whether the session is open or
closed (finalized).

The disadvantage of the system-provided info, is not printing
in "plain English", whether the thing is blank as such. A visual
check (hold it up to your eye), usually tells you whether the laser
has done anything to it. That's not very scientific though. A third
party utility might use language more suited to humans, whereas the
system provided info might leave you guessing whether it is
blank, heuristically_blank, or whatever.

The contrast ratio on CD-RW might not be as useful as that on CD-R.
I can usually tell by looking with the ole eyeball, whether the CD-R
on the top of my spindle, is used or not (thrown back by accident).

Paul