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OT; old CDs and DVDs



 
 
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  #31  
Old May 16th 18, 07:55 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
Diesel
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 937
Default OT; old CDs and DVDs

Char Jackson
Sat, 12 May 2018
17:58:14 GMT in alt.windows7.general, wrote:

On Sat, 12 May 2018 02:16:14 -0400, Paul
wrote:

Ant wrote:


Were http://www.cdmediaworld.com and
http://www.digitalfaq.com/reviews/dvd-media.htm the ones?


One of them was called cdfreaks, but they changed the site name.
It has reviews and a forum.

https://www.myce.com/review/Plextor-...der-68/writing
-dvdr_rw-5/

This is another that comes to mind.

http://www.cdrlabs.com/forums/

One thing you'll notice, is they don't seem to care about
their original topics all that much, as burning of optical
media has dropped in popularity. It's also one of the reasons
that my single remaining computer store is stocking "crap"
for media. The Ritek is gone.


It's almost surprising that they stock any optical media at all. I
can't imagine there's much of a market for it these days.


There's still some. I still use dvd-r media for the most part, but,
will still make use of an actual cd-r when it's called for. For
example, not everyone owns a stereo system that can read a data disc
full of mp3s and decode them for playback. Some people actually still
own (and see no reason to ditch unless it dies) actual audio cd only
players. And, for these people, a cd-r is the perfect media. [g]

I also use the writable media for making read only iso/non iso copies
of various things too. I try to keep atleast 100 of each on hand at
any given time. There's one place that isn't too far a drive that
still stocks writable media for a fair price. I've known the owner
and the people who work there for years.

For the purposes of integrity, If I'm working an infected machine in
a live state, I'm purposely using tools provided via a read only
source. It's an old habit and probably not necessary with todays crop
of malware since it's not really worm/virus like in nature, but...I
still catch myself taking those precautions. Pretty obvious I don't
trust the very machines I love so much isn't it? [g] I don't trust
them, because, like many others, I know how they work. rofl.


--
To prevent yourself from being a victim of cyber
stalking, it's highly recommended you visit he
https://tekrider.net/pages/david-brooks-stalker.php
================================================== =
An Emergency Call Centre worker has been fired in Toronto much to the
dismay of her colleagues, who were unhappy with her dismissal.
It seems that a caller dialled 911 from a cell phone stating, "I'm
depressed and lying on a railway line so that when the train comes I
can finally meet Allah."
To which the call centre employee replied, "Remain calm and stay on
the line."
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  #32  
Old May 16th 18, 07:55 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
Diesel
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 937
Default OT; old CDs and DVDs

Mark Lloyd
Sat, 12 May 2018 20:46:28 GMT in alt.windows7.general, wrote:

On 05/12/2018 12:58 PM, Char Jackson wrote:

[snip]

It's almost surprising that they stock any optical media at all.
I can't imagine there's much of a market for it these days.


I always see DVD+R at the local Wal-Mart, in spindles of 100 and
sometimes smaller packages as well. They may be putting less out
than they used to, but there's always some there.


Several years ago, while I was experimenting with DVD+R vs DVD-R, I
found that +R gave me more trouble playing back on various set top
players. I don't remember off hand any computers giving me trouble
reading either disc.. I do remember having issues ranging from
freezing outright to skipping to not playing/recognizing the disc at
all using set top players. The same players which would throw a fit
with +R behaved normally with -R created from the same source.

BTW, I completely forgot the last time I saw blank T-120 (VHS) or
L-750 (Beta) tapes there.


VHS blank tapes sold in packs of five were at the local Wal-Mart (for
me) about two weeks ago. I think the Beta tapes are sold in packs of
3, but I could be mistaken. I've also seen blank cassette tapes.




--
To prevent yourself from being a victim of cyber
stalking, it's highly recommended you visit he
https://tekrider.net/pages/david-brooks-stalker.php
================================================== =
An Emergency Call Centre worker has been fired in Toronto much to the
dismay of her colleagues, who were unhappy with her dismissal.
It seems that a caller dialled 911 from a cell phone stating, "I'm
depressed and lying on a railway line so that when the train comes I
can finally meet Allah."
To which the call centre employee replied, "Remain calm and stay on
the line."
  #33  
Old May 16th 18, 01:22 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,679
Default OT; old CDs and DVDs

In message , Paul
writes:
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message , Paul
writes:
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

Maybe a two-part process, the second coating being a "fixer" layer
that prevented degradation (blocked UV or whatever colour the

[]
I was only suggesting it for the legend side, not the data side - as
an alternative to lightscribe.


They used to make optical media with the printable label area
on it, for use with inkjets. The inkjets that had a provision
for writing on optical media. But try and find an inkjet today
that writes those. That's what we had before LightScribe,


Oh, I hadn't been aware that they'd stopped doing them.

and the people who had the proper printer, seemed to like that
scheme. It wouldn't upset the balance of the media, like
a paper label would.


I never actually had any problem with paper labels, when applied with
one of the various things that applied them.

The problem with LightScribe, was it took as long to burn
the label, as to burn the data bits. A "single pass" wasn't


Probably longer, given the up-to-5x-times speed of modern drives.
(Though I don't think I've ever burned a CD at max. speed - I feel
they're likely to be more reliable if burned at a lower speed.)

dark enough, so the burn process had to be repeated multiple
times until the desired shade was achieved.


My first thought was that it must be difficult aligning the passes, but
I assume you mean they're all done in the one session (i. e. CD not
removed from drive between them).

I wonder if my idea of a spray-on coating - for the labelling side, to
avoid any doubt - has any legs! The chemical could be made _more_
sensitive than lightscribe discs, if it was a two-part process involving
a "fixing" spray to be applied afterwards (either to block the relevant
wavelength, or to stop further change in the chemical, as in
photographic fixers. [Or both.])

Paul

John
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is.
  #34  
Old May 16th 18, 01:39 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,679
Default OT; old CDs and DVDs

In message , "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
writes:
[]
I wonder if my idea of a spray-on coating - for the labelling side, to
avoid any doubt - has any legs! The chemical could be made _more_
sensitive than lightscribe discs, if it was a two-part process
involving a "fixing" spray to be applied afterwards (either to block
the relevant wavelength, or to stop further change in the chemical, as
in photographic fixers. [Or both.])

[]
I've just had a further thought, though: did LightScribe discs have at
least some tracking info on the label side? I'd always assumed their
only difference to non-LightScribe discs was some extra chemical on the
label side. But I got to wondering how the tracking mechanism was
persuaded to work. If it could be constrained to work in dead-reckoning
mode without feedback - after all, the precision required is at least an
order of magnitude less than that required for the data side - then my
idea could work; if the LightScribe software still needed something to
latch onto, then probably not. (And might explain why "pirate"
LightScribe blanks didn't appear, as well.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is.
  #35  
Old May 16th 18, 04:06 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
Ed Cryer
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,621
Default OT; old CDs and DVDs

Diesel wrote:
Ed Cryer news Fri, 11 May 2018 19:49:28 GMT in alt.windows7.general, wrote:

[snip]

Have you ever seen "Logan's Run"? I was impressed by the spinning
storage discs, and it made me think about ancient papyrus, vellum,
paper. Medieval monks had a bad habit of reusing classical
manuscripts, after scraping them. Modern technology is finding all
kinds of things behind psalters and prayer-books. Boccaccio and
Petrarch wrote about well-worn paths between monastery libraries
and the scriptoria. Umberto Eco's "The Name of The Rose" revolves
around something similar. Euripides wrote 95 plays, and 18
survive; while many famous Greek and Roman writers survive by one
manuscript alone, often dug up in some place where there was an
earthquake or eruption.

Still, I guess that paper has greater longevity than laser-burnt
discs.


Even if the laser-burnt disc had the same or better longevity than
various kinds of paper?, who's to say, a few thousand years (or even
a few hundred years from now) anyone would have the necessary
equipment in working condition that could actually do something
useful with the disc made centuries before?

Atleast with the present discoveries from long ago, it's text or
something else somebody today can read and understand. It doesn't
require hardware and software from the age of that writing or
knowledge of such to do it.




Can you think of any technology of the past that's now incomprehensible?
I know that people have claimed there is (like Erich von Däniken in his
"Chariots of the gods". Space alien technology!). But they've all been
debunked on further investigation. Things like the Egyptians knowing
about pi, having used batteries; Archimedes having used lasers in the
3rd c. BC. How the ancient Brits moved the megaliths of Stonehenge all
that way; the Romans using concrete under water (see here for the
latter;
https://www.nature.com/news/seawater...ncrete-1.22231)

We know how to make waterwheels, Archimedean screws, Roman ballistas,
Greek fire, pulleys, etc.

Ed

  #36  
Old May 16th 18, 06:34 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
Paul[_32_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 11,873
Default OT; old CDs and DVDs

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message , "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
writes:
[]
I wonder if my idea of a spray-on coating - for the labelling side, to
avoid any doubt - has any legs! The chemical could be made _more_
sensitive than lightscribe discs, if it was a two-part process
involving a "fixing" spray to be applied afterwards (either to block
the relevant wavelength, or to stop further change in the chemical, as
in photographic fixers. [Or both.])

[]
I've just had a further thought, though: did LightScribe discs have at
least some tracking info on the label side? I'd always assumed their
only difference to non-LightScribe discs was some extra chemical on the
label side. But I got to wondering how the tracking mechanism was
persuaded to work. If it could be constrained to work in dead-reckoning
mode without feedback - after all, the precision required is at least an
order of magnitude less than that required for the data side - then my
idea could work; if the LightScribe software still needed something to
latch onto, then probably not. (And might explain why "pirate"
LightScribe blanks didn't appear, as well.)


You would probably need an index mark of some sort, to
support multiple passes. And to align one "ring" of pixels
with the next. Perhaps this is the "control zone" in the picture ?

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Revi...13449&PageId=1

Paul
  #37  
Old May 16th 18, 07:45 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
pjp[_10_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,183
Default OT; old CDs and DVDs

In article XnsA8E41F106E512HT1@
327UTw9cy7BRF0x8KJtp88y7HZ.bV.JFNKkp5Ia5k7q54, says...

Mark Lloyd
Sat, 12 May 2018 20:46:28 GMT in alt.windows7.general, wrote:

On 05/12/2018 12:58 PM, Char Jackson wrote:

[snip]

It's almost surprising that they stock any optical media at all.
I can't imagine there's much of a market for it these days.


I always see DVD+R at the local Wal-Mart, in spindles of 100 and
sometimes smaller packages as well. They may be putting less out
than they used to, but there's always some there.


Several years ago, while I was experimenting with DVD+R vs DVD-R, I
found that +R gave me more trouble playing back on various set top
players. I don't remember off hand any computers giving me trouble
reading either disc.. I do remember having issues ranging from
freezing outright to skipping to not playing/recognizing the disc at
all using set top players. The same players which would throw a fit
with +R behaved normally with -R created from the same source.


My hardware dvd recorder although box said both "+" & "-" dvd's the
thing only see "+" disks even for just reading. I accepted that given
player was under $100 when most were $300+. It works so ...

It's why I have a stack of "DVD+RW"'s

I notice also when you see blank dvds now they are almost always "-"
disks.

BTW, I completely forgot the last time I saw blank T-120 (VHS) or
L-750 (Beta) tapes there.


VHS blank tapes sold in packs of five were at the local Wal-Mart (for
me) about two weeks ago. I think the Beta tapes are sold in packs of
3, but I could be mistaken. I've also seen blank cassette tapes.



  #38  
Old May 16th 18, 08:12 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,679
Default OT; old CDs and DVDs

In message , Paul
writes:
[]
I've just had a further thought, though: did LightScribe discs have
at least some tracking info on the label side? I'd always assumed
their only difference to non-LightScribe discs was some extra
chemical on the label side. But I got to wondering how the tracking
mechanism was persuaded to work. If it could be constrained to work
in dead-reckoning mode without feedback - after all, the precision
required is at least an order of magnitude less than that required
for the data side - then my idea could work; if the LightScribe
software still needed something to latch onto, then probably not.
(And might explain why "pirate" LightScribe blanks didn't appear, as well.)


You would probably need an index mark of some sort, to
support multiple passes. And to align one "ring" of pixels
with the next. Perhaps this is the "control zone" in the picture ?

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Revi...13449&PageId=1

Paul

Thanks. "The media ID code can be read on both sides of the media. If a
non LightScribe disc is inserted in a LightScribe drive, it recognizes
the media features and disables LightScribe media." Which suggests - if
non-LightScribe media can be recognised - that the ID code _isn't_
specially written on both sides.

"The control feature zone is used by the burner to control at which spot
it will focus the laser (index mark). This means that if you want to
reprint a disc label, the drive will automatically rotate the disc and
align it to the same point of origin every time and hence will always
print at the same spot as before. So, you can print the same label more
than once on the same disc, to achieve better printing quality." This
suggests you can actually take a disc out to see how the label has come
out, and put it back in for another go: such an "index mark" principle
could then be used with my spray-on coating idea.

"There is no track spiral or other tracking aid." So that's another
reason why my spray-on could work (-:!
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

By the very definition of "news," we hear very little about the dominant
threats to our lives, and the most about the rarest, including terror.
"LibertyMcG" alias Brian P. McGlinchey, 2013-7-23
  #39  
Old May 16th 18, 08:31 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,679
Default OT; old CDs and DVDs

In message , Ed Cryer
writes:
Diesel wrote:
Ed Cryer news Fri, 11 May 2018 19:49:28 GMT in alt.windows7.general, wrote:
[snip]

Have you ever seen "Logan's Run"? I was impressed by the spinning
storage discs, and it made me think about ancient papyrus, vellum,
paper. Medieval monks had a bad habit of reusing classical
manuscripts, after scraping them. Modern technology is finding all
kinds of things behind psalters and prayer-books. Boccaccio and
Petrarch wrote about well-worn paths between monastery libraries
and the scriptoria. Umberto Eco's "The Name of The Rose" revolves
around something similar. Euripides wrote 95 plays, and 18
survive; while many famous Greek and Roman writers survive by one
manuscript alone, often dug up in some place where there was an
earthquake or eruption.

Still, I guess that paper has greater longevity than laser-burnt
discs.


Paper, or Vellum?

It's probably too soon to say for laser-burnt media. We know plenty of
them that _haven't_ survived, but those are due to poor storage,
manufacturing faults, poor burning, and so on; there are lots that
_have_ survived so far.

Even if the laser-burnt disc had the same or better longevity than
various kinds of paper?, who's to say, a few thousand years (or even
a few hundred years from now) anyone would have the necessary
equipment in working condition that could actually do something
useful with the disc made centuries before?


Well, the paper (or marks in stone) we don't have the "equipment" -
knowledge - to "read" a lot of it. Before the discovery of the Rosetta
Stone (not just a pop group!), we weren't able to read (I think it was)
two languages, even though the media survived.

On the other hand, doesn't need to be a few hundred years: I doubt most
early disc packs are now readable; floppies, especially pre-PC; tape
backup; ZIP discs; minidiscs ... the BBC Domesday project (used
laserdiscs) ... early video recordings ...

Atleast with the present discoveries from long ago, it's text or
something else somebody today can read and understand. It doesn't


"Somebody" - maybe. Maybe one or two people in the world: maybe none.

require hardware and software from the age of that writing or
knowledge of such to do it.


Can you think of any technology of the past that's now
incomprehensible?


I've listed a few above. OK, you _might_ be able to find equipment for
some of them. But some of them are getting hard to find - especially the
Domesday project and early videotapes.

I know that people have claimed there is (like Erich von Däniken in his
"Chariots of the gods". Space alien technology!). But they've all been
debunked on further investigation. Things like the Egyptians knowing
about pi, having used batteries;


(I was wondering how having used batteries would help them know about
pi, then I realised what you meant!)

Archimedes having used lasers in the 3rd c. BC. How the ancient Brits
moved the megaliths of Stonehenge all that way; the Romans using
concrete under water (see here for the latter;
https://www.nature.com/news/seawater...-lasting-roman
-concrete-1.22231)

We know how to make waterwheels, Archimedean screws, Roman ballistas,
Greek fire, pulleys, etc.


But not to read a cassette recorded by a home computer of the 1980s (-:

Ed

--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

By the very definition of "news," we hear very little about the dominant
threats to our lives, and the most about the rarest, including terror.
"LibertyMcG" alias Brian P. McGlinchey, 2013-7-23
  #41  
Old May 17th 18, 07:26 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
Diesel
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 937
Default OT; old CDs and DVDs

pjp
Thu, 17
May 2018 02:22:02 GMT in alt.windows7.general, wrote:

In article XnsA8E41F10ACFC4HT1@
327UTw9cy7BRF0x8KJtp88y7HZ.bV.JFNKkp5Ia5k7q54,
says...

"J. P. Gilliver (John)"
Tue, 15 May 2018 12:34:34 GMT in
alt.windows7.general, wrote:

Although I made sure it had lightscribe ability when I bought
the (external) drive, I've never actually had any such discs.


Hmm. All of my burners are lightscribe capable. I've used the
feature one time with one of them...While it was cool enough I
suppose, the time and funny smell from doing it wasn't worth it
in the long run to me. I'll just stick to a sharpie.


I made a little music cd of myself playing guitar. Lghtscribe was
nice for giving friends a copy as it made disk look very
professionally done. I think with the lables they're obviously a
label and therefore not so nice. I used software called SureThing
CD Labeler to do it. Worked fine but it's not free.

Burn music in uder 5 minutes, turn disk over and burn label/image
takes more like 20 min. but it comes out looking like you expect
and is more or less permanent.


I wasn't knocking lightscribe. It does result in more professional
looking work than using a printed label. If I were making discs I
intended to distribute, I'd likely go that route myself; so long as
the discs were of a small amount.

In my case, the majority of the discs I burn aren't intended for
distribution, so a Sharpie usually does the trick. It's quite
possible the Sharpie will fade over time, but that's generally okay
due to the contents becoming outdated long before then.


--
To prevent yourself from being a victim of cyber
stalking, it's highly recommended you visit he
https://tekrider.net/pages/david-brooks-stalker.php
================================================== =
"You might show me a little more respect" complained the coed as she
and her date were driving back from "Lover's Lookout".
"Yeah?" asked the smirking boy, "Like by doing what?"
"Well, for starters, not flying my panty hose from your radio
aerial."
  #43  
Old May 17th 18, 11:48 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,679
Default OT; old CDs and DVDs

In message , "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
writes:
In message , pjp
writes:

[]
nice. I used software called SureThing CD Labeler to do it. Worked fine
but it's not free.

Burn music in uder 5 minutes, turn disk over and burn label/image takes
more like 20 min. but it comes out looking like you expect and is more
or less permanent.


Still available, and still supports LightScribe; $20 to £35 (less 5¢).


The original free software is currently available from
https://lightscribesoftware.org/, along with other not-free software
(including 650 original templates, originally free now $9.95).
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Veni Vidi Visa [I came, I saw, I did a little shopping] - Mik from S+AS Limited
), 1998
  #44  
Old May 18th 18, 12:35 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
Ant[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 554
Default OT; old CDs and DVDs

Diesel wrote:

I wasn't knocking lightscribe. It does result in more professional
looking work than using a printed label. If I were making discs I
intended to distribute, I'd likely go that route myself; so long as
the discs were of a small amount.


In my case, the majority of the discs I burn aren't intended for
distribution, so a Sharpie usually does the trick. It's quite
possible the Sharpie will fade over time, but that's generally okay
due to the contents becoming outdated long before then.


Same here. I'm cheap too!
--
Quote of the Week: "The fact that we can't easily foresee clues that
would betray an intelligence a million millennia farther down the road
suggests that we're like ants trying to discover humans. Ask yourself:
Would ants ever recognize houses, cars, or fire hydrants as the work of
advanced biology?" --Seth Shostak
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail privately. If credit-
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