Viewing backed-up CD-RW

[hsw21]

Hi guys...
I'm trying to find the answer to my problem. I'm not the expert at all to computer. This is my problem:
I was using win ME and plan to upgrade to XP (clean install). I have a sony CDRW with CD extreme (for regular CD burning?) and abCD software (for CD-RW). So, I backed-up all of my files to CD-RW (I used it as a big floppy). Now I have the XP installed and I can't open my backed-up CD-RW. I guess that I have to used abCD program again, but abCD didn't supported for XP, so here I am, with about seven useless CD-RW. The contents of those CD-RW are not something fancy or anything, but I needed it (such as: my old photos, family photos, my old assignment from school, etc, mostly photos). Can anybody help me with this?
THX a lot guys.....

HSW

[cfitz]

Try this:

http://www.smart-projects.net/isobuster/

Or install abCD on a friends computer, and copy the discs to regular CD-R in ISO 9660 format (e.g. in Nero/Nero Express create a data CD, and copy the files from the CD-RW discs to the CD-R data disc).

Let us know how you make out.

cfitz

[hsw21]

thx a lot guys....

[cfitz]

Did it work?

cfitz

[hsw21]

Not yet, first I don't know what to do over there, they have option such as: extract RAW, extract this , extract that, so I'm still trying this and that, so far with no succes. Then some of the options are not functioning because I need to register (pay, of course) to use that function. I'm just keep trying and I'll let you know the result soon.
Thx

[hsw21]

Hi cfitz
Finally I'm using Bad Copy software.
It was not 100% recover though, or I would say some, because I had a CD which recovered about 50% (57 from 127 image), while the other had almost 100% success (97 from 99 images).
So far I'm happy with the result and this makes me learn something new about computer and would be more careful when changing OS or backing up files in the future.
Thanks for your help though.

HSW

[cfitz]

If you actually have a bad/corrupted disc, here are several other possibilities (all from the same thread):

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... 7446#47446
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... 7676#47676
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... 7598#47598

Sorry I didn't direct you to this thread at first. It wasn't clear to me that you have corrupted discs. I thought you just needed a reader for otherwise healthy discs.

cfitz

[Wedge Maniac]

I *think* that Isobuster is sometimes able to read corrupt discs and extract them. Can anybody confirm this?

Of course, even if it can, it has limits that depend on just how bad the cd is scratched/damaged. Nonetheless, Isobuster is a must-have tool and I just noticed that version 1.3 is out.

hsw21, I don't think you need to register in order to utilize the features of Isobuster that you need. I typically open up Isobuster, let it quickly read the disc, right-click on one of the root folders located in the left pane, then choose the top option in the menu that says Extract "folder name". Then extract it to a known location.

Let us know how you get on.
Btw, in my experience, using packet writing software has proven to be the most unreliable method for safekeeping data.

[cfitz]

I *think* that Isobuster is sometimes able to read corrupt discs and extract them. Can anybody confirm this?

Yes, it is able to do so. But I don't think it is quite as capable as the ArrowKey products, for example.

Nonetheless, Isobuster is a must-have tool and I just noticed that version 1.3 is out.

Agreed.

hsw21, I don't think you need to register in order to utilize the features of Isobuster that you need. I typically open up Isobuster, let it quickly read the disc, right-click on one of the root folders located in the left pane, then choose the top option in the menu that says Extract "folder name". Then extract it to a known location.

You can also right-click a particular file you want to copy in the right-hand pane and select "Extract name of file" (the top menu item). But hsw21's abCD discs are UDF, as far as I know, and on closer inspection I see that ISO Buster does require registration for extracting data from UDF discs. When I first recommended ISO Buster, I wasn't aware of that and didn't check thoroughly enough. In any event, I figured hsw21 could at least first try ISO Buster to see if it could read the abCD format at all, and, if so, then she(?) could register it, if required, to actually extract the data.

Btw, in my experience, using packet writing software has proven to be the most unreliable method for safekeeping data.

Also agreed. Some people have had good long term success with packet-writing, but in general it is less reliable, particularly if done on CD-RW media. On the other hand, it does have its conveniences. I recommend it only for short-term data transfer tasks, not long-term archiving of data not stored anywhere else. And personally I don't use it at all.

cfitz

[cfitz]

Arrowkey also has a slightly cheaper version of their recovery software called CD Rx that only works on CDs (not DVDs):

http://www.arrowkey.com/cdrxdataretriever.html

It, like the CD/DVD Diagnostic product, offers a money-back guarantee if your files can't be recovered using the product as directed by Arrowkey.

cfitz

[Wedge Maniac]

Cool! Thank you cfitz.

[hsw21]

Hi cfitz,
you dont need to say sorry to me, because I also didn't know if my CDRW is corrupted or not. So, if it now works, I still dont know if it because the software fix the corrupted CDRW or because that just the right software for that format (?).
BTW, thanks again for your information.

HSW

[cfitz]

You're welcome, although I didn't end up being all that useful. But, as long as you were able to recover your data, that's all that counts.

cfitz