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DVD/CD +/-, +, - DRIVES QUESTION

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous Hardware' started by BGBG, Jan 8, 2016.

  1. BGBG

    BGBG Registered Members

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    I have the booting thing figured out and the rescue discs do boo both PCs. But there are some specifics that confuse me and would like an explanation if possible.
    1. Have always had PCs with -R/RW drives and have used those discs. Now I have a 2012 Dell 5040 Inspiron PC with what it says is a +R/RW drive. I could not see anywhere that it could read & write -R/RW drives, only that it was a SATA +DVD/CD drive. When I made the Macrium rescue discs with DVD-R and CD-RW it said creation successful, had files on the discs, and booted both the 2005 Gateway with TS-L532A drive that doesnt say + or -, and the Dell laptop that says it is a DVD/CD +R/RW drive. It also said Invalid Disc, Insert correct disc which seemed contradictory.
    These two boot discs were made on the Dell so obviously it does use DVD/CD -R/RW discs.
    But why it says "Invalid media. Please insert Correct Disc I do not know.
    Can I assume that + drives will accept + or - discs or may or may not, or need to try each type to find out, maybe by copying a music or video file to one of each type of disc to find out?
    I just need to understand a bit more about the discs and drives so I know how to work with them.
    I ordered a spindle of 50 DVD+R discs and may also get some CD+R discs because that is what might be preferred instead of the RW discs which I have found to be less reliable and I dont need to erase anyway. Im talking data discs for PC use, not movies or DVD and CD players.
    If someone would clear me up on this I would be grateful.
     
  2. Tony D

    Tony D Administrator Administrator

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    When it comes to reading disks, any optical drive should be able to read (-) and (+) disks.

    The difference between (-) and (+) disks only comes into play when writing the disks. In days past, optical drives could only write to either (-) or (+) disks. Once the disks were written to, and finalized, any optical drive should be able to read them.

    It's hard to believe that modern day optical drives can't write to both (-) and (+) disks.
     
  3. BGBG

    BGBG Registered Members

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    Hi Tony...... I will get this disc-thing yet. In this case it looks like they dont think they can write to minus but in fact did. I am going to test this further when I get some + discs and will post back what I find. Up until now I only used the (-). Plan to study up and get me some rules I can go by.
     
  4. Tony D

    Tony D Administrator Administrator

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    What model optical drive do you have? If you can't find the model number, check in the Device Manager. It might list the model number.
     
  5. BGBG

    BGBG Registered Members

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    PLDS DVD+RW DS-8A8SH SATA CD-ROM Device
    Manufacturer : Standard CD-ROM Drives
     
  6. Tony D

    Tony D Administrator Administrator

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