CDRLabs.com

I'm going to assume the following is due to my ignorance and thus I would like someone to explain why this happened:

I have an old CD-R that I burned a number of downloaded programs on for backup. When I do a burn like this, I usually use Nero Express and leave the project "Open", so that I can add additional files later. So, I inserted this old CD, opened Nero Express and went through the routine for making a Data CD, found the file I wanted to add and burned it successfully. BUT... when I reinserted the CD the only item showing in Explorer was this last item I had just added and the dozens of other files which were there originally weren't to be found??

So, was this possibly the result of adding this file to a CD that was "Closed"? (what is a good way to check to see if a disk is "Open" or "Closed"?) Did I not do something right when I added this file? And lastly, is there anyway to recover the original files from this CD?

See screenshot for "Disc Info" for this CD.



Thanks,

Jeff

I've only barely used Nero Express, but I'd imagine some of the terminology is similar to that in Nero...

You need to make sure you're using the "continue multisession disk" option in Nero, and I think you should have the disc in before you start adding files-- it sounds like Nero didn't properly pickup that you already had written data to the disk. Multisession works by "chaining" directories together, so if it doesn't chain backwards to your previous sessions, you won't see the data. Or it's possible you did indeed write to a "closed" disc, although I think it would've given you an error before you tried that..?

Also, each time you add a session, it uses ~13mb of overhead, so if you add data 10 times, that'll eat up ~130mb of the disc. For how cheap CDRs are, it's not worth using multisession as much anymore given the inherent risks (like this) of data disappearing. I know Adaptec used to include a "session selector" with Easy CD Creator (like in the version 3,4) days that would let you access any specific session (Great for rescuing data in a situation like yours) but am not sure if anything similar still exists.

howdy Pilgrim once again.

nero reputedly has a MultiMounter.
it doesn't seem to work rignt.
you'll find some posts by Howard Kaikow complaining about this for quite a while.

as for doing multisession correctly so as not to "lose data", this too was discussed in the forums, search for posts by cfitz, he gave some good explanations and instructions.
try finding them with the search function.

(search for keyword 'multisession', author 'cfitz', Ahead forum.
here's one:
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... ltisession )

as for your current data on the disc, try recovring those files with IsoBuster.
http://www.smart-projects.net/isobuster/

dodecahedron,

Thanks for the references. IsoBuster worked great in recovering my data too.

But, I am still "lost" in knowing the CORRECT method to add files to a CD that already has data on it. In IsoBuster, I saw 3 "sessions" and then the last one that had the single file I added last which caused me the grief. In the previous 3 sessions, ALL the previous files were duplicated along with the one or two I added at the respective times.

Is this how thing should look? Contrary to many here, I rarely if ever use a CD-R for anything except for storing files which I want to use on someone else's computer. Normally, I put everything on HS CD-RW and have for several years without any problems, e.g., lost data, etc. Okay, so I'm strange. hehe

Hi Pilgrim,

More than likely JUSTIN42 is correct in that you did not have the CD in the Recorder before you launched Nero Express to append to the CD. If you do not put the disc in first, so that Nero can scan for a previous sessoin and the data contained in there, then Nero will assume that you are going to start a New Multisession CD. And would fail to include the TOC from the previous session. So the data would remain, but in essence be lost to you. That is the only reason why it would have occured.

I could not be 100% sure without the Nero log file, but this is a common occurance that we regularly get EMails on from customers. We try and anticipate what you want to do, but we can only go so far.

Regards,

Craig

Craig,

Thanks.... I can't be absolutely sure if I launched Nero first and then inserted the CD, but most likely, this is what happened. I shall be sure to keep this order from now on.

Jeff

Pilgrim,

your'e welcome.

also, if you use Nero Burning ROM instead of Nero Express, you have in the Compilation Info popup (File -> Compilation Info, or when you click the Burn button) a Multisession tab, and there are 3 choices there: Start Multisession disc, Continue Multisession disc, No Multisession. click the Continue Multisession.