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Is MRW format capability hardware-dependent rather than a software feature? I have InCD installed with a Norcent burner on my desktop & the option to use MRW is available in the InCD Page Settings dialog, but on my combo DVD-CDRW notebook drive (Dell), that option doesn't show up and it formats only in CD-RW. For compatibility (read/write same InCD disc in both machines), should I use only CD-RW format? Sorry to ask such an obvious question, but you never know. Thanks.

Daiwa

Yes, a burner needs special firmware to support CD-MRW. Thus for compatibility you should only use standard CD-RW formatting on both boxes.

BTW, which laptop and combo drive are you using? Some drives only need firmware upgrades to gain CD-MRW support.

note: even if your combo drive doesn't support Mt. Rainier, it will still be able to read Mt. Rainier discs written by your desktop. just won't be able to write to them.

Thanks, KCK. Figured that was the case.

The notebook is a Dell Inspiron 4000 with Dell's 24X CD-RW/DVD Module. P/N on it is 6P811-A00. Can't tell who the OEM is, but labeled Made in Korea. I've checked with Dell's D/L site - unable to find any firmware updates for this particular drive. The only reason I'd be interested in using MRW on both is that it seems to format a *lot* faster in MRW - as in 15 seconds versus 10 minutes with CD-RW. At least the EasyReader software will let me read and copy from a CD-MRW disc on my notebook so the discs I've already formatted that way on the desktop are not truly wasted, but I'll stick with CD-RW in the future on both.

Thanks again. This is a really good resource forum, thanks to the quick responses from folks like you. I really appreciate it.

Daiwa

And thanks to you, too, dodecahedron - caught me in mid-reply.

Daiwa

daiwa:

To learn more about your laptop drive, just visit Dell Community Forum

http://delltalk.us.dell.com/supportforu ... d=inspiron

and go to the CD/DVD Devices board. However, don't expect too much: based on the complaints appearing on this forum, I didn't buy an internal combo drive with my Latitude C840!