Hardware
by wesley.chin Accepted solution
by selltekk Accepted solution
justr a copy of the data on a CD is fine if you do not need a boot sector. For instance, If you back up your files to a CD and want to make a duplicate of it, you can just copy the files and write them to another CD.
However, if the CD has bootable content on it, like a windows disk, just copying the files will not make it bootable. There is hidden data on the disk that is written into the first track on the CD that makes it bootable.
by wesley.chin Accepted solution
by selltekk Accepted solution
In that case, if the CD is an autorun CD like MS office or such, you shoudl definitely create an ISO. I work in a medium sized IT department, and I also do all of the purchasing for IT stuff for our organization. Any time I order new software that is a volume license, I take an ISO of the disk. I have a bunch of DVDs that I archive all of the ISOs on so if we ever lose the original media or if the original media becomes damaged, you can just burn anotehr one from the ISO image that you have.
Glad I could help.
by ugadata Accepted solution
Depends on weather it's an image copy or a file copy
If your using 3rd party software to create an identical copy (think image) then there isn't going to be any difference between the ISO or the copied CD. If the original was bootable then the copy will also be bootable.
If all your doing is copying the files (dragging and dropping them in Windows), then there maybe files that are hidden that won't get copied or files that need to be in a specific location (the boot sector)that won't be in the correct location.
by older mycroft Accepted solution
Having two optical drives as in the case of a tower PC is a con, because the data that is being read does not go straight to the burning drive - it is copied to a TEMP file until it is completely copied. Then and only then is it sent to the writing disc.
The burning of any optical disc requires that the data stream be of a particular speed and constant flow rate with no interruptions.
The speed that data is read from an optical disc is insufficient for the speed required to burn an optical disc.
As a result anyone with a single [burning] disc, as in the case of most laptop owners, are not at any disadvantage compared to tower PC owners.
Copying from optical disc directly to another optical disc simply does not happen. :)
by wesley.chin Accepted solution
by older mycroft Accepted solution
An ISO is a complete disc image wrapped up in ONE file eg xxx.iso.
When you use a burner to place the ISO on an optical disc you have to tell it that you want it treated as an ISO image. That way the computer disassembles the components as and when they are required for burning, and the data rate from a HDD is faster than the read speed from a CD.
You see, occasionally a CD that is being read 'misses' a piece of data but because the data is buffered, it catches the piece of data on the next rotation of the CD. But the buffer used for burning is exhausted a lot quicker and if it became empty (waiting for a missed bit of data) the burner would burn a missing bit onto the new CD.
You could always just archive the ISO images in a HDD directory (saving on CDs) and then mount the ISO as a virtual disc whenever required. The virtual disc, once mounted, can be accessed from anywhere on the network.
by dr dij Accepted solution
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