DVD's on the Mac


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What's the matter with Apple, don't they know there is such things as DVD's . I have quite a lot of DVD's from my day's with a PC, but now I have a iMac I don't seem to be able to use them except for 1 time recording. Say for accounting , if I use the disc utility I cannot use them more than once and the same with Roxio Toast. If the backup is only 39mb that is an awful waste of a DVD to only use it once.

Alternatively am I wrong with my approach's to use more than once ?.

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Set your disc to burn as a multi session. A weird quirk of macs is that each session is seen as an induvidual disc so if you burn 5 different sessions, 5 discs will appear to mount. This is good in a way, you can still access old versions of files which you may have burned, then updated.

Another option is to set your disc to NOT be a closed session/do not finalize.

edit - ohhh PC - Mac. I think I used to have this problem (years ago) but none the less, its probably still there. Are you burning ISO, maybe try UDF instead?

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Set your disc to burn as a multi session. A weird quirk of macs is that each session is seen as an induvidual disc so if you burn 5 different sessions, 5 discs will appear to mount. This is good in a way, you can still access old versions of files which you may have burned, then updated.

Another option is to set your disc to NOT be a closed session/do not finalize.

edit - ohhh PC - Mac. I think I used to have this problem (years ago) but none the less, its probably still there. Are you burning ISO, maybe try UDF instead?

From what I can see, and also other web sites, it would seem that Multisession DVDs are a no no. They are a burn once only. I am quite annoyed really (and have let Apple know) when I migrated to the mac from a PC I have a lot of DVDs left, but have had to go out and buy CDs.

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I guess my question for you would be why don't you use CD-R for smaller things like that and DVD-R for larger files? Or use DVD-RW discs?

I just looked at futureshop and the per unit price for DVD-R and CD-R is about the same (it's actually easier to find cheaper DVD-R than CD-R....)

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I just looked at futureshop and the per unit price for DVD-R and CD-R is about the same (it's actually easier to find cheaper DVD-R than CD-R....)

If by "per unit price" you mean per MB, you are probably right (in fact, CDs might be more expensive), but everywhere I shop, I can get at least 3 or 4 times as many CD-R discs vs. DVD-R discs for a given price. But in the case of someone who is burning smaller files, that per-MB price difference is certainly offset by the lack of waste using CD-Rs. His better option would still be CD-RW or DVD-RW.

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I just did a search for "OSX multisession DVD burn" and found this: http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/4836/os-x-how-to-burn-a-multisession-cd-or-dvd/

I have tried that and it does not work with DVDs.

I have also read "The Missing Manual" by David Pogue and this also tells you that it is not possible to multisession DVDs. The main reason that I wanted to burn multisession DVDs is only because I have a considerable number of them.

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What's the matter with Apple, don't they know there is such things as DVD's . I have quite a lot of DVD's from my day's with a PC, but now I have a iMac I don't seem to be able to use them except for 1 time recording. Say for accounting , if I use the disc utility I cannot use them more than once and the same with Roxio Toast. If the backup is only 39mb that is an awful waste of a DVD to only use it once.

Alternatively am I wrong with my approach's to use more than once ?.

Is an external drive an option for you? Just thinking about writing to DVDs as a backup solution makes my stomach turn.

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Try SimplyBurns: http://simplyburns.berlios.de/

It includes an option to leave the disk appendable even when using a DVD.

Edit: This program is able to leave the DVD appendable but doesn't seem to be able to append the next burn correctly. :-/

I have tried similar, that is Roxio Toast 10 Titanium and this does not work either. As I have said it would seem that DVDs are a no no with the Mac.

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I guess my question for you would be why don't you use CD-R for smaller things like that and DVD-R for larger files? Or use DVD-RW discs?

I am using the CD-Rs for burning smaller files plus multisession burning. My gripe is I cannot multisession burn DVDs, which I have plenty of, what do I do with them - give them away or use them in part for smaller saves.

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Is an external drive an option for you? Just thinking about writing to DVDs as a backup solution makes my stomach turn.

It would cost me more to purchase an external drive than it would to buy more CD-Rs. lol Please explain to me, what is your problem backing up to DVDs ?.

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what do I do with them - give them away or use them in part for smaller saves.

Why not use them for what they are intended for: backing up larger files or larger collections of files? Why did you buy so many in the first place if you had no use for them? Hell, I guess I'm just a packrat, but I keep a copy of almost everything I download, so I go through quite a few blank DVDs a week, sometimes several a day.

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It would cost me more to purchase an external drive than it would to buy more CD-Rs. lol Please explain to me, what is your problem backing up to DVDs ?.

It depends how you look at it. Per megabyte, an external drive is dirt cheap compared to CD-Rs. Of course, I'm not going to try and change your methods, but buying more CD-Rs is much more expensive than buying external hard drives.

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It depends how you look at it. Per megabyte, an external drive is dirt cheap compared to CD-Rs.

Yeah, they are (even cheaper per MB than DVD-Rs). I just realized this recently, which is why I've actually considered buying a new one every few months instead of the stacks of DVDs that I currently use.

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