jOSiAh's ^_~ Haven

I was having problems with my 2.5-inch external hard disk (having problems writing data onto it...). I suspect it's the external enclosure... but I don't have the means to troubleshoot it...

The hard drive of my laptop was all full for the past few weeks, because I wanted to try and reformat the external drive. Quick formatting works, but not full formatting (^^;). However, the problem still remains when I wanted to copy files to the hard drive. Windows log showed lots of Event 51 errors, and lots of files still failed my checksum tests too... there is really no problem copy files FROM the disk (in fact, it was super duper fast), it's just a problem the other way round.

So I ended up with like only a few hundred megs (even my thumb drive is all full...) on my hard disk. Things are really getting desperate. Well, at least I can try burning it to my DVD+RW (I have 5 of those with me, 1 can be cleared). Well guess what? I failed burn the files too! I've tried a few times, but Nero keeps giving me errors (TT_TT)

So I have been trying hard to survive for the past few weeks with limited disk space (reminds me of my desktop in Malaysia (^^;)). What with my camera getting broken at the same time... abd with being swamped with assignments... I have to just put it aside for the time being.

Until yesterday.

I was deciding whether to (a) buy a new external enclosure, (b) buy a new DVD+/-RW or (c) buy a new DVD-RAM. There is no guarantee that (a) will work. and there might be compatibility issues with (b). (c) on the other hand seems like a good choice. I've heard of good things about DVD-RAM (like how you can freely write or delete a file from the disk like a hard disk). In addition, my laptop (a Presario V3000, the more I look at it, the more I'm falling in love with it...) contains a Matshita OEM DVD-RAM burner (that's what it says in the properties!). I've found out that Panasonic is the mother company for Matshita, and it is also one of the creators of DVD-RAM. Hmm... so if a Panasonic DVD-RAM disk does not work on their own burner, I'm going to sue them!! Anyway, went in search for a Low Yat plaza equivalent during my weekly shopping. Well, couldn't find one (^^;). I only found a shop named Currys selling (not curries!) but digital goods. So I took my own sweet time deciding between whether to buy the Panasonic DVD+RW (a 10-pack) for 11.99 or the Panasonic DVD-RAM (a 5-pack) for 9.99. For those who don't know me that well, I suck at making decisions (except when it comes to food!). Why do they have to package everything?! I only need one bloody disc! Finally decided on the DVD-RAM (that would make it about RM14 a piece, I think it would be around that price in Malaysia too...).

So tried it out on my laptop. According to websites, I can just use a DVD-RAM like a hard disk. Cool. So I just formatted the disc in FAT32 format (with Windows of course). Then attempted to copy about 3gigs of files in one go. Well, I can't tell you how long it took, because I went off deep-frying some sotongs, onions and dinosaur-shaped-turkey-nuggets for my dinner (^_^). To summarise, IT WORKED! I was watching one of the files (a video file) from the disc while makan-ing.

Later, I tried copying another set of files to fill up the disc. Well, this time it was weird, since Windows showed that the files are "ready to be burned to this disc". Hmmm... yet, it says it does not know how to burn it. Good thing I was smart enough to fix this - just disable the Windows intergrated CD-Burner!! Now, I tried again, and this time it works! Now my whole disc is full (FAT32 does take a lot of space... I've only got a capacity of 4.26GB)!! Yay!

Conclusion? I would say DVD-RAM is like a cross between a hard drive and a burner. The thing with DVD+/-RW is that I have to totally clear up the disc whenever I want to use it (don't talk about multisessions - I never trust that...). With DVD-RAM, I can add or remove files whenever I feel like it! Woohoo!

So if you have a good DVD-RAM burner, I do recommend using DVD-RAM (^_^). It sure saved my day!

Update: Well, one drawback is that it does take a long time to brun a DVD-RAM. It took about 40mins for me to burn an almost 4Gig disc (^^;)