# Blank DVD needs formatting??  Advice



## ottor (Oct 25, 2009)

I've always saved to an external portable hard drive - first time I've ever used the DVD burner in my Laptop...  got some Memorex DVD-RW blanks, and when I put one in to burn some pics to, it says that it needed to be formatted - it takes a ton of time to format...  is this normal?  I dont' want to wait 20-30 minutes to format a disc everytime I want to burn some pictures....   It's a newer Toshiba Satellite L305-S5919 .. I don't have the manual handy right now, but the sticker on the laptop says .... "DVD Supermulti" ....        Or perhaps, I got the wrong blank DVD's... ?? 

    Suggestions?

tks,

r


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## Derrel (Oct 25, 2009)

You can eliminate the need to format by purchasing DVD-R discs the next time around. I have had the absolutely best success rate with FujiFilm DVD-R discs----fewer failed burned and media writing problems than with any other brand.

FujiFilm actually manufactures their own discs and sells them under their own brand name--unlike some of the former "audio tape" companies that simply re-badge discs made by other plants, and which have an annoying habit of media failures. While I used to have great success with those two "M-brand" audio cassettes, their CD and DVD media has sucked, and sucked bad, over many stacks of discs....

The reputation of a company like FujiFilm is important enough for them to manufacture their own media, and not simply purchase from an OEM supplier that can label media whth the name of whatever company buys a particular run's worth of discs. I once had a 16-disc failure rate on a 50-stack made by those "is it live or is it M**%#x" people: a staggering 32 percent FAILURE rate. That was the last time I ever bought their media. With FujiFilm DVD-R's I have had ONE bad disc reporting "Media Error" in over ten stacks of 100 discs...with the other name-brand-but-made-by-nameless-Taiwanese-OEM-suppliers, failure rate is 3-10 percent typically. 

The need to re-format is due to the disc being DVD-Re-Writable,hence the RW.


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## Garbz (Oct 26, 2009)

I had an awesome reply typed and then the power went out so I'll put it down in points:

- RW media does not need to be formatted, only erased. If you're putting a new disc in and it's asking you to format it then you have dodgy software.
- RW media is poor for archiving, does not have many re-writes and does not last very long (despite what manufacturers claim henceforth noted as DWMC)
- Derrel is right, different companies produce and some rebadge vastly different media. One thing is certain, and that is a DVD will not last 100 years DWMC.
- My personal experience says TDK are crap sometimes not reading directly after a successful burn.
- An academic research paper showed Verbatims are crap (etched logo into the reflective layer, now who thought that would be a good idea)
- My personal experience says Laser are crap with most of my Laser DVDs starting to flake between 1-2 years. 

If you want archival storage then go for the DVD standard designed for archiving and not movie playback, DVD-RAM. Their different construction makes them actually last the 30+ years that manufacturers claim. They are much loved by archivalists, but they are more expensive, and they DO need to be formatted before use (but then appear like a USB stick to the operating system), and they are unfortunately slow with 12x being the fastest speed available.

- Don't write at maximum speed, EVER.

Also if you want to stick to DVD+R or DVD-R then a company called Taiyo Yuden make probably some of the sturdiest and best lasting discs out there, they are raved about. Apparently Fuji make the best DVD-RAMs


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