stevefromclark
Level 1 (0 points)
iPad

Q: Have a new MacBookPro. I can't seem to copy files from the MacBook and saving it to a cd.  I don't want to "burn" a cd, since I want to add more files to the cd later.  Does the MacBook allow me to do that?

Just got a new MacBook Pro.  Am havng some difficulty getting to it.  I am a former Dell PC user.

 

All I want to do is to copy files that I created on the MacBook, such as photos and documents, and transfer them to a cd-r or cd-rw.  But I want to be able to add more files later to those discs.  I was told to "burn" the files to the cd-r or cd-rw, but I don't want to that since "burning" finalizes the disc.

 

It is much easier on the PC.  All I have to do is drag the files to the directory where the CD is located, and it copies the files.

 

Is there anyway I can do that on the MAC.

 

I really need help with this.

MacBook Pro, iOS 5.0.1

Posted on Mar 29, 2012 5:47 PM

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stevefromclark

Q: Have a new MacBookPro. I can't seem to copy files from the MacBook and saving it to a cd.  I don't want to "burn" a cd, since ... more

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  • by eww,

    eww eww Mar 29, 2012 6:02 PM in response to stevefromclark
    Level 9 (52,994 points)
    Mar 29, 2012 6:02 PM in response to stevefromclark

    Nothing can be saved to a CD without burning it.

     

    What you are hoping to do is a misuse of CDs. They aren't meant to be used that way, and won't serve your purpose effectively. Use an external hard drive or a flash drive instead.

  • by ds store,

    ds store ds store Mar 29, 2012 6:51 PM in response to stevefromclark
    Level 7 (30,400 points)
    Mar 29, 2012 6:51 PM in response to stevefromclark

    Yes Windows PC's allow burning more files to a cd/dvd once it was burned the first time as sort of another "disk" on the same disk.

     

    However Mac's don't do this by default without additional third party software installed, which I don't know of any that do this currently.

     

    Perhaps a CD-RW or DVD-RW (erase in Disk Utility) would be more in line if your backing up, because the photo's exist on the source and that means you can copy the first batch with the new batch to the erased RW.

     

    I only use cd's for audio music and DVD's for archiving purposes then they are filled to capacity in most cases

     

    For backups I use auto-clones which copy the entire contents of my OS X paritition and update it. I can even boot from external drives in case my internal drive dies.

     

    Read more about backup methods here, many methods are good to have.

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3045

  • by Wayne Contello,

    Wayne Contello Wayne Contello Mar 29, 2012 7:08 PM in response to stevefromclark
    Level 6 (19,364 points)
    iWork
    Mar 29, 2012 7:08 PM in response to stevefromclark

    Multi-session CDs are not natively supports on Mac OS X (as previously mentioned) ans will require other software.  I think I (this is my opinion) would use a flash drive rather than bother with Multisession CDs.  As gently as I can I would like to ask if there any particular reason you are attached to the CDs as a storage method.

     

    The days of CDs are numbered and I think you should plan to abandon CDs soon.  Apple has already shipped at least two models of computers without optical drives and is shipping the the OS and most applications via the web.

  • by fane_j,

    fane_j fane_j Mar 29, 2012 7:29 PM in response to stevefromclark
    Level 4 (3,677 points)
    Mar 29, 2012 7:29 PM in response to stevefromclark

    stevefromclark wrote:

     

    All I want to do is to copy files that I created on the MacBook, such as photos and documents, and transfer them to a cd-r or cd-rw.

    You are talking about packet writing. It's always been more popular on PCs than on Macs. AFAIK, there are no current Mac packet writers, and only a handful or so on PCs; and that's because the technique is not reliable; moreover, since the advent of cheap thumb drives, it's no longer necessary. I use both Mac and PC, and I don't use packet writing even on the PC, because it's not worth troubling with. It's a relic from the days when floppy disks were still around (Does anybody here remember Vera L…, beg pardon, I meant Sony Mavica), 2 GB meant a 'big disk', and a 650MB CD-R cost something like USD10.

  • by fane_j,

    fane_j fane_j Mar 29, 2012 7:35 PM in response to Wayne Contello
    Level 4 (3,677 points)
    Mar 29, 2012 7:35 PM in response to Wayne Contello

    Wayne Contello wrote:

     

    Multi-session CDs are not natively supports on Mac OS X

    That is incorrect. Of course, we don't know what the OP is talking about; but, judging from his description, I'd say he's talking about packet writing, not multi-session.

     

    At any rate, multi-session CDs are supported on Mac OS X. See "Recording on a recordable CD more than once" in Disk Utility Help.

  • by Wayne Contello,

    Wayne Contello Wayne Contello Mar 29, 2012 7:46 PM in response to fane_j
    Level 6 (19,364 points)
    iWork
    Mar 29, 2012 7:46 PM in response to fane_j

    Thanks for correcting me-  I learned something new today.  Here is an article I found that details how to do multi-session CDs:

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2445?viewlocale=en_US