Posts tagged cd
Creating Autorun CDs a tutorial
Dec 13th
Have you noticed that the CDs that you buy or the CDs that comes with books runs automatically when you insert the CD into your CD drive. This is because of the ‘Autorun’ facility in the CDs.
But using this Auto Run feature you can only execute executable programs. Therefore the webpages and any other files cannot be opened automatically using Autorun.
Imagine that you want to copy the powerpoint presentation that you created or the Word document into a CD and pass it to your friend. Will it not be nice if the powerpoint presentation or the document opens automatically when the friend inserts the the CD into his computer?
Now every computer comes with a CD writer. You may wonder whether the CDs that you create using your CD writer can use the Autorun facility. Yes you can.
You have to create a file named ‘autorun.inf’. You can create this file using a normal notepad. You have to copy this file in the root folder of the CD. If you want to use any icon then you can also copy an icon file into the root folder.
How to execute an executable file in a CD automatically.
For example assume that you have a myprogram.exe file and myicon.ico file. And you want to run myprogram.exe file automatically when the CD is inserted
Keep both these files in the same folder.
Open a notepad and type these three lines in the notepad
(autorun)
open=myprogram.exe
icon=myicon.ico
save this file as ‘autorun.inf’.
If your executable file is not in the root folder then you have to specify the full path. (eg. open=myfoler/myprogram.exe)
To create autorun cds for non executable files
If your file is not an executable file like .xls, .doc, .htm, .html, .mp3, .wma, .wav, .mpg, .avi, .jpg, .bmp, .zip or any other file then how to write the autorun.inf file.
Let us assume that you have index.htm file as the autorun file. Then the autorun.inf file will be as follows:
(autorun)
open=start index.htm
icon=myicon.ico
In this case when you insert the CD, a small black window will open and close very fast and then you will see the index.htm file in Internet Explorer.
If you do not want the dos window to open then create the autorun.inf file as below:
(autorun)
shellexecute=index.htm
icon=myicon.ico
However the shellexecute will not work in Windows 98 or older versions. It will work in Windows XP and the newer versions of Windows. In earlier versions you can use the DOS batch file. So you will have one more file autorun.bat in addition to autorun.inf
(autorun)
open=autorun.bat index.htm
icon=myicon.ico
and the autorun.bat file will as follows:
echo off
“start % 1
“exit
How to use autorun.exe
In the above example we used two files autorun.bat and autorun.inf. However the use of autorun.bat is not a wise option. Because a batch files cannot handle errors.
Therefore you can use the free autorun.exe instead of autorun.bat
autorun.exe file is provided by Tarma software research freely. Anybody can use this software. You can download autorun.exe from www.tarma.com/products/index.htm . Download this file and copy it to the root folder of the copied CD.
The autorun.inf file should be as follows:
(autorun)
open=autorun.exe index.htm
icon=myicon.ico
Problems while burning DVD / CD using DVD / CD writers
Dec 3rd
Using DVDs and CDs have become integral part of using computers these days. Hence you can rarely buy any computer without a DVD / CD reader and most of them comes with DVD / CD writers. Soon floppy disks will be obsolete. There are many reasons for the demise of the floppy disks. Firstly the storage capacity of the floppy disks as compared to other storage media such as CD and thumb drive is very very small. Secondly, the files stored in a floppy is not guaranteed to be read by other computers. In comparison, files written to CD or DVD have longer storage life. Moreover the file size in today’s computer use have increased tremendously and therefore they cannot be stored in a floppy.
It is no doubt that CD / DVDs are better than floppy disks, but there are many problems faced by computer users while copying (burning) files to a CD or a DVD. Here you will see solutions for most of the common problems faced in CD / DVD burning (writing).
- My CD / DVD burner software program hangs half way or exits suddenly
This problem occurs quit often in some CD / DVD writers. There are many reasons why this may happen. Especially if there are many other programs running when you are burning the disk then at times the CPU may not be able to handle this additional load. Therefore it is advisable to close all the other programs and applications before you start writing to the CD / DVD. Other background applications such as anti-virus software or instant messengers should also be closed. Other utilities that you may have installed but are running in the background (usually visible at the right side of the task bar) may also interrupt the burning process. So better to stop all these programs and run your CD/DVD writing software alone.
For some CD/DVD writers, it may not support all types of CD / DVDs. So before you buy your blank CDs or bland DVDs, its a good practice to check the website of your CD / DVD writer manufacturer if it supports only specific type of CD / DVD and then buy only those type of blank CD / DVD.Another possible reason is maybe your CD/DVD writer is a ‘slave’. If it is slave then CPU gives more attention to the ‘master’ and may ignore the ’slave’ when there are more tasks pending for the master. Its a better practice if you are going to burn cd / dvd quite often then put your cd/ dvd drive as the ‘master’.
- My CD / DVD cannot be read after burning
You may have successfully written to the CD / DVD. But when you try to read this new CD / DVD sometimes the CD / DVD drive may not read it properly. If this happens then while writing to the CD / DVD there has been some errors. Maybe after writing to the CD / DVD, the CD / DVD may not have been closed properly. To rectify this problem in your CD / DVD burning software, choose the ‘Finalize Disk‘ setting before starting the burning process. If you do this, the disk will be closed properly after writing.
Another reason for this may be the speed of copying. In your CD/DVD burner software check the ‘Burning Speed’ setting. Choosing lower speed as burning speed will reduce the chances of errors while burning.
Another possible reason is the ‘Firmware‘ problem in your CD / DVD writer. You can visit the manufacturer’s website and for your cd / dvd writer model, see if you can upgrade the firmware.
Another reason may be your CD / DVD writing software. Try to upgrade your application to the latest version or try a different burning software.ISO Bustor
is a good utility to retrieve and read the content from unreadable CD / DVD. You can get this utility fromwww.smartprojects.net/isobuster
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