1. Has anyone here used Image for Windows? If so, I'd be interested in your experience with it. If not, you can check it out here Then, please let me know what you think. I'm looking for something that will work under XP and is as easy to use as Power Quest's Drive Image on my 98SE computer is. And that will let me restore an entire image or just individual files from a created image. This looks like it will do that and with a small footprint.

2. I'm also looking for CD/DVD burning software that will work under XP and is user friendly and easy to use as Adaptec/s Easy CD Creator and Direct Cd on my 98SE computer are. I'm mainly interested in being able to use a CD and/or DVD as I would a floppy disk - copying files directly to the disk and adding to them later. Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Jema

There is a review ***here*** which says "This is the first paid program that images a dual boot computer and restore as if it was the original build." He also says you have to navigate the menu using the keyboard instead of the mouse, which may make it not as easy as the Power Quest Drive Image you mentioned.

Nero makes something called InCD that allows you to use a CDRW as a floppy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InCD
http://www.nero.com/eng/tools-utilities.html

Hi Jenny100,

Thanks for the quick response. I checked out the links. I'm surprised by the "no mouse functionality" mentioned in the review for Image for Windows. The comparison grid on the IFW site says, "Supports the devices available in the Windows environment." But even if it's true, much as I prefer using the mouse, that one thing would not keep me from buying the software.

Jema

As Jenny mentioned, using the correct CD/DVD media is important in using them as a floppy - the RW designation is what will allow you to re-write etc.

I've been trying out Express Burn and am liking it because it's so dead simple and fast. After the free trial, some of the more advanced features such as video DVD authoring are disabled. But you can continue to use the basic features. It also includes an ISO burning feature. You can read a bit about about it ***here***

I have the Nero InCD on my other computer and it also works very well.

Hi Draclvr,

Thanks for the reply. I should have written CD-RW and DVD-RW, but the people on this forum always seem to know what I mean even if I don't write it right.

I checked out the link. It seems to just address backing up music files. I'll see if I can find more information about Express Burn. What I want here is software that will make a disk-to-disk copy (like I can with Easy CD Creator) on the rare occasion I need to.

Jema

Here is a little known company that makes a great cd/dvd burning program at low cost with no bloat ware, no system hogs etc.

Ashampoo Burning Studio. I have been using the program for several years and finally bought an update last year. You can download it and use the full program without restrictions for 15-30 days don't recall which. It is also compatible with lightscribe and has lable printing/creation capability. I am using Burning Studio 9. It sells for $39.99 A newer version BS10 is $49. As Studio 9 rocks I am staying with it for awhile

Link to site, Ashampoo I won't use anything else. They also have several innovative programs. All with full utility trials.

Hi oldmariner,

Thanks for the link. Burning Studio reads like a very good program and it does have a disk-to-disk copy option. But it also has a lot of advanced features that I don't need.

In the meantime, while searching the internet, in some of the forums I visited 2 free programs were recommended: ImgBurn and CDBurnerXP - both supposedly are easy on resources and don't require a lot of hard disk space. ImgBurn doesn't have a disk-to-disk copy option, but CDBurnerXP does.

So for now, I'm going to go with CDBurnerXP for disk burning and InCd that Jenny100 furnished links to for packet writing to CD-RW and/or DVD-RW.

I bookmarked the Ashampoo site so, if CDBurnerXP doesn't work out, I'll try their Burning Studio.

Also, if I decide not to install Norton SpeedDisk on this computer, I'll return to Ashampoo and read more thoroughly about their defrag program. I think it may be just what I'm looking for.

Thanks again to everyone for your help.

Jema