Is it necessary to format BD-RE discs first?

[MrCool]

Hi,

 

just a quick question: whenever I use a BD-RE disc for the first time I need to format it in ImgBurn. Only after this is done the data is written to the disc. This of course effectively doubles the time needed to burn a BD-RE disc for the first time.

 

Nero 8.0 on the other hand is always able to just do the formatting while writing the content (even on new discs).

 

Since I like ImgBurn better I would like to know if/how it might be possible to save myself some time and do the same with ImgBurn.

 

Thanks for any help,

MrCool

[mmalves]

You only need to do a Full Erase once when the disc is brand new. Afterwards you don't need to erase it: just overwrite the data.

[MrCool]

Thanks, that's exactly what I meant. But Nero doesn't need to do this (not even the first time I use a disc). Just tested again yesterday.

It obviously formats while writing the content. That's why I wanted to know if this is possible with ImgBurn too?

[LIGHTNING UK!]

Full formatting a BD-RE in ImgBurn is a 2 part process.

 

The first part is done entirely by the drive.

 

ImgBurn issues the command to tell it to format and then waits for it to finish.

 

The second part is done by ImgBurn.

 

ImgBurn write 'zeroes' to all the sectors to make sure they're blank (and are physically writable!).

 

If I remember correctly, the 'prefer properly formatted +rw' option in the settings also applies to bd-re and once enabled, ImgBurn should behave more like Nero.

[MrCool]

I already had this option activated (by default?). But still a full format is necessary...

Doesn't matter - I'll just wait the couple of hours until my 15 BD-REs are formatted :-)