Re-Format or Delete

[jda]

Some thing I just read prompted me to think about this.

Once you have finished watching all programmes on -RW/RAM do you re-format the disc or just delete each programme ???

ie Deleleting 3 programmes = 3 writes to disc

what does a format do ???

What about defective block management ??

I've read that a format clears the disc of any info it may have come across about bad areas on the disc.

Is this true??? - The oposite to HD management!


Jim

 

[kenfowler3966]

It is a good idea to re-format occasionally. Marked areas that are bad are not affected by formatting.
Formatting returns the disc to new and unused state. Delete just flags the file saying it can be overwritten if the space is needed. However this can mean new files are laid down in a fragmented manner using up th unused space first, particularly if you have been doing a lot of trimming and editing, which leaves little bits of space all over.
All this applies to -ram which is the equivalent to a hard drive in use, I don't know if rw is different.