Short for CD-ReWritable disk, a type of CD disk that enables you to write onto it in multiple sessions. One of the problems with CD-R disks is that you can only write to them once. With CD-RW drives and disks, you can treat the optical disk just like a floppy or hard disk, writing data onto it multiple times.
The first CD-RW drives became available in mid-1997. They can read CD-ROMs and can write onto today's CD-R disks, but they cannot write on normal CD-ROMs. This means that disks created with a CD-RW drive can only be read by a CD-RW drive. However, a new standard called MultiRead, developed jointly by Philips Electronics and Hewlett-Packard, will enable CD-ROM players to read disks create by CD-RW drives.
Many experts believe that CD-RW disks will be a popular storage medium until DVD devices become widely available.
PC Guide's CD-ROM reference Extensive coverage of CD-ROM drives and technology. Describes how the CD-ROM drive works. Covers CD media and the different formats, CD-recordable and CD-rewriteable technology, performance and reliability, and interface and configuration issues.
Recordable CD Format Overview Outlines the technology behind the recordable and rewritable CD formats and the associated standards which ensure compatibility with other formats. Includes graphics, diagrams and an integrated glossary. This page is from "The PC Technology Guide."
