Some basic questions about CD burning (and about Windows XP settings)

[Mitsukara]

I was thinking about posting these seperately, but I figured the last two questions weren't enough to warrant their own topic, so I thought I'd just ask them all at once.

Basically... my parents recently purchased a new computer (Hewlett Packard brand Pavilion a305w, OS/Build: Windows XP Professional, Service Pack 1 [5.1 - 2600], CPU Info: 1-Intel Pentium 4, 2718MHz, 0KB, 256MB RAM, approx. 40 GB hard drive). It also has a CD-RW writer, which I have not used yet but am planning to sometime after we get some blank CD-Rs or CD-RWs.

I understand the basic process of CD burning, but there are a few specific things I'm not very clear on. For one thing, what exactly does the term "encode" refer to, in relation to video files/a method of recording video files? Unless I'm incorrect, the basic definition of the word is "to code", but I'm not sure what that means in this sort of case, or how it relates to burning CDs.

I think you can burn a video file onto a CD in such a way that it can be read by most newer DVD players, correct? Should the file be in MPEG format for this, or does it require a different format? I'm not given the impression that it can be done with an AVI file, but there are some programs that can be used to convert AVI files to MPEG format, correct?

Also, I understand that MP3s can be burned to a CD and be read by some players, but not all (ones that support it would usually say it on the packaging and/or player, I would think). Is there a different format that can be used that would be compatable with most CD players, such as WAV or CDA (if it's possible to convert MP3s to CDAs)?

I'm a little shaky on what a CD-RW drive is, precisely. I've been told by my brother-in-law (I don't really know how correct he was, though) that they are capable or recording on a CD-R more than once, but that the disc must somehow be "finalized" to work with most other players properly. Is this correct at all?

Now, as for my few questions about XP... I've noticed that in normal (non-IE) explorer windows, the address bar is turned off by default. Also, icons seem to defaultly be viewed always either in tile format or, in the case of images/folders with images in them, thumbnails. These can of course be changed manually, but periodically when you open explorer windows it will revert to the original settings. Is there any way this could be changed or prevented?

Also, I've noticed that different users don't seem to keep specific settings for screen resolution- whenever you set the resolution on one user, it sets them on all users. Is there any way this could be changed so that each user could keep it's own specific resolution settings? This would be much more convenient than having to repeatedly change it every time different people use the computer.

Anyway, sorry if these are kind of dumb questions... any help/information would be appreciated. Thank you.

[Pablo]

Also, I understand that MP3s can be burned to a CD and be read by some players, but not all (ones that support it would usually say it on the packaging and/or player, I would think). Is there a different format that can be used that would be compatable with most CD players, such as WAV or CDA (if it's possible to convert MP3s to CDAs)?

When you burn an audio CD, all files that you specify are converted to .CDA files. Audio CDs are, rather obviously, playable by all CD players. MP3 CDs are data CDs consisting of .MP3 files. Not all CD players accept MP3 CDs, but all are capable of audio CD playback.


I'm a little shaky on what a CD-RW drive is, precisely. I've been told by my brother-in-law (I don't really know how correct he was, though) that they are capable or recording on a CD-R more than once, but that the disc must somehow be "finalized" to work with most other players properly. Is this correct at all?

Basically, a CD-RW drive can write to CD-Rs (which are one-time-use) or CD-RWs (RW stands for ReWritable, so they are multiple-use. I don't know how many times you can reuse them, though.) Even if your drive is capable of burning rewritable CDs, if all you have is a CD-R, you're only gonna be able to burn once. As for the finalization process, that is performed automatically after each burn, so you don't have to worry about it :)