its crazy i have the Phillips CDRW 800 and it will only burn 650 mb disks and i use windows ME. my friend has the same drive running in win 98 and it writes 700 mb disks just fine while mine doesn't. can anyone help me? thanks so much.

It all depends on the CD-RW software you use and what update version you have downloaded. No clue as to what CD-RW software you have or version level?

well i have nero 5.5.1.8 and also easy cd creator 4.02, which i think is supposed to be compatible with Windows ME according to the roxio web site. correct me if i'm wrong and please help!

CD Creator 4.02d or higher is the minimun I believe for Millennium. I had 4.02e and had to upgrade to version 5 cos'my burner was too fast. As for Nero, I have upgraded via their site to 5.5.8.0. and my burner is 24 10 40 Win ME and that works a treat. As for burning over the 650MB I have not done it but on this site someone said you have to select 'overburn' from a menu. Here are some details from Nero's help file..... We may sometimes find CDs (audio or data CDs) that are longer than the normal 74 minutes ones. It can be then very frustrating not to be able to make any back-up copies of such CDs as the normal 74 minutes CD-Rs (640-680MB) don't provide enough place to burn the whole data. But there are basically 2 solutions to this problem : 1. the first one deals with CD-Rs that have a writing-capacity of 80 minutes 2. the second one concerns CD-Recorders that allow to burn more data on CDs than other CD-Recorders would allow it. But a couple of problems can appear while burning oversized CDs. There are actually 3 kinds of possible problems : the first and most annoying problem is to find out some reading-errors at the end of the CD, and especially in the sectors located out of the normal burning capacity. Thus, in Audio CDs, these errors would be revealed as kinds of noises, scratches or silences at the end of the CD. With Data CDs, some data may simply not be readable. the second problem is that we may get SCSI/Atapi error-messages and then the CD-Recorder will stop the burn process. These error-messages are „ Write-emergency" or „Track following error". However, in spite of these errors, burnt CDs are still more or less readable till the end of the CD. Moreover, it is important to underline that such errors depend a lot on the quality, the brand of the CD-Rs as well as on the type of CD-Recorder. There is unfortunately no possibility to determine automatically the exact oversize-capacity of a CD. 3. the third problem is that oversize-burning might in very few cases damage the CD-Recorder. When you are a Nero user and absolutely want to burn oversized CDs, please check first if your CD-Recorder allows such a burning-session. For most of the CD-Recorders, such an option is possible only in „Disc At once „ mode. If you have one of these CD-Recorders that supports oversize CD recording, you can then open the „expert features" in the Nero settings („File" ->„ Preferences"). In the "expert features" property sheet, you will be then able to activate the oversize-burning option. In the same window, you have the possibility to enter the maximal oversize capacity of your CD-R. When the data you want to burn is bigger than the normal capacity of CD-R but smaller than the maximal oversize capacity entered, and when you have activated the oversize burning option, Nero will then ask you if you really want to try the oversize burning process. If you answer yes, Nero will continue the burn process. If not, the burn process will be cancelled. As already said, there is no possibility to determine automatically the maximum oversize capacity of your CD-R. It means that you must first test where is the border of your CD-R, this depending on the brand of the CD. Usually, 74 minutes CDs allow an oversize burning of 76 Minutes without any big problems. We can also find 74 minutes CDs that offer oversize burning capacity of 79,30 minutes ! Nero 4.0 also allows oversize burning of 80 minutes CD-Rs (up to 82 minutes). We would recommend you first to try the simulation or the burning with 76 minutes. If, at the end of the burn process or the simulation, there is an error message, then try to set up again the maximal oversize burning capacity or try with another brand of CD-Rs. On the contrary, if you don't get any error message, it means that this border is still higher. Important Note: according to the specifications of the manufacturers, oversize burning may, in theory, destroy the CD-Recorder. But in practice, it happens very rarely. Anyway, we can't give any guaranty concerning the reading quality of such burnt CD's. That is why we can only warn you: you can try oversize burning but at your own risk ! BTW have you the full program for each or just the version that comes with the burner ?