BUTTONS
DRIVES
A CDROM device is a drive which allows a person to read CDs to their computer. The main differences between these devices
are speed in which the amount of time it takes to read a CD. CDRW drives have the ability to both read and write to a disk.
A person will notice three numbers on a CDRW. The first number determines how fast the drive can write to a CD-R disk. Once a
file has been written to a CD-R disk, it can not be removed. This is useful for storing files such as music and pictures
and finalized data files. The second number determines how fast the drive can write to a CD-RW disk. Files on a CD-RW disk
can be erased and rewritten just as though a person was using a floppy drive. The third number determines how fast the drive
can read a CD. These devices connect to the motherboard using an IDE cable (see white circle below) and must be set to either
master or slave just like a hard drive.
A DVDROM device is a drive which allows a person to read both CDs and DVDs. The number associated with the drive is how fast
the drive can read a DVD disk. A DVD-RW drive list two series of numbers each series being three numbers long. The higher series of
numbers list how fast the drive can write and read CDs as listed in the paragraph above. The first number of the second series
denotes how fast the drive can write to a DVD-R. The second number denotes how fast the drive can write to a DVD-RW, and the
third number is how fast the drive can read DVDs. DVD disks have two formats, + and -, which must also be compatible with the
drive. A plus disk allows a person to edit the files on the disk which is mostly used for video editing. A - denotes that once
a file has been written it can not be changed. DVD drives also use IDE cables and also must be set to master or slave.