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SCSI Burner Part 2

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I wrote in my last article about getting a SCSI burner. You can read the first article here. 

The installation was more involved than I was used to. Luckily I'm married to a PuterGeek! I had him help me do the install. The 'quick' installation sheet had me totally confused. And since I was also going to be wiping and installing WinME, I tend to get frustrated and didn't want to read the thick manual on how to install the thing. (Peter assured me that I could have installed the adapter and burner myself but graciously helped me.)

BTW, the burner I got was a Plextor 8X/20 SCSI CD-R. It burns at 8 speed and reads at 20 speed. PuterGeek says that SCSI CD-ROMs, CD-R's, and CD-RW's use substantially less CPU time than their IDE counterparts. (Layman terms-less CPU time equals better performance in the burn and being able to do other apps while doing a burn.) I also did not get a CD-Rewritable. Why? Well, the blank CD-R's are less expensive than CD-RW discs, it takes less than half the time to do a burn a CD-R vs. a CD-RW, and frankly, I never used my CD-RW as a rewriter. 

The first thing I had to do was remove the case cover. I then removed the TV Tuner Card and the IDE burner. I then put in the SCSI adapter card and the SCSI burner. I also used a can of compressed air to clean out all the dust bunnies. Peter also instructed me to turn the poser back on the verify that all the fans (CPU, power supply, and auxiliary) were operating correctly.

Peter had me reboot and we went into the computer's CMOS/BIOS and we disabled the secondary IDE controller which would free up an IRQ. We then went into the SCSI adapter BIOS/CMOS settings. He made a few changes and frankly, I just hit the buttons. Once those settings were taken care of, I started my wipe and install of WinME.

I used Peter's bootdisk, which can be found here, and followed the instructions on the bootdisk. He really did a great job on the bootdisk. I installed WinME with no problems. The install went so much easier than Win98SE. WinME installed Peter's printer, which is hooked up to our network, without me telling it to! I couldn't believe it.

Of course, one of the first programs I installed was Easy CD Creator. I had a few problems with the install though. I chose custom install and didn't check one item which was necessary for the patch. I uninstalled the program and reinstalled it and check the FAQ's on Easy CD Creator's website. So what did I do? I called, yup, PuterGeek! He had me recreate the install on which he did on a friend's computer and BAM! the patch worked! It was frustrating because the program allowed me to uncheck an 'option' that was required for the patch to work. Oh well, the unexpected joys of computering!

Anyway, after I had a successful install, I just had to test out the burner. I performed all the necessary tests and proceeded to burn an audio CD...then another...then another...with absolutely no frisbees!! YEAH!! I was thrilled. I was even able to browse the web and check email while doing a burn. (PuterGeek says I should be able to play Quake 3 at the same time I do a burn, but I was too paranoid to try it...yet.)

I'm just so thrilled with my SCSI burner. I have so much fun making my own audio CD's. And now I have a burner which performs to my absolute wonderment. So, if any of you out there use a CD burner and are having problems making frisbees and not being able to do other things while making a burn, please consider changing over to a quality SCSI burner, such as a Plextor, it's worth it.

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Last Revised: 10/27/2000
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Thanks for the help Thomas!