I've bought a DVD-RAM capable writer and would like to use DVD-RAM discs for backups. The problem is that when I format the dics in FAT32 then writing small files is VERY slow, writing each one file takes at least 1 second no matter how small it is. You can imagine how many hours it will take to backup a folder containing thousands of files even if they take up as little as 1 MB altogether. Of course I can zip them into one file but this is not that convenient. I have discovered that formatting the disc in UDF with InCD or Data-Add solves this problem and small files are written very fast. But I have heard a lot about packet writing software being unreliable for CD-RW/DVD+RW - what is the case with DVD-RAM? Will it make my back-ups less reliable if I use packet writing software for UDF format instead of the Windows native FAT32 support? I'm not happy with a prospect of spending hours to do a single backup procedure!

You can use either UDF or FAT32, UDF is prefered. The reason writing speed is so slow is that the drive makes writing/reading/verifying/writing/reading/etc...

A good idea is to get at least a 5X DVD-RAM enabled drive

(in reply to Lemon Juice)

I wouldn't try using InCD...there are not a few times in the past that the PC messed up. Better Nero Burning Rom.

According to cdrinfo's reviews with DVD-RAM drives a full disc needs close to 28min when burning at 5X.

(in reply to emperor)