Is this a trick question or what ?
 
When you choose (in Nero) "Recorder - Erase Rewritable" it should be like formatting a floppy, after that the free space of the disk shows up as the same as capacity (for example 651 MB /651 MB)
 
Try another disk, or try to erase the disk again. It is a CD-RW disk, isn't it ?
 
H.

Yes it is a CDRW, and i have tried two different brands of CD-RWs all without luck (Acer and Kodak). i dont know what's the problem. could it be the burner? i have an Acer 8x4x32

This is a long shot but apparently some older burners have difficulties with newer CD-rw disks (certified for speeds faster than 10x), but I thaught that they simply couldn't burn them at all.
 
Some suggestions & questions:
 
Try a basic (1-4x) 650 MB RW disk and see if that works ?
Can you burn an empty disk without problems ?
Is the problem the same when you try quick erase as full erase ?
What does Nero say at the end of the process ?
Is Nero finding your burner correctly?
You are on W2K right ?
Have you tried reinstalling Nero ?
Have you had any other CD burning software installed ?
 
Of course it could also be that your burner is defect. You could d/l some trialware and see if that works. Check that whahever you choose to install is able to erase CD's in trial mode, its generally not a good idea to install too many burnning programs, some of them don't coexist in peace. Or you could try to move the burner to the XP machine, XP has built in burning software.
 
H.

Dirty Harry
 
Thanks for ur suggestions, i will give them a go and post an update when i see what happens so far i know this:
 

Quote:You are on W2K right ? i am using win2k sp2
 

Quote:Can you burn an empty disk without problems ? i can burn blank discs correctly
 

Quote:What does Nero say at the end of the process ? with nero, after doing a physical erase, nero does not give any error messages.
 

Quote:Is Nero finding your burner correctly?Yes. Nero supports this burner: since i am able to use this program to burn CDs.
 

Quote:Have you had any other CD burning software installed ?-Clone CD
-CDRWIN
-Acoustic MP3 CD burner
 

Quote:Have you had any other CD burning software installed ? i tried Clone CD's erase CD feature but it gives the same result as Nero: does not give me back the free space.
 

Quote:Have you tried reinstalling Nero ?i will give that a go
 

Quote:Is the problem the same when you try quick erase as full erase ? it is as do it does a quick erase INSTEAD of a full erase, when doing a full erase.
 

Quote:You could d/l some trialware and see if that worksany suggestions?
 

Quote:Or you could try to move the burner to the XP machinei'll do this as the last resort.

This sounds pretty strange unless its because of the type of disk you use. As you have already tried CloneCD and Nero it sortta suggests a hardware failure but you are able to burn correctly. It could also be that the different programs have messed up each other.
 
When you say "Nero supports this burner" does it mean that the name of the burner shows up in Nero correctly ?
 
Not sure what you ment on the Quick vs Full erase answer, do you have a problem with both or only with quick erase ?
 
I'd try reinstalling Nero (deinstall all other burnning software first) and test with a new basic (650 MB 4x) CD-RW disk first, but then I'd try the drive in your other machine, just to make sure its OK, even if it still burns. If it works there you at least know that it still works...
 
H.

there are two options..the default quick erase --which may not delete
 
and the full erase which should,...but will take a heck of a long time.
 
i don't use Nero tho so that may be different
 
 
but as to it should format just like a floppy...that is way incorrect.
 
To erase a cdrw..the laser has to heat up and actually change the state of the disk media. 500-600 degrees to write. I think less to erase. this may be slightly inaccurate as i am relying on my memory )

does the way you burn the CD-RW effect it?
 
in Nero i the use "Contine Multisession" option.

hmm..i think that's your problem, you're using Nero to burn instead of InCD, you have to use that to burn CDRW's, the ones you've already burnt with Nero are gone, not recoverable as it treated it as a plain cdr.
go to Nero's website and download InCD
http://www.nero.com/en/download.htm

Keep in mind that InCD defaults to a UDF format. So, if you want another computer to be able to read it, it will need a UDF reader installed on it. The nice thing about InCD is that it will treat your CD like a floppy.

Thanks!! that's probably the reason y i couldnt format my CDRW. i was supposed to use InCD instead of using "Continue Multisession".
 
Cheers.