README.TXT Driver File Contents (Adaptec.zip)

                             Adaptec DirectCD 1.01
                     (c) Copyright Adaptec, Inc. 1996-1997


                       Welcome to Adaptec DirectCD 1.01

The following information is available in this README file:

  General Information
  Getting Started
  Windows 95 General Troubleshooting


General Information
===================

What is DirectCD?
  
    DirectCD is a software package that allows you to read and write 
    to your CD-Recordable drive in the same way you would a standard 
    floppy or removable hard drive. This is called drive letter 
    access. It also provides the tools necessary to format the media, 
    eject it from your drive, and convert to and from ISO-9660, a 
    format compatible with most standard CD-ROM drives.

What are the software requirements for DirectCD?

    DirectCD requires Windows 95 and the software provided with this 
    installation. We also recommend that you have all the latest 
    miniports and patches relevant for your system.

What are the hardware requirements for DirectCD?

    DirectCD requires a CD-Recordable (CD-R)device capable of writing 
    incrementally, something also known as packet writing in order to 
    record CD-R discs. DirectCD discs that have been converted to run 
    on a standard CD-ROM should run on most CD-ROM's running Windows 
    95 although there may also be some limitations on certain 
    devices. This is due to the packet writing technology used by 
    DirectCD. See the troubleshooting section for more information.


Getting Started
===============

    Follow these steps to get you up and running as quickly as 
possible:

1.) Insert the "Adaptec DirectCD Setup Disk" into your floppy drive.

2.) Open the Windows 95 Control Panel (Start Menu -> Settings -> 
    Control Panel) and select the "Add/Remove Program" icon. Once 
    started, select the "Install" button and follow the instructions.

    This will install the following items to your system: The DirectCD
wizard, a Windows Explorer Shell Extension, and a file system driver
to control your CD-R drive. 

    Should you desire to remove DirectCD from your system, first
shutdown DirectCD.  to do this, hold the CTRL and ALT keys and then 
tap the DELETE key once.  When the 'Close Program' window 
appears, stop pressing the CTRL & ALT keys.  Next, double click 
'DirectCD' in the 'Close Program' listbox.  Then double click the 
'Add/Remove Program' icon.  Locate and click on 'Adaptec 
DirectCD 1.01' in the listbox showing which programs can be removed.  
Click 'Yes' when the 'Confirm File Deletion' message appears.


Windows 95 General Troubleshooting
==================================
    Due to the advanced nature of the technology employed by DirectCD,
it is important that your CD-R drive have the latest firmware
available. There are early versions of firmware available for all of
the supported drives that will cause problems. It is also a good idea
to have the latest patches and drivers for your particular operating
environment. 

    Due to the file format used, DirectCD must hold certain data
structures in memory and only write them when ready to eject the
disc. For this reason, DirectCD will lock the tray of your CD-R
device prohibiting ejecting through the drive's eject button. In
order to eject the media, you must invoke the DirectCD wizard which
will guide you through the eject process. For the same reason, it is
important that you use the standard Windows 95 shutdown process
before turning off the power to your computer. If you power down the
computer without either ejecting the disc first, or going through the
shutdown process, you will lose data on your disc, or your disc may
no longer be usable.

Caching utilities

    We have also found certain CD-ROM and hard disk caching products
will cause conflicts with DirectCD. Every effort has been made to
coexist peacefully with these products, but since it is impossible
to test every combination of packages on every system configuration,
conflicts are bound to occur. When this happens, you have the option
of removing DirectCD (see above) or the other package. If the
conflicts are so severe as to make normal booting impossible, press
F5 when your system displays "Starting Windows 95" to initiate a safe
boot. Once started in safe mode, uninstall DirectCD.

Drive Disconnect, Long Filenames, and Auto Insert Notification

     Under certain conditions, Windows95 is likely to cause your
CD-R bus to reset inappropriately.  To avoid this, be sure the 
'Disconnect' and 'Auto Insert Notification' checkboxes are checked in 
Control Panel|System|Device Manager|(your drive)|Properties|Settings.  
These checkboxes are checked by default, so ordinarily you will not 
need to adjust them.

DirectCD does support long filenames.  However, to do so, the drive
must be refreshed.  If Auto Insert Notification is turned on, this
happens automatically.  Another way to refresh is to open and select
Windows Explorer or My Computer, and hit the F5 key.  If you are 
unable to record long filenames, enable Auto Insert Notification 
and reboot. 

Read Compatibility

    When the disc is in the native format used by DirectCD, you will
only be able to read the disc on a CD-R device running DirectCD. This
is a direct result of the technology used when writing to a CD-R
disc. In order to make the disc readable on a standard CD-ROM
DirectCD must write certain data to the disc. This provides
compatibility with many of the current drives on the market today.
Unfortunately, there are still a number of CD-ROM drives that cannot
read the packet written media that DirectCD produces. If you
experience problems in this area, you should go to System in Control
Panel, select Performance, File System, CD-ROM and set the Access
Pattern to "No Read-Ahead". If you still experience problems after
making this adjustment, it is likely that the CD-ROM drive itself is
having problems reading packet written media. 

    It should also be noted that there is an industry initiative
called MultiRead that addresses these issues and has the support of
all the major vendors of CD-ROM and CD-R/RW devices. This initiative
will eliminate the above problems and should be available on all new
drives.

Ejecting the Media

    When you are using DirectCD to record data to a disc, the drive
will lock the eject mechanism.  Please use the eject function on the 
DirectCD Wizard on screen rather than the eject button on the CD-R
drive itself to avoid the risk of corrupting files.

Erasable Media

     If you are using DirectCD with a CD-RW drive, the erase function 
in DirectCD will erase all the data on your media.  Be sure to save any
files you need before erasing.

Download Driver Pack

How To Update Drivers Manually

After your driver has been downloaded, follow these simple steps to install it.

  • Expand the archive file (if the download file is in zip or rar format).

  • If the expanded file has an .exe extension, double click it and follow the installation instructions.

  • Otherwise, open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Device Manager.

  • Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.

  • Double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.

  • From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.

  • Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.

Very important: You must reboot your system to ensure that any driver updates have taken effect.

For more help, visit our Driver Support section for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.

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