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Hewlett-Packard 8100i SureStore
CD-Writer Plus
Last updated: 07/29/03
INSTALLATION. Hardware
installation was as easy as installing a CD-ROM. Although, I found
HP's "bubble" menu a slightly confusing at first, I had no problem
installing the driver and software, which comes on CD, from a Toshiba SD-M1102
DVD drive. The DVD drive was jumpered as the master drive, and connected
to the same cable as the 8110i, which, of course, was jumpered as a
slave. The other end of the cable was connected to the secondary IDE
interface on an Abit BH6 motherboard. If
you don't have a CD-ROM or DVD drive to install the software, you can download
a driver from HP, unzip it, copy it to a floppy, install it
according to the Readme.txt file in the download, reboot, and then install
the rest of the software with the drive itself. The driver download
could have been more complete and made easier to install--easier than requiring
that the user edit the config.sys and autoexec.bat files--by including an
install program, such those that come with most CD-ROM drives. According
to the User's Guide you can also create an install floppy disk from the "Software
Disk 1" CD, which comes with the drive, using another computer with
a CD-ROM drive. I didn't try that out. In my humble opinion,
HP should have included a floppy disk with the driver and a driver
installation program with the drive.
SOFTWARE. The 8100i
comes with an ample assortment of software:
HP's Fast Format reduces the agony
of the hour plus it takes to format a CD-RW disc. It takes about
five minutes to start the format which then continues in the background. One
can then start coping stuff to that part of disk that is already formatted
(the software keeps track of this and implements the process); i.e., both
format and write operations essentially continue simultaneously.
Adaptec CD Software ( DirectCD, Easy
CD Creater, and Easy CD Audio) provides a complete set of tools make
and copy audio and digital CD's.
HP Disaster Recovery is used to restore operating
systems, software settings, and data files on your hard disk to and from
CD-RW disks.
HP Simple Trax, a rather simple, but powerful
backup and restore program. A Control Panel allows you to select
files for backup, choose the kind of backup, setup a backup schedule, etc. It
works with the Windows Explorer for easy retrieval of backed up files stored
on CD's.
Jewel Case Designer, a simple program
to make the front and back covers for your CD cases.
Next - Operation >
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