Overburning / 80 minutes / 680MB blanks

Nero says that my burner can not overburn

Not all types of CD Writer can overburn. Overburning means that more is burned on the CD than officially fits on the CD.(For more information: See Nero Help). This must not be confused with burning onto oversized CDs, the 80 minute blanks.

Some types of CD Writer will not get the ability to overburn until you carry out a firmware update. e.g. for the Plextor 4x12 as of firmware 1.06, or for the Smart&Friendly 8020 as of firmware 1.20. Not all Nero versions are aware of this. Therefore try upgrading to the newest Nero version.

There are often rumours circulating that some types of CD Writer can overburn, even though this is not true. e.g. the Philips CDD3610, HP 7100, HP 7200 etc. The rumours surfaced because the burner does not give an error message when overburning. In actual fact the laser is deactivated after the official end of the CD, i.e. The burned CD can be read until the official end, the data after the official end however is not there.

If you in contrast believe that your CD Writer has the ability to overburn CDs, then there is a possibility that Overburning (as of Nero 4.0.0.6):

Please start the registration editor and change to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ahead\Nero - Burning ROM\General\OverSizeDefaultValue

Set this value to 1. Now Overburning is released for every burner.

Please note: You are working at your own risk. You will probably not be happy with the result. But if the ability to overburn CDs has only been made possible by a firmware update and your Nero version does not know this yet, then this lack of knowledge by Nero can thus be overcome.

A further comment: It is possible to use a trick to overcome the limitation of numerous CD burners which can not overburn. At least this trick works with the Philips CDD3610 / HP 7100 / HP 7200 / HP 8100 / HP 8110 / Sony CRX100 / Sony CRX110 / Memorex CDRW1622 and all compatible devices. We know how the trick works but are not prepared to tell you, (even if you expressly ask us to) because

If you want to know how the trick works, then you can find it on several Internet pages and in Newsgroups. We are not going to give you any more detail than that.

The burner does not accept 80 minute blanks

This problem can be solved for some of these burners by updating the firmware:

  1. If you are using one of the following burners, then you should pay attention to the recommended Firmware :
  2. CD Writer

    recommended Firmware

    Mitsumi 2600TE

    2.30 of higher

    Mitsumi 2801TE

    1.10 or higher

    Mitsumi 4801TE

    2.03 or higher

  3. Although the following CD Writer would be able to write on 80 min blanks, after at little bit more than 78 minutes it ends (the firmware of this CD Writer does not support more than 78 minutes):

I can't overburn, why not?

Overburning is an ability that not every CD Writer can handle. If your CD Writer can handle overburning and you want to use the option, then you can set the option using File->Preferences->Expert Features .

Why can only a max. of 650MB be written on a 680MB blank?

Presumably because you are using a 650MB CD-R.

On this, see MB = Megabyte.

Nero asks for the available memeory space on the blank. Depending on the vendor, this is usually between 652 and 658MB. This space is fully utilized by Nero .

The free capacity of a blank can be calculated as follows:

On a blank there are a fixed number of free blocks.

74 (min) * 60 (s/min) * 75 (Blocks/s) = 333,000 Blocks

A Block can accept 2048 Bytes of data:

Therefore the capacity is 333.000 * 2048 = 681.984.000 Bytes. As however an MB is 1024 Bytes large (and not 1000 Bytes) this results in a capacity of 650,39 MB (=681.984.000 Bytes)

What is the difference between oversize and overburn?

A CD-R is oversized if the capacity given on the CD is more than 74 minutes. Overburning means that more is burned on the CD than officially fits on the CD:

How do you copy oversized CDs?

This depends on your CD Writer .

Which blanks are best suited for overburning?

In the Internet there are a few lists with the maximum attainable capacity. Please note that there can be deviations of approx. 30s.