# Accessing files on unfinalized CD-R



## fyndr

I have an old unfinalized CD-R from 10+ years ago which I had written some data to using an old Compaq Presario (can't remember the designation, but we got it back in 2000) running Windows 98, which has since been e-recycled or otherwise destroyed. When I try to open the disc on a newer computer running Windows 7, the disc appears empty but with the option to autorun. Opening the disc (which appears to be titled C2UDFFS.ISO) results in the following dialogs:

PacketCD: You have inserted a disc with an OSTA UDF filesystem. This disc cannot be read by your system without additional software. To install the necessary driver press 'Yes'. (clicked Yes)
RunDLL: There was a problem starting setupx.dll, the specified module could not be found.
PacketCD: The PacketCD OSTA UDF reader driver has been successfully installed. To activate the driver the system needs to be rebooted. Shall the system be rebooted now? (clicking Yes does nothin11g)

When I open this on an old Dell Inspiron running Windows XP, the disc opens correctly but only shows one empty folder which cannot be opened or copied. On my modern system, I tried using IsoBuster to scan the disc and it revealed a rather complicated folder structure beyond the single one appearing in XP, but I don't see any files listed there, only folders. I can't seem to extract the files at all using IsoBuster, though. I also tried CDRoller but I get similar results there as well.

Is it possible at this point to obtain the data, or could it be that the disc experiencing other issues apart from not being finalized?


----------



## Agent Smith

The dll needs to be installed on your computer. http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?setupx

I downloaded the dll and scanned on Total  virus. No detections. https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/...32f1a5a16ed8fdd18970824c/analysis/1434169597/


Info on OSTA UDF: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/321640

http://superuser.com/questions/460582/windows-7-is-not-recognizing-the-udf-filesystem-of-a-cd


----------



## fyndr

I followed the DLL instructions and copied setupx.dll to C:\Windows\System32 and C:\Windows\SysWOW64. When I tried opening the CD, it gave the following message:

There was a problem starting setupx.dll
setupx.dll is not a valid Win32 application.

I tried running "regsvr32 setupx.dll" per the remaining instructions, which brought up the following prompt:

The module "setupx.dll" may not be compatible with the version of Windows that you're running. Check if the module is compatible with an x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version of regsvr32.exe.

When I try accessing the disk again, it gives the "invalid Win32 application" error as before. I also took a look at Disk Management and it is only seeing the CDFS volume and not the UDF, so I can't override the mount since it doesn't even recognize the volume I want to have mounted.


----------



## Agent Smith

Did you try thins in Win 7 or XP? Try XP with the driver.

Just for reference for registering a DLL in 64. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/249873


----------



## fyndr

Sorry I should have clarified that I tried this with Windows 7 Originally. On the XP machine the disc shows up correctly insofar as it shows a folder of personal data in the UDF volume, but it appears as an empty folder and when I try to move or copy it a message comes up saying "Can't read from the source file or disk."

Also tried registering the setupx.dll for 64-bit Win7 following the provided guidance, but I was running into the same issue as before where the system doesn't recognize UDF.

If XP is reporting the above error message, then it's possible that the disc is damaged or corrupted in some way, in which case is there much that I can do to read the disc properly? Given that IsoBuster/CDRoller haven't been able to reveal actual files apart from the directory structure, I'm not sure what recourse I might have here.


----------



## Agent Smith

Yeah, if ISObuster can't read it then perhaps it's corupt. I don't know what else to say. You could try Googling more on how to read a UDF file system.


----------



## fyndr

Thanks, yeah I'd looked at some UDF links in the interim and it doesn't look like the advice deviates much from what you had suggested. Probably I'll have to call it a wash, since the data on the disc is probably nothing necessary.


----------

