Live File System is the termMicrosoft uses to describe thepacket writing method of creating discs inWindows Vista and later, which allows writeableoptical media to act likemass storage by replicating itsfile operations. Live File System lets users manage files on recordable and rewriteable optical discs inside thefile manager with the familiar workflow known from mass storage media such asUSB flash drives and externalhard disk drives.
Files can be added incrementally to the media, as well as modified, moved and deleted.[1] These discs use theUDF file system.[2] The supported UDF versions for usage as a live file system are UDF 1.50, UDF 2.00, UDF 2.01, UDF 2.50 forCD-R,CD-RW,DVD±R,DVD±RW andBD-RE, and UDF 2.60 forBD-R.[3][a] However even if UDF 1.50 and above can be read, only the plain UDF build may be supported and not necessarily either the VAT or Spared UDF builds required for full compatibility.Windows 2000 for example only supports the original UDF 1.50 variation and not the Virtual Allocation Table build for remapped physical blocks; something not all optical drive units fully implement either.
TheLive File System option is used by default byAutoPlay when formatting/erasing a CD/DVD -R or -RW.
Older Windows versions do not have support for reading the latest UDF versions.[2] If users create DVD/CDs in Windows Vista using UDF 2.50, these may not be readable on other systems, including Windows XP and older (pre-Mac OS 10.5) Apple systems unless a third-party UDF reader driver is installed. To ensure compatibility of disks created on Windows Vista, UDF 2.01 or lower should be selected.
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