Labeling DVDs

Marker pen works fine.
Don't use a Xylene marker or it'll eat the disk.
Get yourself some markers from the computer store. TDK do a pack of them for a buck or two.

Labeling DVDs
I know I'm asking a lot of questions about quite simple things here, but I need all the information I can get, because I can't get to Staples, etc very easily; I do most of my shopping on the Internet. So I have to know as much as I can and be as organized as possible, before going online to place an order.

http://www.staples.co.uk/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?CatIds=,&webid=401101201&affixedcode=WW

I've ruined CDs by writing on the label after it was on the disk, so if you're going to do a label by hand, do it before. Also, you can buy kits cheaply which include label-making software.

A regular sharpie perm marker will work just fine. I've never ruined a CD or DVD by writing on it after it's burned. As long as you don't scratch it up, you'll be fine. And as for paper labels, the only way they would make it unreadable is if you don't put i on correctly. If the label goes on lopsided, it will cause the disc to rotate incorrectly in thr drive, called "jitter" so the laser won't be able to stay on track.

Labeling DVDs
I have a Sonic program that includes labeling, but I'm concerned primarily with the Recovery disks at the moment, and that's an HP software; it doesn't include labeling, just a warning to the user to be sure to mark the disks.

Does a labeling program simply print on label in my printer? If so, I'm leery about sticking the label on the disk, not being too good with my hands. I can just see one bit of label drooping over the edge, or buckling and making a hump - oh, there are any number of hideous ways I could screw it up!

This is all gonna be very interesting...

Best advice I can give you is to not put any sort of sticky label on a DVD. Or a CD for that matter.
Just write on the label side of the disk with a Sharpie or a similar disk marker pen.
Anything except pencil (as it doesn't work) or a ball-point pen (as that wrecks the disk) will do.

You can get printers that will print directly on the disk. ie. you put the disk in the printer and it prints onto that instead of printing onto paper.
99% of disk labels are the sticky paper variety though. You print out two labels to a sheet of A4 and then peel one off and stick it on the disk.
This is fraught with problems and potential mishaps even when you have a handy device to align it all for you.
The sticky labels can still unbalance the disk and also ruin it when you try to unpeel them.

Best steer clear of sticky labels.
Get a Sharpie and write directly on the disk yourself.

Labeling DVDs
Marker labeling sound good to me - less risk, less hassle. Thanks.

Epson sell printers that will print onto printable cd's and dvd's (This is what i use), but as far as using sticky labels, used them for years on 100's (If not 1000's) of disks without any real problem.

Manufacturers warn of everything that might only have a very low chance of causing a problem.

The information is stored on the disk, not on the side that goes face down but the side you label, if you scratch that side or remove the coating it will cause damage to the information stored. Scratches to bottom side of disk can be repaired (Depending how deep it is) but scratches or removal of coating to the top renders the disk useless.