Can anyone tell me if I have to format a DVD R/W disk before I use it for data back up puposes?

I bought some new DVD+R/W disks, and explorer won't recognize them when I insert them.

When one of my programs (B's clip) recognized the new disk, it asked me if it could format it. I tried this, and it spat the disk out, saying it was a bad disk. (This isn't the first time this has happened)

Thanks all.

Are you sure your drive is a + or dual drive? Maybe you need DVD-RW disks.

Yes the disk should be formatted to use in rewriteable mode. You need to do this through your burner software.