Hatrack River Forum: Tech help with my DVD/CD Writer drive please!

This is topic Tech help with my DVD/CD Writer drive please! in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :

My DVD writer/CD writer drive has been playing hookey laterly. I though it was the type of DVD's I had bought, but I guess it isn't.

It seems to burn CD's fine, but won't even start burning DVD's.

It doesn't even reconize there is a disk in the drive when it is a DVD, at least not when I try to use Nero or DVDDecrypter (in conjunction with DVD Shrink).

Any ideas?

Posted by lem (Member # 6914) on :

Get a cd/dvd cleaner. Check your device manager for any problems. Update drivers and or bios--if the problem is severe enough. How old is the driver?

Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :

Has it worked before? I've heard some will wear out over time. The dvd (nonwriter) player on mine wore out last year. Just won't play any dvds, but it will play cds. I just went out and bought a new one, they are getting really cheap.

Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :

If it burns CDs but not DVDs, I suspect a virus/malware type thing in your OS. Maybe a thorough cleaning is in order?

Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :

I maintain my spyware/malware tools (spybot and spyware blaster, and regScrubXP) fairly well, and have a decent firewall and AVG virus protection that is updated daily.

It does burn CD's, and has worked perfectaly until about a week ago. Device manager says it is working percect, which is why I was worried. If it said there was a problem I would figure it out, but since it doesn't I am at a loss.

Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :

If it isn't reading ever normal DVD's, it's likely that it has lost that ability in hardware. I know CD's and DVD's use different wavelengths to read and write data. I don't know if CD/DVD burners use different lasers to perform the different options, though. If they do, I imagine that you've lost the DVD laser. Alternately, there could be a mechanism used to decrease the wavelength in the laser that could have gone out. I suggest replacing the drive.

Posted by BlueWizard (Member # 9389) on :

I think it would help if you itemized what it will and won't do, and gave us a general description of your PC Hardware (or is it a Mac?).

Apparently, it will READ and WRITE CD's?

Will it read DVD's?

Apparently, it will not WRITE DVD's?

Are you sure you are using the correct DVD's?

DVD+RW or DVD+R

DVD-RW or DVD-R

Most new DVD burners are PLUS/MINUS (+/-), they will burn either. If you have an older DVD maybe it is strickly PLUS-only or MINUS-only.

One simple way to fix corrupted Drivers is to go to the Control Panel/System/DeviceManager and delete the DVD. Don't worry, when you restart your computer it will find the new hardward and install the latest drivers it can find on you computer.

While you are in the System/DeviceManager note the brand and model of your DVD. You can check the specs and get the latest drivers from the Manufacturers website.

So-

Processor - Brand/Model/Speed? (example: AMD/Thunderbird/900mhz)
Memory - RAM?
DVD - Brand/Model/Speed?

What will and won't the DVD do, in concise itemized form?

Are you sure you have the correct DVD media?

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/BlueWizard

Posted by Baron Samedi (Member # 9175) on :

quote:
Originally posted by BlueWizard:

Most new DVD burners are PLUS/MINUS (+/-)...

That's PLUS/DASH (+/-)

Sorry... I finally found something I knew, and I had to be anal before someone beat me to it. [Razz]

Posted by lem (Member # 6914) on :

I would get a 10 dollar CD cleaner (the cds with the little tiny brushes on them) and clean your DVD burner, and your home DVD player, and anything else you put a CD in. I was surprised how much cleaning both my PC and regular DVD player helped performance.

Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :

I just did the uninstall, and it went fine....then I restarted, per instruction, and four drives were showing.

Only problem is I only have two drives in the case.
Two CD/DVD drives, that is.
[Big Grin]

Weird.

Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :

Found out part of the original problem...I need to use DVD+R only to record with my drive. I had never had a problem before, but I guess I had never noticed a difference before. [Big Grin]

Still doesn't explain why my computer is all wonky since I started messing with it though. [Big Grin]

Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :

I now have listed (in my computer) 5 drives, and only two of them actualy exist.