When inserting any recorded disk (manufactured or burned)
into cdrw or dvd rom drives, box comes up saying Blank
CD, what action do you want to take? If I boot computer
with disks in drive, then disks are readable. If I boot
without disks in drive, then all disks are treated as
blank recordable cd's. DVD is not a writer and device
manager shows that all devices are working correctly. I
have uninstalled and allowed windows to reinstall both
devices to no avail.

Hi,

How to Troubleshoot Issues with Reading CD, CD-R, CD-RW, and DVD Discs
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;321641

Peter


----- Fred wrote: -----

When inserting any recorded disk (manufactured or burned)
into cdrw or dvd rom drives, box comes up saying Blank
CD, what action do you want to take? If I boot computer
with disks in drive, then disks are readable. If I boot
without disks in drive, then all disks are treated as
blank recordable cd's. DVD is not a writer and device
manager shows that all devices are working correctly. I
have uninstalled and allowed windows to reinstall both
devices to no avail.

Hi Fred

I got the same problem! Did you manage to solve it?

thanks
Philip

>-----Original Message-----
>When inserting any recorded disk (manufactured or
burned)
>into cdrw or dvd rom drives, box comes up saying Blank
>CD, what action do you want to take? If I boot computer
>with disks in drive, then disks are readable. If I boot
>without disks in drive, then all disks are treated as
>blank recordable cd's. DVD is not a writer and device
>manager shows that all devices are working correctly. I
>have uninstalled and allowed windows to reinstall both
>devices to no avail.
>.
>

Hi Phillip,
With a lot of work and the site form Peter above yours I was able to solve the problem. It seems it was caused by a program that was starting up each time Windows started.
To fix the problem get the knowledge base article on "How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP." I think it is Q310353.
Start by following the instructions to get a clean boot and see if your cd drive works.
If so, as I found, add back items. First I added back the system.ini and win.ini tabs.
If the drive still works add back the next tab, services.
All was still OK, so then I added back startup programs a group of 5 at a time. Eventually, I found one program associated with a USB memory drive I had installed that caused the problem.
I deleted this program using the control panel and now the computer works fine.

Hope this helps.
Fred

----- Philip wrote: -----

Hi Fred

I got the same problem! Did you manage to solve it?

thanks
Philip

>-----Original Message-----
>When inserting any recorded disk (manufactured or
burned)
>into cdrw or dvd rom drives, box comes up saying Blank
>CD, what action do you want to take? If I boot computer
>with disks in drive, then disks are readable. If I boot
>without disks in drive, then all disks are treated as
>blank recordable cd's. DVD is not a writer and device
>manager shows that all devices are working correctly. I
>have uninstalled and allowed windows to reinstall both
>devices to no avail.
>.
>