Can't read Plextor DVD

[Barbara Clark]

I installed a new Plextor DVD RW and it worked fine. After a crash, I
reinstalled XP pro and a new backup hard drive. Now the Plextor
install DVD won't read or write DVD's. It works for CDRW's. I tested
the Plextor install DVD on another system and it reads fine. When I
try to write to a blank DVDRW I get an error saying the device is in
use by windows. All power supply voltages and hardware look good.
Device manager looks fine and the drive is configured for read/write.

Does anyone know what causes the error message saying the device is in
use by windows? Perhaps I can use that as a clue.

Thanks in advance,
Barbara

 

[jimbo571]

I installed a new Plextor DVD RW and it worked fine. After a crash, I
reinstalled XP pro and a new backup hard drive. Now the Plextor
install DVD won't read or write DVD's. It works for CDRW's. I tested
the Plextor install DVD on another system and it reads fine. When I
try to write to a blank DVDRW I get an error saying the device is in
use by windows. All power supply voltages and hardware look good.
Device manager looks fine and the drive is configured for read/write.

Does anyone know what causes the error message saying the device is in
use by windows? Perhaps I can use that as a clue.

Thanks in advance,
Barbara

As you reinstalled XP Pro , you might have to uninstall/reinstall the
Plextor .

 

[Barbara Clark]

Thanks Jimbo, I tried uninstalling/installing but still the same
issue. When I tried to write files to the DVD, I got an error:
"Windows is currently using the CD. Please wait before starting the CD
Writing Wizard." Something is making XP think the drive is busy when
it isn't Surely there must be a low level flag messed up somewhere.
I'm stumped.

Any more ideas? All welcome.

Thanks, Barb

 

[David Webb]

Check your registry for the presence of upper and lower filters per the article
cited below. Delete if found.

http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;314060&x=12&y=13

Be sure to restart the computer after making these changes.

 

[Barbara Clark]

Hey David,

Thanks for this.....before I try it....when I look in the Class
folder, there are 24 copies of the folder:

{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.

Should I be worried about that?

Thanks,
Barb

 

[David Webb]

Are you sure that you're reading the list correctly? There should only be one
that starts with {4D36E965-

The others should have different leading values such as;
{4D36E966-
{4D36E967-
{4D36E968-
and so on....

If the UpperFilters and/or LowerFilters values are present you can manually
delete them or let the Guide Help do the job for you.

If you do it manually, be sure to limit the deletions to the {4D36E965- folder.

 

[Barbara Clark]

Dave, thanks for spotting my error. I saw that the least significant
values were the same so I thought the most significant ones would be
as well. There was indeed only one key and I did the upper/lower
filters change. Bummer though....the drive still does the same thing.
At least it didn't break anything further. I spent some time on the
phone with Plextor support and they couldn't find anything wrong
either....I thought there would be some conclusions which could
isolate the problem between HW and SW such as "if the drive reads &
writes CDRW's but can't read DVD's, it means the hardware is OK and
there is a software problem." But, no such luck. It looks like I'll
have to try swapping the drive between systems but being as isolated
as I am, that will be difficult.

Thanks anyway..

Barb

 

[David Webb]

Based on your original statement that the drive worked correctly before the
reinstall of WinXP, my guess is that it's a software issue. I have re-read your
inputs and a few things are not quite clear to me:

1) What software are you using to write to the DVD drive? Note that WinXP's
built-in CD burning software does not support DVD media.

2) Have you tried disabling the built-in CD writing service? If not, go to Start

Run > enter services.msc. Scroll down to IMAPI CD-Burning Service and disable

it. Restart your system and see what happens. If no change, reset it to Manual
and restart your system.

3) In your response to jimbo571 you didn't specify exactly how you did the
uninstall/reinstall of the drive, so let me suggest to use the Device Manager.
Go to Start > Run > enter devmgmt.msc. Scroll down to the Optical drive,
right-click and uninstall. It will reinstall itself after restart. Restart your
system and see what happens.

4) If still no joy, try uninstalling/reinstalling any 3rd party burning
software.

Good luck!