Can't write DVD's or CD's

[Lisa]

I ran the MS diagnostic, and it tells me my dvd R/RW is not capable of writing.
(I checked the DVD ROM also). I can read CD's and DVD's in both.
I'd never used this function before. My kids wanted to burn a CD, and
when I put the blank CD in the drive, I kept getting the message "put a CD
in". I tried multiple different CD's, then DVD's. Then I used the Mr Fixit
diagnostic.
I'd sure appreciate some help. I'm suspecting someone is going to tell me
to check that the drive is connected? If that means opening the computer,
you'll have to tell me where to start.
Thank you!

 

[Paul]

I ran the MS diagnostic, and it tells me my dvd R/RW is not capable of writing.
(I checked the DVD ROM also). I can read CD's and DVD's in both.
I'd never used this function before. My kids wanted to burn a CD, and
when I put the blank CD in the drive, I kept getting the message "put a CD
in". I tried multiple different CD's, then DVD's. Then I used the Mr Fixit
diagnostic.
I'd sure appreciate some help. I'm suspecting someone is going to tell me
to check that the drive is connected? If that means opening the computer,
you'll have to tell me where to start.
Thank you!

The first step, is determining whether the hardware supports burning or not.
The free downloadable version of Nero Infotool, will tell you something about
your two drives. You select a drive from the menu, and the "tick boxes" show
the various kinds of things the drive supports.

http://majorgeeks.com/Nero_InfoTool_d120.html

In this picture, in the writing section, you can see that drive writes
two different types of CD blanks, and seven different types of DVD blanks.
This would be a "fully capable" drive, a "burner" as opposed to just a
reader. If you only have tick boxes in the upper ("Supported read features")
section, then your drive is a CDROM or DVDROM and not burning capable.

http://www.hardwarezone.com/img/data/articles/2007/2382/NeroInfoTool.jpg

Once you've proved you have the right hardware for the job, then you
can go through the "what software do I need to burn CD/DVDs" and "what
is upperfilter and why should I care" type questions. WinXP has
limited built-in CD burning capability, and for "anything goes"
burning capabilities, you need some other third-party software.
There is free software you can download, to do burning, so you
don't have to buy software if you're on a limited budget.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imgburn

Or see the Freeware Windows section here which lists a few more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_optical_disc_authoring_software

*******

This section describes the WinXP build-in capability.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_new_to_Windows_XP#CD_burning

"Windows XP includes technology from Roxio which allows users to
directly burn files to a compact disc through Windows Explorer.

Windows XP's CD burning support does not do disk-to-disk copying
or disk images..."

So the built-in capability, turns a CD into a sort-of hard drive,
and allows the archiving of files. But it doesn't support the
other modes of CD usage, such as making copies of an entire CD or
burning using an ISO9660 container file. For that, you need a more
capable program.

*******

"Upperfilter" may affect the ability to recognize a drive, but
that may not be what is preventing you from burning right now.
Don't use this, unless your symptoms match the problem description.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060

*******

It is also possible for an optical drive to have a failure, such as
one of the lasers. That may lead to an inability to "see" media when
it is inserted. I'm not aware of any diagnostic that can evaluate
the health of an optical drive, short of observing how it behaves
when doing various things (such as you're doing right now).

Paul

 

[Lisa]

Dear Paul,
Thanks for your input-
1. Neroinfotool tells me that yes, I have the hardware. (I was getting
worried)
2. I already had Nero smart start, but I went ahead and loaded Imgburn, in
case Nero was at fault...I could not get Imgburn to work either.
3. I went through the MS support (again-that's where I started this morning)
and once again it says that the the drive is incapable of writing!

I'm wondering if optical drive failure is what I'm dealing with, because the
media is invisible to the R/RW drive when I ask to burn a CD or DVD
(although it recognizes media is present when I only want to read...)
So, if that's what is is, what do I need to do to fix it? Computer repair
store? Or do I just replace the component?
Again, thanks for your time, Paul!


Lisa

 

[Peter Foldes]

Lisa

See if this applies
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cd_dvd_drive_problems

 

[RobertPatrick]

I ran the MS diagnostic, and it tells me my dvd R/RW is not capable of
writing. (I checked the DVD ROM also). I can read CD's and DVD's in
both.
I'd never used this function before. My kids wanted to burn a CD,
and
when I put the blank CD in the drive, I kept getting the message "put
a CD in". I tried multiple different CD's, then DVD's. Then I used
the Mr Fixit diagnostic.
I'd sure appreciate some help. I'm suspecting someone is going to
tell me
to check that the drive is connected? If that means opening the
computer, you'll have to tell me where to start.
Thank you!

I had the same problem for months. Took my PC to a repair shop and they
couldn't figure it out.

I found Doug Knox's site:
http://www.dougknox.com/
He's a Microsoft MVP.

I used the script - Restore CD/DVD Drives to Explorer
(look in WinXP fixes)

or

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/scripts_desc/xp_cd_dvd_fix.htm

It fixed my PC right away.
R.