DVD burner will read CDs but not DVDs

[Terry]

Anyone run into this problem?
I have an Intel D850 Mobo.

I just took a working DVD burner out of one machine and put it into
this machine.

It will read CDs but when I try a DVD the directory is blank.

It is a Sony DRU 850A burner.

 

[Michael Cecil]

Anyone run into this problem?
I have an Intel D850 Mobo.

I just took a working DVD burner out of one machine and put it into
this machine.

It will read CDs but when I try a DVD the directory is blank.

It is a Sony DRU 850A burner.

If you're certain it works on another machine, then it's likely a software
problem. To rule out some kind of BIOS misconfiguration, try booting from
a bootable DVD such as a Vista install disc.

The typical software culprits are disc burning programs, virtual drive
programs and/or copy protection crap.
--
Michael Cecil
http://macecil.googlepages.com/index.htm
http://macecil.googlepages.com/safehex.htm
http://macecil.googlepages.com/hackingvista.htm
Chuck Norris: Afraid of NOTHING, except John McCain's 95 year-old mother

 

[Terry]

If you're certain it works on another machine, then it's likely a software
problem. To rule out some kind of BIOS misconfiguration, try booting from
a bootable DVD such as a Vista install disc.

The typical software culprits are disc burning programs, virtual drive
programs and/or copy protection crap.

The machine had Alcohol 120 and Nero, but I have uninstalled them.

I do notice that the entry in explorer says DVD RAM drive.
RAM means it is a virtual drive right?
I have uninstalled anything that might have created a virtual drive.

Any more suggestions please?

 

[Michael Cecil]

The machine had Alcohol 120 and Nero, but I have uninstalled them.

I do notice that the entry in explorer says DVD RAM drive.
RAM means it is a virtual drive right?

I'm not familiar with the 850a but the 840a can read dvd-ram discs as well
as other kinds of dvd discs so I wouldn't say that necessarily indicates a
virtual drive is still installed.

I have uninstalled anything that might have created a virtual drive.

Well, some of those programs don't uninstall cleanly, plus malware and
copy protection gimmicks aren't going to just uninstall easily. It might
be simplest to just do a clean install.

Any more suggestions please?

Well, you might do a search in the registry for the upperfilters and
lowerfilters for the drive. Some programs muddle around there and can
cause problems. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060
--
Michael Cecil
http://macecil.googlepages.com/index.htm
http://macecil.googlepages.com/safehex.htm
http://macecil.googlepages.com/hackingvista.htm
Chuck Norris: Afraid of NOTHING, except John McCain's 95 year-old mother

 

[Terry]

I'm not familiar with the 850a but the 840a can read dvd-ram discs as well
as other kinds of dvd discs so I wouldn't say that necessarily indicates a
virtual drive is still installed.


Well, some of those programs don't uninstall cleanly, plus malware and
copy protection gimmicks aren't going to just uninstall easily. It might
be simplest to just do a clean install.


Well, you might do a search in the registry for the upperfilters and
lowerfilters for the drive. Some programs muddle around there and can
cause problems. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060

What I did to get it working was to add a CD burner on the secondary
IDE cable.

The registry information didn't work but gave me the idea to add a
second device and maybe the registry would fix itself.

I guess it did. I had to leave the second burner in the machine to
get it to work. If I unhooked the second CD it went back to "broke"
again.

Thanks everyone

 

[ProfGene]

Anyone run into this problem?
I have an Intel D850 Mobo.

I just took a working DVD burner out of one machine and put it into
this machine.

It will read CDs but when I try a DVD the directory is blank.

It is a Sony DRU 850A burner.

Sometimes you need a special program to read a DVD like DVX. Did you
install the software that came with the burner?