DVD-RAM Drive Problem

[Guest]

Hi guys!

Recently, I've inserted an old VCD into my DVD-RAM drive of my laptop. While
it was playing, the video stopped and Windows Media Player notified me that
the disc is spoilt etc. And indeed the disc was badly scratched on its back,
but I don't usually care about such things.

Not long later I inserted another VCD into my drive but nothing happened. As
in, the drive shows a blank folder and I couldn't play anything out of it.
The disc was not scratched and it's quite new, it's also not a burnt disc.

I tried inserting other kinds of discs, including burnt discs, CD-ROMs, VCDs
etc, but the same result happened too.

I went to the Net and searched for solutions but all they told me are just
solutions such as to clean the drive. That is what I've done. I also went to
Control Panel > Administratve Tools > Computer Management > Event Viewer >
System, on the right pane I found 5 consecutive errors which source is
"cdrom". For that I know these are relevant to my problem so I doubled click
one of them for more details.

Event ID: 7
Description: The device, \Device\CdRom0, has a bad block.

I believe the drive is still intact and detectable by the system because it
appears functioning properly in Device Manager and that the drive ejects when
I click "Eject this disk" under System Tasks on the left pane when I have
selected "DVD-RAM Drive (D"

So, what's the problem? Anyone has a solution for it?

For your information:
1. I'm using Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition N, Version 2002, Service Pack
2.
2. The model of my laptop is Acer Aspire 5610ANWLMi.
3. The model of my DVD-RAM drive is PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-K17RS.

Thanks a lot for your help anyway.

I'd appreciate if you could add me in Windows Live Messenger,
(e-mail address removed) to talk about the solution, since I need it quite
urgently. Nevertheless, I am fine with solutions posted here. =D

Thanks =)

 

[Detlev Dreyer]

Recently, I've inserted an old VCD into my DVD-RAM drive of my laptop. While
it was playing, the video stopped and Windows Media Player notified me that
the disc is spoilt etc. And indeed the disc was badly scratched on its back,
but I don't usually care about such things.

Not long later I inserted another VCD into my drive but nothing happened. As
in, the drive shows a blank folder and I couldn't play anything out of it.
The disc was not scratched and it's quite new, it's also not a burnt disc.

I tried inserting other kinds of discs, including burnt discs, CD-ROMs, VCDs
etc, but the same result happened too.

I went to the Net and searched for solutions but all they told me are just
solutions such as to clean the drive. That is what I've done. I also went to
Control Panel > Administratve Tools > Computer Management > Event Viewer >
System, on the right pane I found 5 consecutive errors which source is
"cdrom". For that I know these are relevant to my problem so I doubled click
one of them for more details.

Event ID: 7
Description: The device, \Device\CdRom0, has a bad block.

An entry like that may be caused by either a defective drive or running
a disk with special copy protection (eg. Age of Empires).

I believe the drive is still intact

You can save a lot of time when you replace that drive. And time is money.

 

[Detlev Dreyer]

Thanks a lot for your help anyway.

Some points of interest in addition:

"Resources for troubleshooting DVD problems in Windows XP"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308012

"You Cannot View the Files on a Disc After You Replace a CD-R or CD-RW
Drive with a DVD or CD-ROM Drive"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=311455

"How to Troubleshoot Issues with Reading CD, CD-R, CD-RW, and DVD Discs"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=321641

 

[M.I.5¾]

Hi guys!

Recently, I've inserted an old VCD into my DVD-RAM drive of my laptop.
While
it was playing, the video stopped and Windows Media Player notified me
that
the disc is spoilt etc. And indeed the disc was badly scratched on its
back,
but I don't usually care about such things.

Not long later I inserted another VCD into my drive but nothing happened.
As
in, the drive shows a blank folder and I couldn't play anything out of it.
The disc was not scratched and it's quite new, it's also not a burnt disc.

I tried inserting other kinds of discs, including burnt discs, CD-ROMs,
VCDs
etc, but the same result happened too.

Unfortunately, the most unreliable part of a DVD drive is the optical block
(specifically the laser diodes). It sounds like this has failed on your
particular drive. There are actually two laser diodes, does your drive
refuse to read CD and DVD disks or just the former? If it is the optical
block, the only economic remedy is replacement of the entire drive - they
are ludicrously cheap these days.

 

[Plato]

Recently, I've inserted an old VCD into my DVD-RAM drive of my laptop. While
it was playing, the video stopped and Windows Media Player notified me that
the disc is spoilt etc. And indeed the disc was badly scratched on its back,
but I don't usually care about such things.

You should care, as the digital media is right under the top of the cd,
NOT on the bottom of it.