DVDs are not playing or recognized

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I know it may not solve the problem. Nothing else has worked so far... and I
believe I have tried almost all things that are out there short of a new
drive so if it does not work then that will be eliminated from the
possibilities catagory. I will buy one where I can get a 30 day return and
may only loose shipping costs. At this point that would be such a small price
to pay because I would not want to calculate my hours spent on this problem
by my typical hourly rate... it would not be pretty. :-)

I appreciate your time.

I'll be back!
 
If it helps I agree with John 100%
I too have had drives that seemed to be working sporadically so since it
worked "sometimes" I didn't think it was the drive but it was.
-Wojo
 
Thanks.

I should not have used the word random. The drives to not play randomly, it
is the disks that are playable that are random. The same disk will
consistantly play in the drive and the ones that do not work, never work.

Today, my older Compaq DVD ROM drive works again. I can play DVDs... so far
all the DVDs that I have tried work except one, and I think it might be the
disk.

The only thing that I did recently was to install and run a program call
CCleaner. It is freeware that cleans out history and alters and/or deletes
registry keys that the program deems as an error. If the drive continues to
work my belief will be confirmed that something somewhere on the computer was
stopping the drive from working.

I still have the original issue with the Sony DVD RW drive, although I can
burn DVDs which does not make sense to me. What is different with that drive
is that it seems to attempt to access information for about 2 minutes now
before it decides there is no disk. I have ordered new DVD drives but now I
strongly believe it is something in the OS and software that is the issue. I
wonder if the upgraded firmware could be the problem with the Sony drive. Is
there a way to clear that new firmware and install an older firmware?

Thanks again.

--
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.


Wojo said:
If it helps I agree with John 100%
I too have had drives that seemed to be working sporadically so since it
worked "sometimes" I didn't think it was the drive but it was.
-Wojo
Click to expand...
 
At this point it seems clear to me that CCleaner removed something very
important from the Registry. I'd NEVER recommend any Registry cleaners. If
you believe the Registry is just too full of unnecessary entries, then I'd
really say it was time to clean install and start afresh.

So let's totally uninstall ALL your optical drives from the computer and try
to get them back correctly.

In Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, Unistall any and all DVD burning
programs you may have installed and any DVD Decoding software you have
installed. BEFORE you do this, check you still have the CDs for the
reinstall.

Reboot the PC.

Go into the Device Manager and Uninstall the Optical Drives. Turn OFF the
PC.

Physically go into the case and REMOVE all optical drives. (You can just
disconnect both ribbon and power cables in this case since you know you are
going to put them back. While you are there, physically check the jumpers
at the rear of the drive(s)

Restart the PC... Ensure that My Computer is now showing you have NO optical
drives and that Device Manager also confirms no entries.

Turn off the PC. Physically reinstall the drive(s)... or reconnect both
cables. Turn on the PC. Ensure that XP redetects each drive and installs
drivers for it - and assigns a drive letter. Check at this point that XP
can read a data DVD. Reinstall your DVD Decoding software. Check that XP
can play a video DVD. Reinstall your DVD burning software. Check that it
burns.

Your next option is the format and clean install.

Unfortunately flashing the firmware is always a risk you alone undertake.
The manufacturers are never responsible for anything that goes wrong with
the drive at that point. Sony may decide to assist... but then again, they
are fully within their rights if they decide not to.
 
Hi,

Thanks Cari I appreciate the input, but I am not sure what you mean by
“removed something very importantâ€. What it removed made my DVD ROM drive
work, how is that a problem? Maybe CCleaner was not a great idea, but, for
one of the drives the problem is solved and my computer seems to be working
great. Do you know much about that program?

I suppose that I was not specific enough when I explained what steps I have
taken when I replied to WOJO a few days ago. I have done the very steps you
suggest more than once and that did not solve the problems. That is why I was
willing to take John's and your advice and purchase a new drive, and why I
kept reading and searching.

Also, I did a fresh install of XP Pro SP 2 less than 3 weeks ago on brand
new hard drives which I believe I stated in my first post.

I have no idea of the exact item the CCleaner removed to assist with this
issue. I don't know if it had something to do with the Nero software (which I
installed and uninstalled 3 different versions several times and used Nero’s
cleaner tool as well) or something else. At this point I only have trial
versions of Power DVD 7 and NVIDIA’s video decoder installed and I am
reluctant to ever install Nero again.

I had done a fresh install of XP in April when I upgraded other system
components. I rarely used the DVD drives to view DVDs and I have had the
system for quite some time. Before April the Sony DVD RW was the last upgrade
I made (1 1/2 years ago) and that came with the Nero software. The problem
with the DVD drives was actually discovered in early June (I mis-stated that
timing in my first post) when I tried to make a DVD from my digital video
camera for the first time ever. At that time I was using Panasonic software
to download from my video camera and using Nero 6 to burn to DVD. At first I
thought it was the Panasonic software so I uninstalled that software and I
have not reinstalled it, yet. I could not get the newly burnt DVD to work
after trying several different things including setting write speed all the
way down to 1X (I made quite a few coasters). After reading too many
troubleshooting tips, that is when I put in a DVD movie to see if there was a
problem with the drives... and neither would play DVDs, at least the several
that I tried at that time.

After countless hours of searching, reading, and troubleshooting and
basically taking several of the same steps I decided to do another fresh
install of XP and I had wanted to upgrade the HDs, so I did that just a few
weeks ago. I took my time and installed all the SP 2 updates before
installing anything. Then it was one program at a time and then checking for
updates until I finally got back to Nero 6 from CD. Then I tried the Nero 6
updates and then trial version of Nero 7, all made no difference. So when I
ended up with the same problem again I tried playing more of the DVDs in my
library and that is when I discovered that some DVDs actually would work
every time I put them in. The DVDs that worked appeared to be older ones and
that is what made me think that something I installed knowingly or
unknowingly was/is causing this problem.

After using the CCleaner tool now when I pop in the Matrix DVD there is a
menu that does ask to install PC friendly. Even when I decline I can still
play the DVD. This happens in the 6 year old DVD ROM drive. As stated the
Sony Drive still will not play.

The DVD ROM drive works, there is no way I am uninstalling that drive at
this point. Not after so many hours. I would try that with the Sony drive
again but as I stated I have done that already. I installed the Sony drive
into another machine running Windows ME. I also installed the Nero 6 software
(from CD). I witnessed the exact same results. The same DVDs would work and
the others would not work. So you see, I believe it is something in Nero or a
conflict with Nero that was/is the problem, at least part of the problem. I
could be 100% wrong but why would the same condition exist on a completely
different machine with a different (older) OS? Currently the same problem
exists with the Sony drive, I can play a special features DVD (not the movie)
and some older DVDs but most of the DVDs I have will not work in that drive.
This is why I think it may be a firmware issue.

I have new drive(s) on the way and when I get them we can see where that
leads. I would like to solve these issues with accurate knowledge but I have
to balance how much time I can really dedicate to that. There may be a log
from the CCleaner listing items removed that I can look through, I will check
into that.

If you were in my shoes, what would you think, or do?

I hope this information is helpful in some way and I appreciate the help and
information that I have received. Thanks.
 
FWIW, I use CCleaner daily and it has never
caused any problems. Others may report
differing views.

When you scan the registry if asks if you want
to save a backup which I always do but I've
never had the need to restore one.

Please understand...this is not tech support.
We are simply volunteers who attempt to assist
folks who are having problems. What works for
us may not work for anyone else...

Good luck in solving your problem.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Making Good Newsgroup Posts
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
 
I came here for help and information. I like getting different people's
opinions about things. I know this not tech support and I appreciate anyone
who takes the time to offer some info... to me or others and whether I use it
or not. You know I believe it is a good idea to continue to ask questions.

I usually do a pretty good amount of research before trying a new product or
even an old one :-). I read things about CCleaner and I basically stumbled
across the answer on this problem at least for one of the drives. I will see
about the other. It was worth a try, I like the program and it did work for
me. I read a few reveiws where people had trouble and maybe they did not back
up the registry. I back up the registry on a semi regular basis anyway so it
is nice to have that option in CCleaner.

Thanks all.
 
John said:
FWIW, I use CCleaner daily and it has never
caused any problems. Others may report
differing views.

When you scan the registry if asks if you want
to save a backup which I always do but I've
never had the need to restore one.
Click to expand...

Do you often restore one just to assure yourself that you know
how and that it works properly, should the need arise?
 
Bill's News said:
Do you often restore one just to assure yourself that you
know how and that it works properly, should the need
arise?
Click to expand...
===========================
Restoring the .reg files is very simple.....
just right click and choose Merge.

The .reg files are stored in.....
My Documents / CCleaner Reg. Backup

Have you experienced problems
in restoring the CCleaner .reg files?

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Please understand...this is not tech support.
We are simply volunteers who attempt to assist
folks who are having problems. What works for
us may not work for anyone else...

Good luck in solving your problem.

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Making Good Newsgroup Posts
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
 
Hi,

Just wanted to follow up and bring "closure" to the thread.

Finally installed a new DVD RW drive. I bought a Lite On and got a really
good deal. It was definitely an intermittent problem with the Sony RW drive
because I have had no problems viewing or burning with the new Lite On.

I actually purchased an NEC as well just in case of failure. Both were
$30.00 after rebate.

The question still remains as to why my original DVD drive worked after
using CCleaner. I replaced it with the NEC because it would not play a new
DVD so I figure after 6 years it could be retired. What a disappointment with
that Sony Drive only lasting 1 1/2 years. Ahhhhh the planned obsolescense
factor.

Anyway, thanks for the help and tips.
 
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