Is there a free utility to validate CD burner

[RLN]

Re: WinXP-SP3

I have a CD-DVD burner on a 6 yr old Dell Desktop PC. I burned
several CD's on it about 4 months ago using iTunes. Today, I put a
blank disc in the burner drive and iTunes says there is no media in
the burner, when in fact there is. (between now and 4 to 6 months
ago, I have made no system changes to the computer...I only installed
Nero Media software and an update to MS Office 2003..that's it)

Today I uninstalled Nero completely, did a complete power down, left
the system down for 15 minutes, then powered it back up again. iTunes
still does not see my CD-DVD burner drive.

Is there a free utility I can download that will check and verify that
Windows *DOES* in fact see that the burner drive is there and that it
exists?

Thanks,

RLN

 

[RLN]

....one thing I wanted to add....

Tonight I was able to install some gaming software from the CD-DVD
burner drive and it installed fine.
This tells me that Windows XP sees this drive just fine.

Just wondering why iTunes and Windows Media Player won't see it when
it comes time to burn songs to disc.

--RLN

 

[John Inzer]

Re: WinXP-SP3

I have a CD-DVD burner on a 6 yr old Dell Desktop PC. I burned
several CD's on it about 4 months ago using iTunes. Today, I put a
blank disc in the burner drive and iTunes says there is no media in
the burner, when in fact there is. (between now and 4 to 6 months
ago, I have made no system changes to the computer...I only installed
Nero Media software and an update to MS Office 2003..that's it)

Today I uninstalled Nero completely, did a complete power down, left
the system down for 15 minutes, then powered it back up again. iTunes
still does not see my CD-DVD burner drive.

Is there a free utility I can download that will check and verify that
Windows *DOES* in fact see that the burner drive is there and that it
exists?

Thanks,

RLN

======================================
Maybe the following articles would be worth a look:

(314060) Your CD drive or DVD drive is missing
or is not recognized by Windows or other programs
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060/en-us

(316529) CD-R Drive or CD-RW Drive Is
Not Recognized As a Recordable Device
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=316529

--


John Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

 

[Andrew E.]

XP already has the utilities installed,try run,type:Msinfo32 Click on
components,
cd-rom.Or,open device mgr,scroll to cdrom,R.click,properties..Also,dell may
have put the hardware together but they did'nt build it,go to the cdrom mfg
web site,type or select the model number,see if it has a firmware update,most
do...

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Re: WinXP-SP3

I have a CD-DVD burner on a 6 yr old Dell Desktop PC. I burned
several CD's on it about 4 months ago using iTunes. Today, I put a
blank disc in the burner drive and iTunes says there is no media in
the burner, when in fact there is. (between now and 4 to 6 months
ago, I have made no system changes to the computer...I only installed
Nero Media software and an update to MS Office 2003..that's it)

Today I uninstalled Nero completely, did a complete power down, left
the system down for 15 minutes, then powered it back up again. iTunes
still does not see my CD-DVD burner drive.

Is there a free utility I can download that will check and verify that
Windows *DOES* in fact see that the burner drive is there and that it
exists?

Thanks,

RLN

The drive may "check out" for Explorer, even when it's gone out of alignment
and can't read or burn.

Replace the drive; they do wear out. You can get a new one for under $25,
and they are trivial to install.

HTH
-pk

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was Wednesday, April 08, 2009 6:15:45 PM, and on a
whim, RLN pounded out on the keyboard:

Re: WinXP-SP3

I have a CD-DVD burner on a 6 yr old Dell Desktop PC. I burned
several CD's on it about 4 months ago using iTunes. Today, I put a
blank disc in the burner drive and iTunes says there is no media in
the burner, when in fact there is. (between now and 4 to 6 months
ago, I have made no system changes to the computer...I only installed
Nero Media software and an update to MS Office 2003..that's it)

Today I uninstalled Nero completely, did a complete power down, left
the system down for 15 minutes, then powered it back up again. iTunes
still does not see my CD-DVD burner drive.

Is there a free utility I can download that will check and verify that
Windows *DOES* in fact see that the burner drive is there and that it
exists?

Thanks,

RLN

Hi RLN,

It isn't uncommon for a drive to partially fail. I've seen many writers
losing the ability to write but can read fine. In fact I have one on my
system right now that failed writing about a month ago. I still use it
as a reader/player, but had to install a new drive for burning.



Terry R.

 

[Onsokumaru]

...one thing I wanted to add....

Tonight I was able to install some gaming software from the CD-DVD
burner drive and it installed fine.
This tells me that Windows XP sees this drive just fine.

Just wondering why iTunes and Windows Media Player won't see it when
it comes time to burn songs to disc.

--RLN

Are you able to use any other burning program to create a disk?

Is the drive six years old as well?

It could simply be failing, as they do eventually. Can still read but not
write.

If you can't use Nero, or some other program to create a disc, I would
suggest drive is failing.

 

[Gary Richtmeyer]

The date and time was Wednesday, April 08, 2009 6:15:45 PM, and on a whim,
RLN pounded out on the keyboard:


Hi RLN,

It isn't uncommon for a drive to partially fail. I've seen many writers
losing the ability to write but can read fine. In fact I have one on my
system right now that failed writing about a month ago. I still use it as
a reader/player, but had to install a new drive for burning.



Terry R.

I'm a little late in adding to this thread, but if the CD-DVD drive shows up
in "My Computer", then the inability to detect media in the drive can also
occur if the drive's internals have become dirty. If the drive hasn't been
used in a while, dust may have accumulated inside preventing the laser from
"seeing" the disc. Use a "CD drive cleaner CD" for cleaning home CD players
to clean out any dust/dirt (you can get them at any Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc).
They work just fine in PC CD drives.

May not be the cause of your the problem, but it's easier/cheaper to try
than replacing the entire drive!

-- Gary Richtmeyer

 

[RLN]

Use a "CD drive cleaner CD" for cleaning home CD players to clean out any dust/dirt (you can get them at any Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc). They work just fine in PC CD drives.<<

Gary,
I will give that a try. My techsupport is up with Dell on this
machine as it is 7 years old. The risk of buying a 3rd party DVD
burner from a store in town is risky...not knowing what would need to
be configured on it with WinXP, etc. I'll go the cleaning route and
see if that works.

 

[Tom [Pepper] Willett]

What is risky about buy a 3rd party dvd burner for Windows XP? People do it
all the time. And, they're most likely much better than the cheap OEM one
that came with the computer.

Just make sure if what you have is IDE or Sata, and buy one. It's all plug
and play.

www.newegg.com has great prices.

: >>Use a "CD drive cleaner CD" for cleaning home CD players to clean out
any dust/dirt (you can get them at any Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc). They work
just fine in PC CD drives.<<
:
: Gary,
: I will give that a try. My techsupport is up with Dell on this
: machine as it is 7 years old. The risk of buying a 3rd party DVD
: burner from a store in town is risky...not knowing what would need to
: be configured on it with WinXP, etc. I'll go the cleaning route and
: see if that works.
: