Windows cannot read a blank disc

[JG]

I get the error message:

Windows cannot read the disc in drive D:\

whenever I place a blank DVD into my drive. I can't format the disc and
don't have the option to in the right-click menu. There isn't any autoplay
menu popping up when I place it in either. Other then that, my DVD drive is
working perfectly and I can play any other type of DVD. I have to jump
through some hoops for most of the thing I want to write to it, but I need to
have a formatted disc to burn a video to it.

My drive is an NEC ND-3650A

 

[philo]

I get the error message:

Windows cannot read the disc in drive D:\

whenever I place a blank DVD into my drive. I can't format the disc and
don't have the option to in the right-click menu. There isn't any autoplay
menu popping up when I place it in either. Other then that, my DVD drive is
working perfectly and I can play any other type of DVD. I have to jump
through some hoops for most of the thing I want to write to it, but I need to
have a formatted disc to burn a video to it.

My drive is an NEC ND-3650A

If the disk is blank...OF COURSE the OS cannot read it...it's BLANK

And NO you do not format a DVD first...to burn a video is no different from
any other burn process...
you simply use a blank disk

 

[bp]

If the disk is blank...OF COURSE the OS cannot read it...it's BLANK

And NO you do not format a DVD first...to burn a video is no different from
any other burn process...
you simply use a blank disk

WRONG!

In Vista it will read a blank disc and ask you what you want to do with it.
Guess what? One of the options is to format it. Apparently Vista has some
sort of packet writing software build in now.

As far as the OP's problem
I had same issue with a certain DVD burner. For some reason Vista didn't
think my DVD was a burner and thus never offered the options either.
It worked fine for everything except burning. If I recall correctly it
worked once I disabled Deamon tools so if you have that installed try
uninstalling it and see if it works then.

You can also try to do a firmware up grade on the DVD burner but other than
that it's easier to go buy a compatible one. You can find them dirt cheap
this time of year.

Or just disable Deamon tools if you need to burn a DVD (if that turns out to
be your problem)

 

[philo]

WRONG!

In Vista it will read a blank disc and ask you what you want to do with it.
Guess what? One of the options is to format it. Apparently Vista has some
sort of packet writing software build in now.

As far as the OP's problem
I had same issue with a certain DVD burner. For some reason Vista didn't
think my DVD was a burner and thus never offered the options either.
It worked fine for everything except burning. If I recall correctly it
worked once I disabled Deamon tools so if you have that installed try
uninstalling it and see if it works then.

You can also try to do a firmware up grade on the DVD burner but other than
that it's easier to go buy a compatible one. You can find them dirt cheap
this time of year.

Or just disable Deamon tools if you need to burn a DVD (if that turns out to
be your problem)

You CANNOT possibly format a blank disk unless it's R/W!!!!

 

[JG]

WRONG!

In Vista it will read a blank disc and ask you what you want to do with it.
Guess what? One of the options is to format it. Apparently Vista has some
sort of packet writing software build in now.

As far as the OP's problem
I had same issue with a certain DVD burner. For some reason Vista didn't
think my DVD was a burner and thus never offered the options either.
It worked fine for everything except burning. If I recall correctly it
worked once I disabled Deamon tools so if you have that installed try
uninstalling it and see if it works then.

You can also try to do a firmware up grade on the DVD burner but other than
that it's easier to go buy a compatible one. You can find them dirt cheap
this time of year.

Or just disable Deamon tools if you need to burn a DVD (if that turns out to
be your problem)

Thank you! That was EXACTLY the problem I had! I'm also very grateful you
were aware of Vista's quirks so I got a reply that was actually helpful.
Again, I'm incredibly grateful, thank you so much.

 

[MrAndrew]

Vista cannot read a blank disk, no AutoPlay option, no Format available

I have had this problem on 4 machines that I built using Windows Vista,
based on Gigabyte motherboards (1 GA-P35C-DS3R, 3 GA-P35-DS3R.) The problem
on my machines turned out to be a bad driver written by a company named
JMicron (jmicron.com) and supplied with the motherboards by Gigabyte. I do
not know if the bad JMicron driver ships with other Gigabyte motherboards as
well, but I suspect so. It is possible that JMicron supplies drivers to
other motherboard manufacturers. I don’t know what the effect of this driver
is on Windows XP systems.

The Symptoms:
1) Inserting a blank CDR (or CDRW) or DVDR (or DVD +/- RW) does not bring
up AutoPlay dialog.
2) Attempting to use the disk in windows explorer generates the error
“Windows cannot read the disc in drive X. Make sure that the disc uses a
format that Windows recognizes. If the disc is unformatted, you need to
format it before using it."
3) In Device Manager, under DVD/CD-ROM drives, the CD/DVD device says it
is “SCSIâ€, even though it is not a SCSI device. It should say “ATAâ€.
4) In Device Manager under Storage Controllers there is a device named
“Gigabyte GBB36X Controller.â€


The Issue:
JMicron supplied a device driver to Gigabyte that has something to do with
support for PATA drives. They based it off a SCSI device driver, but failed
to fully re-write it for PATA. The device driver reports to windows that the
device is a SCSI device, and hands other bad data to Vista. Because of the
bad data supplied by the faulty device driver, Vista fails to identify that
there are valid CD/DVD PATA device(s).


The Solution:
Go to Control Panel/Device Manager. Click on “Storage controllersâ€.
Double-click on the “Gigabyte GBB36X Controller.†Select “Roll Back Driverâ€,
and Yes/OK any dialogs asking to confirm. Afterwards the “Gigabyte GBB36X
Controller†will be gone. Check under DVD/CD-Rom drives. The device(s)
should now show up as ATA, not SCSI. The device should now work properly.

Note: On two machines I did not reboot after doing this and subsequently had
a blue-screen crash (after which everything was fine.) On the other two
machines I did a reboot after rolling back the device and had no crash.


Microsoft is aware of the issue and is working with Gigabyte to correct the
problem.

 

[Chillwill]

Had the same trouble with a lite-on dvd burner and it was indeed a jmicron
driver. I have a asus motherboardnot gigabyte but jmicron supplies the raid
driver so when i uninstalled it my drive went back to working. Thank god i
dont have raid set up or i would have to buy a new burner.

First time i ever found an answer on microsoft forums lol