CD-RW drive can't recognize blank CDs

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My CD drive won't recognize blank CD-RW disks. The brand does not seem to
matter. It use to work but quite possibly has been altered by another
program. I can't figure it out. Checking the properties of the drive show
that it is a recordable drive.
 
Electronicbuff said:
My CD drive won't recognize blank CD-RW disks. The brand does not
seem to matter. It use to work but quite possibly has been altered by
another program. I can't figure it out. Checking the properties of
the drive show that it is a recordable drive.
Click to expand...


The fact that it is a recordable drive isn't sufficent. Some drives are CDR
and some are both CDR and CDRW. If yours is the first type, you can't write
CDRs.
 
He did say that it used to write!
I've had several drives go the same way over the years.
To be brutally frank......... it's stuffed/unuseable.
I'm not sure if the laser gets out of alignment or simply burns out or what
but most can still read but not write. Sometimes I've changed the faceplate
& installed them in older computers to replace really ancient drives. (like
in old 486's).
You have 2 choices......... warranty or trash.
 
:

I appreciate the comments but I don't think the drive has an age problem.
As a matter of fact I'm having this problem on two different machines both
running XP Pro. One of the systems is only 2 months old.

I think the change occured when I added an editing software program or
another program. Maybe it took over or something but I can't find out how to
get the simple and easy-to-use Windows XP drag and drop software to work
again since it can no longer see blank disks.

I've since explored and got the burner to burn using another program, to the
exact same CD I tried earlier, but I still prefer the simplicity of the
Windows drag and burn feature that I use to have.

Any ideas how to get the Windows program to recognize these CDs so it will
work again?
 
I have exactly the same problem as Electronicbuff. Other programs will burn
to the Cd..."drag n drop" Windows XP program will not. The program worked
before and now it doesn't. Went through lots of back and forth with support,
and did all pocedures they suggested. I'm also thinking might be some other
program I installed???? Any more help out there?
 
sandyntp said:
I have exactly the same problem as Electronicbuff. Other programs will burn
to the Cd..."drag n drop" Windows XP program will not. The program worked
before and now it doesn't. Went through lots of back and forth with support,
and did all pocedures they suggested. I'm also thinking might be some other
program I installed???? Any more help out there?
Click to expand...

You should always start your own message and not add to the end of
someone else's. You might get lost in the shuffle.

That said, try this:

Click on My Computer, right mouse click on your CDr drive and select
Properties and then left mouse click on the Recording tab. Is Enable CD
recording on this drive checked?
 
Thanks for the tip.
Yes, I have done that. One of the procedures in microsoft troubleshooting.
Thanks...
 
Hi Sandy,

Some things may not apply, hopefully something might, though..

If you are using multiple burning apps or media players or apps like itunes
that can rip/burn to a CD/DVD drive, you might be having an exclusive lock
issue between these apps (over time) for reasons, well go figure.. It seems
to help uninstalling them and clearing out the U&L filters for some people..
I just use my old Nero and have disabled the Xp inbuilt capabilities as
recommended.. See links below..

http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpcd.php

The XP inbuilt has not to my knowledge been updated since Sept 2003, by MS
or anybody, that said, any third party burning app would be a definite
upgrade, in my opinion..

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/bott_03september16.mspx



Have you tried updating the optical drives firmware..?

Have you uninstalled the drive in device manager, to let Windows install it
again at boot-up, or the "scan for hardware changes" option in device
manager after the device is uninstalled, may work as well..

Might check the Upper & Lower filters for the optical drives..?

The easiest way to check without going into the registry, would be to go to
Device Manager, open DVD/CD-ROM drives, right click one of your optical
drives, select properties from the menu, Details tab, you should see "Device
Instance Id" and a drop down arrow (v), click it, move the mouse pointer
down the list to highlight Device Upper filters and click it, do the same
for the Device Lower filters, Class Upper & Lower filters as well to see and
take note of their contents.. Also, there should be just 4 MS signed drivers
in the Drivers tab, driver details button, driver files details window, may
want to check, your call..

MS signed drivers: cdrom.sys, imapi.sys, redbook.sys, storprop.dll (if you
see others they may be causing exclusive lock issues)

What, if any extra drivers/entries do you see in the filters or on the
drivers tab..?

Please list them if you would, thanks.. (may help determine what drivers are
trying to access the drive)

To reinstall the MS generic cdrom drivers.. In my computer, tools, folder
options, view tab, in advanced settings, you'll need to first mark "show
hidden files and folders", then uncheck the box for "Hide extensions of
known file types".. Now you can go to the windows\INF folder and find
"cdrom.inf" and right click it, select install from the menu.. Remember to
change back to your original settings in folder options..

Also, could have a possible autoplay relationship in some cases..?

Look these links over, your call..


http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/e...ding/autoplay/autoplay2k_using.asp?frame=true



http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...B6-E8FA-45C4-A171-1B389CFACDAD&displaylang=en



I use CD/DVD-RW media with my Nero InCd app to format this media, so as to
use it like a floppy, works like a charm, though it can be temperamental or
problematic at times..
Remember in Win98se you had no choice, you had to use third party burning
software for CD media.. If MS won't update the XP inbuilt, why use it..? Or
just use it exclusively, and reinstall wisely your other related apps, may
require more cleaning and reinstalling to get it to work.. I have run into
this problem with other apps that have required this, I just do it and move
on, it's called a workaround or to some perhaps a hack, true hackers would
disagree, I'm sure..
Post your results..
Cheers
j;-j
 
Hey guys, I figured it out.

For some reason when I installed a movie editing program it took over and
would no longer allow the Windows XP "Drag and Drop" burning feature to work.


Before figuring out what caused the problem I beat my head on the ground
checking the drive properties, etc. I even installed a new drive thinking the
drive was screwed up with no change. Nothing helped and microsoft and the
computer manufacture were clueless too.

It turned out that the cause was the installation of my Movie Majix Pro 11
software. When I installed this program it removed the "Drag & Drop" program
that Roxio made for Microsoft XP Pro. Removing the movie software didn't
help.

Once I discoved what the program was that caused the headache I checked my
restore points. When ever I add a program I put in a restore point telling
me by name that it is prior to the install of _________. I simply restored
the computer prior to this point and BINGO the "Drag and Drop" was back
again.

The software I added either deleted or corrupted my original easy burning
program. Software designers must know this but probably think that this will
lock us into their products instead.

So if you want the program back, revert to a restore point prior to the
installation of your newly added photo, movie, player, etc software and all
should be well again.
 
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