CD/DVD/Blu-ray Drive/Writer Problems: Fixing Problems with DVD and Blu-ray Optical Drives - Page 1

This section of this website consists of two pages and provides solutions to a large number of CD/DVD optical drive hardware and software problems, the descriptive links to which are on two pages.

Click here! to skip the following preamble and useful data-recovery and diagnostic information and go directly to the list of solved problems.

You should be able to find one or more problems that provide information on how to fix a particular problem that you are experiencing with an optical drive. I have included as many of the symptoms as possible in the descriptive links provided lower down on this page to make it as easy as possible to find a problem that matches your situation. If you were brought to this page by a search engine, to save time finding the correct problem, try pressing the Ctrl + F key combination, which brings up the Find box in most web browsers, and enter the same search query to find the problem link that uses those words on each of the two pages of CD/DVD Drive Problems, of which this is the first. Or just read through the descriptive links. Some of the fixes provided here require the editing of the Windows Registry. Remember, you should create a restore point in System Restore and have a restorable backup of your computer's system or at least the Registry itself before you attempt to edit the Registry in case doing so miscarries and renders the computer unbootable. Click here! to visit information on on this website on how to create backups and restorable disk images. You can export the Registry by entering regedit in the Run box in Windows XP and the Search... box in Windows Vista and Windows7.

CD/DVD DRIVE PROBLEMS - PAGE 1 of 2

The CD/DVD/Blu-ray drive problems in the form of Q&As are listed under the table below that contains useful problem-solving information.

Click here! to go to Page 2 of CD/DVD drive problems and solutions.

Click the relevant link below to go to that Q&A article. Use your browser's Back button to backtrack

1. - Information on CD/DVD/Blu-ray optical drive/writer problems in the Microsoft Knowledge Base

2. - My PC/laptop computer running Windows 7 suddenly won't play DVDs using Windows Media Player or Real Player

2. - I can't watch DVD movies on my Windows XP laptop/notebook computer

3. - How can I remove the DRM copy protection on the music tracks that I purchased from Nokia so that I can play them on an iPod and burn them to a CD/DVD disc?

4. - The DVD drive/writer of my laptop PC/computer won't write to DVD-R/DVD+R discs

5. - When some burned DVDs are played the picture becomes pixilated and the DVD drive/DVD player stops playing

6. - How do I format rewritable CD/DVD discs and erase the files saved on re-recordable/rewritable CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD RAM discs in Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7?

7. - How can I replace my Dell Inspiron 6000/6400/9200/9300/E1405/E1505 laptop/notebook PC's DVD drive/writer?

8. - DVD movie problem: my computer and the DVD drive work properly, but the sound is crackly and the picture is jerky

9. - Reinstalling a DVD decoder: My Dell Inspiron PC has stopped recognising (US: recognizing) DVDs

10. - The Autoplay feature in Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7 no longer works for a USB flash drive or CD/DVD disc

11. - How can I disable/turn off the AutoPlay feature in Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7 that displays a list of options when I insert a CD or DVD or install a USB flash drive/memory stick?

12. - Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7 won't play a CD/DVD - it does not detect a disc inserted in the drive

13. - My CD/DVD drive/writer won't work after I removed a virus and uninstalled its device driver, which Windows reinstalled unsucessfully

14. - My home CD/DVD player won't play rewritable CD-RW/DVD-RW/DVD+RW discs that my PC's CD/DVD drive/writer can play

15. - How can I drag-and-drop and copy files and folders directly to recordable/rewritable CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs in the same way as I can to a hard disk drive in Windows XP and Windows Vista?

16. - My DVD drive/writer won't write to some recordable DVDs - DVD-R and DVD+R discs - at their rated speed

17. - My Computer in Windows XP does not recognise/recognize my CD/DVD drives, the BIOS does, but the Device Manager shows a yellow exclamation mark beside each drive's entry

18. - Inserting a blank recordable CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW disc in the CD/DVD writer makes Windows XP lock up

19. - The speed of a CD-RW burn and the quality of the discs?

20. - Why won't my CD/DVD writer burn some types of CD/DVD? - The drive/writer/disc compatibility of CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW and DVD+R recordable CD/DVD discs

21. - Problems saving a database to CD-R and CD-RW discs

22. - Prevent disc-burning failures : How to avoid buffer underruns and spoiled CDs/DVDs when burning/writing files to recordable CD/DVDs - CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVd+RW discs

23. - How to upgrade your CD/DVD/Blu-ray driver/writer's firmware

24. - Windows XP can only burn read-only files to CD-RW media/discs. How can I edit the files and save them back to the disc?

25. - My Toshiba DVD writer/burner won't write/burn to no-brand DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW media/discs

26. - When ripping audio CDs in iTunes the last track very often is much longer than the actual track, so how can I edit the MP3 file to remove the blank bit?

27. - DVD drive/writer won't read installation discs, only copied discs - or DVD drive only reads CDs not DVDs

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My PC/laptop computer running Windows 7 suddenly won't play DVDs using Windows Media Player or Real Player

Problem

I have a laptop running Windows 7. When I insert a DVD that has worked fine before today, a message comes up saying that a file is missing so the DVD can't be played. Using different DVDs produces the same result with Windows Media player (WMP) or Real Player.

Solutions

This is the solution that works most of the time for this most common of problems with CD/DVD drives. Insert the CD/DVD into the drive, open Windows Explorer by right-clicking on the Start button and then right-click on the entry for CD/DVD drive and click on Properties in the menu that comes up. The AutoPlay option might not be enabled for the type of file you want to play, so open AutoPlay in the Win7 Control Panel. To do that, set View by: in the top right-hand corner to Small icons or Large icons and then open the AutoPlay option, which allows you to set which programs play movies, audio files, view image files, etc. Set the media player that you want to use as the default player under the the categories that you use. If doing that doesn't work, try opening the Device Manager (by entering its name or devmgmt.msc in the Start => Search... box) and uninstall the DVD drive by right-clicking on its entry under DVD/CD ROM drives, click on the Uninstall option and reboot. Windows will reinstall the driver for the drive. Some users report having to do this every time Windows Update installs updates.The drive's manufacturer may have new drivers and firmware for your model (it must be for your model not any other model) that can be downloaded and installed. Just go to the drive manufacturer's web site and search for your model's support page. Most third-party media programs make themselves as the default player. Real Player has a bad reputation for the way in which it sets itself up and for what it reports back to its developer, so I don't use it. The VLC Player, Winamp and Windows Media Player, now at version 12.0, all free, have good reputations. A good alternative idea would be to download and install the version of the K-Lite Codec Pack that meets your needs. The Full version is best and can be obtained here: http://www.filehippo.com/download_klite_codec_pack/.It allows Windows Media Player to play almost anything. During the installation, select ALL video and ALL audio types. I keep three versions on a utilities DVD for XP, Vista and Win7 and install it for people who use Audio/Video playback. When the Pack is installed, apart from the Windows Media Player, of course, which uses it, you can uninstall any other player you have installed. It is advisable to install Real Player. I always uninstall it on any computer that I get to work on. Note that, like all good software, the K-Lite Codecs are updated regularly. File Hippo updates from filehippo.com keep you updated on those codecs and many other programs. News of latest updates are sent to you by email.

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The speed of a CD-RW burn and the quality of the discs?

Questions

I have purchased a new 40x12x48 CD-RW drive and now I need two questions answered. First, when you buy CD-R and CD-RW media, how does the speed affect the quality of the final burn, especially when burning at higher speeds? - Second, should you use the best quality blank CDs?

Answers

Last question first. - The 10x (or any x specification) is not a designation of quality, but just the recommended burning speed. For instance, a 40x CD can be burned at 40x or lower, but a 10x CD may or may not burn at 12x.

I personally have never experienced any difference in quality when burning a CD at high compared to lower burning speeds. However, sometimes you may need to burn at a lower speed in order to avoid a buffer underrun error. You should go ahead and buy CDs that have high recommended maximum burning speeds (as long as they aren't too overpriced), and just burn them at the maximum recommended speed. CD-Rs and CD-RW discs are so cheap nowadays that everyone can afford to experiment. With CD-RW discs you can erase any faulty burns and redo them, but you will have to throw away any aborted record-once CD-R discs.

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Problems saving a database to CD-R and CD-RW discs

Problem

I have created a database with MS Access that is 2MB in size. I used Adaptec's Easy CD Creator - Standard Edition to burn the database to both CD-R and CD-RW discs. But whenever I attempt to open the database from either type of disc, the message "The database K.M.S. is read only" appears. I want to know how you can transfer the database to another computer so that data can be added to it and design changes can be effected.

Solution

Easy CD Creator creates a disc that can be used in the same way as a CD-ROM disc is. CD-ROM discs are read-only, so you can't write to CDs created with Easy CD Creator. Even if you copy the files from the CD to the hard drive, they will be set to read-only. You have to right-click on each file, click Properties, and then uncheck the Read-only box. However, the Universal Disk Format (UDF) allows you to write to CDs in the same way as you can write to floppy disks, but you need to use software that can use this format. Adaptec's Direct CD is a program that provides this facility. Note that the computer to which you want to transport the database has to have CD-writing software installed on it that can handle UDF.

It is not advisable to access a database directly from a recorded CD, because database software writes to many different records in various parts of the file, and, because of the nature of CDs, accessing the information will be very slow as the blocks of data are copied to the hard drive, Windows finds the relevant data within them, and then brings it to the screen. The best method is to copy all of the files to the hard drive, work on it there, and then copy the modified version back to the CD. This method is especially effective when using CD-R discs that can only be written to once.