CD/DVD Drive/Writer Problems: Fixing Problems with CD and DVD Drives - Page 2

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CD/DVD DRIVE PROBLEMS - PAGE 2

Visit the Disk Drives section of this site for information on internal and external hard disk drives and CD/DVD drives/writers.

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Some of the fixes provided here require the editing of the Windows Registry. Remember, you should have a restorable backup of your computer's system before you attempt to edit the Registry in case doing so miscarries and renders the computer unbootable.

1. - Why can't I just copy DVD movies to a hard disk drive and then play them?

2. - What is the cheapest and easiest way to use my PC/computer to copy VHS video tapes on to DVD/Blu-ray discs?

3. - I installed two replacement CD drives and now at start-up Windows produces this error message for both of them: "ATAPI incompatible, press F1 to resume"

4. - What is bitsetting (bit setting compatibility bitsetting, bit mode compatibility) with regard to DVD Drives/writers and is it an important feature?

5. - Burned DVDs (DVD-R discs) produce CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) error messages

6. - Why can't I write to DVD RAM discs with my PC's internal LG Super Multi DVD Rewriter (model GH22)?

7. - The system requirements of an external/internal DVD/Blu-ray writer that I bought don't match those of my netbook/laptop/desktop PC/computer

8. - If I format a CD-RW disc and drag and drop files to it in Windows XP, would another Windows computer be able to read and write to the same disc?

9. - Why can Windows XP only read some of the CD-RW discs I burned with Nero and Roxio in Windows 98 several years ago?

10. - How do I change the drive letter of my DVD drive (from H: back to D: ) using Windows XP?

11. - Why can't I use CD-R90 CDs?

12. - Why won't the CDs and DVDs that I burn from ISO files boot? - Why are burned ISO files not bootable?

13. - My desktop PC only boots into Safe Mode in Windows XP, so I can't save my data files and images to an external USB CD writer

14. - The website of the Dell/HP laptop PC/computer I want to buy says: "This computer does not have an internal optical drive for software installation."

Why can't I just copy DVD movies to a hard disk drive and then play them?

Problem

I'm trying to copy my DVD movies to my hard disk drive. I can copy but can't play them. Is there some program that will let me burn a DVD movie on to my computer and play it? I have already tried one program and it uploads the movie into Audio and a Video folders.

Answer

To do that, a program that creates a virtual DVD drive is required. You then use a DVD burning program to create an ISO or image of the DVD. Once this is done, you right-click the virtual DVD drive and select the option to mount the image for viewing.

Several programs can do this. Alcohol 120% from http://www.alcohol-software.com/ does that very well.

However, due to the present legal restrictions, DVD movies protected with Content Scramble System (CSS) Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection cannot be backed up with Alcohol 120%.

Note well that if you can do the above, you could be violating copyright law in your country by breaking the copyright protection on the DVD.

What is the cheapest and easiest way to use my PC/computer to copy VHS video tapes on to DVD/Blu-ray discs?

Question

I need to know what the easiest, cheapest way of copying VHS video tapes on to DVD or Blu-ray discs is.

Answer

I assume that you have a relatively recent desktop or laptop computer that has at least 128MB or 512MB of RAM so that it runs Windows 98/98 SE or Windows XP (respectively) comfortably. If you have a computer running Windows Vista, it should have a minimum of 2GB of RAM memory. Note that the 32-bit versions of Vista cannot use more than about 3.2GB of RAM memory. The 64-bit versions of Vista can use up to 128GB.

Simply capturing VHS video and burning it on to DVD discs won't be a prohibitively expensive business, but you will require some hardware and software. Of course, you'll need to have a DVD writer and the software that can burn files to DVD discs, and the software that allows you to edit video.

The easiest but not the cheapest way to convert analog video content to a DVD format is to make use of a combined VHS and DVD recorder, which costs about £150. Using one of those, you can play the video and record it to a recordable DVD disc in real time.

If you don't have such a machine and don't want to spend £150, luckily, video-capture devices are cheap. If you still have a standalone VCR machine, the cheapest way to capture VHS video and transfer it to a PC that I could find (April 2009) is to buy a Kworld USB2800D DVD Maker, a USB 2.0 device that costs only £20 from http://www.scan.co.uk/. The device has a USB connection that you plug into your PC and a phono connection that plugs in the VCR machine. It comes with Cyberlink PowerProducer that enables you to to create DVDs and PowerDirector, which allows you to edit videos.

DVD Maker records video to DVDs, but does not allow you to save the results to your PC's hard disk drive. If you want to save your videos in MPEG2 format on your PC, you need to use a DVD-ripping program, such as the free DVD Ripper from http://www.freewarezoom.com/archives/free-dvd-ripper.

Alternatively, you can use a TV adapter card that supports MPEG2, which you may already have. The Leadtek WinFast PxDVR3200 H PCI Express TV card (currently under the Multimedia heading on Leadtek's site) is just what you need. Costing around £63.00 (April 2009) , it comes with DVD authoring software, and, more importantly, also a video-editing package. - "DirectBurn: Provide you a simple and direct way to transform home videos and movies from camcorders, VHS tapes, and personal DVDs into polished CDs and DVDs. As you watch TV, you can record and burn it into VCD/SVCD/DVD synchronously. Save your time and valuable hard-drive space." The Leadtek WinFast PxDTV2300 H is another PCI Express model. If your PC only has an elderly motherboard that has a free PCI slot, you could probably find a PCI TV card that provides the same capabilities, such as the Leadtek Winfast TV2000 XP Expert, which at the time of writing (April 2009) was still available from a seller on amazon.com for $30. eBay is another good source for second-hand PC components. Note that CardBus (PCMCIA) and ExpressCard cards are available for use with a laptop PC.

External devices are also available that can capture and convert analog video to digital video (DV), such as the Leadtek WinFast VC100 U Video Editor (USB 2.0) device.

You can make use of the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled) to conduct a search for information on these or similar products and sellers by using suitable search term.

You can use a computer with a 450MHz (0.450GHz) processor for video editing if you want to waste a lot of time (very slow by today's multiple-core standards which typically fall between 2GHz and 3GHz with the processor housing two or three or four identical processing cores). A computer used for video editing should be as fast as possible, and have as much free hard-disk space as possible. Visit the Desktop PCs and Laptops sections of this website for buying advice and current reviews.

A new dual-layer DVD writer can write to CD-R and CD-RW discs, and single-layer and dual-layer DVD discs. The dual-layer DVD discs can store up to fours hours of video or film.

The new Blu-ray standard, created by Sony, also has write-once (BD-R) and rewritable (BD-RE) discs. Single and dual layer (DL) discs are available that have capacities of 25GB and 50GB respectively. Most Blu-ray drives/players can also play CD and DVD discs. Note, however, that not all of the current (August 2008) Blu-ray writers can write to the 50GB discs. If you want to write to the 50GB discs, check the drive's specifications before you make a purchase.

50GB is enough storage for 9 hours of HD (high definition) movies, 23 hours of standard definition content, or 72 CDs on a single disc. Moreover, Blu-ray Disc gives you playback of MPEG2, the native compression technique for HDTV broadcasts, or even more capacity with advanced codes such as AVC.

The maximum disc-capacity of Blu-ray discs will soon be 10 times the current 50GB:

Pioneer Increases [Blu-ray] Disc Size to 500GB -

"August 5, 2008.- "About a month ago, Pioneer announced that they had developed a 400GB Blu-ray Disc. Not satisfied that they had exhausted all avenues, they continued developed and found a way to add four additional layers, bringing the total disc capacity to 500GB. As with the 400GB version, the disc is compatible with current Blu-ray drives found in computers, players, and recorders." - http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=1616

I installed two replacement CD drives and now at start-up Windows produces this error message for both of them: "ATAPI incompatible, press F1 to resume"

Problem

I have a computer running Windows 98 that went bang when the power supply unit gave up the ghost dramatically. I replaced both CD drives and the power supply unit, but this message comes up for both of the drives when Windows 98 tries to install their device drivers: "ATAPI incompatible, press F1 to resume." - What am I doing wrong?

Answer

ATPI stands for the AT Attachment Packet Interface, which is an extension to the EIDE interface that allows support for devices such as hard disk drives, CD/DVD drives, or other IDE computer peripherals.

This issue can be caused by any off the following possibilities: the IDE drive cable is loose or not connected, or the settings in the BIOS are not set properly.

If any hardware has been installed, or the computer has been moved it's possible that the IDE drive or power cables connected to the hard disk drive or the CD/DVD drive may have become loose or disconnected.

Whenever working inside a computer always remember to take precautions against electrostatic discharge (ESD), commonly called static electricity. If necessary, read the warning about static electricity in on the first Build a PC page on this site.

Make sure that the affected hard disk drive or the CD/DVD drive is connected to the motherboard or IDE adapter card properly. See the two Disk Drives pages on this site for information on the cables attached to disk drives and the motherboard's or a PCI adapter card's IDE channels.

If the cables appear to be connected properly, disconnect and then reconnect them, making sure that they're inserted into their connection points properly. And make sure that none of the pins in the IDE connectors on the drive itself or on the motherboard have been bent, or have broken off.

If all of cables have been checked or disconnected and reconnected and you continue to experience the same problem, it's possible that the IDE settings may not be set up properly in BIOS. All of the IDE options should be set to the Auto options.

If you have followed the above steps and continue to have the same problem, it's possible that the computer may have faulty cable(s), drive(s), motherboard, or PCI IDE adapter card, if one is being used.

What is bitsetting (bit setting compatibility bitsetting, bit mode compatibility) with regard to DVD Drives/writers and is it an important feature?

Question

I was on the point of buying a well-reviewed DVD writer - the LG GSA-41208 - but then I read somewhere about how a bitsetting feature can improve disc compatibility. This particular drive doesn't support it. Can you please explain what bitsetting is? I want to buy a drive that can play and record to the widest range of disc formats.

Answer

There are other terms for bitsetting - bit setting, compatibility bitsetting, and bit mode compatibility.

At the moment, only certain brands of DVD+R and DVD+RW disc writers can apply bitsetting. With DVD-R discs bitsetting isn't possible because the field that is changed by bitsetting is pre-set during the manufacturing process.

There is an entry called the Book Type Field that is in the start-up section of each DVD disc. This contains bits of information that tell the drive what kind of disc has been loaded - whether it's a DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW or DVD-RAM disc.

In order that a DVD drive or home player can identify what kind of disc is loaded, it queries the Book Type Field. The few bits of information in that particular area of a DVD disc, commonly referred to as the compatibility bitsettings, are programmed to tell the drive which of the low-level format specifications the disc media is, such as DVD-ROM, DVD+R or DVD+RW, etc.

Most DVD players can read a DVD+RW or DVD+R disc, but a small minority of them can't recognise the format at all and can therefore report a disc error when a disc is loaded that is not marked as an ordinary DVD-ROM disc in the compatibility bits. Usually, these players are physically able to read the disc, since the reflectivity of a DVD+RW disc is identical to that of a dual-layered DVD-Video disc that all players must be capable of reading, but compatibility problems can arise due to different interpretations of these bits in the various firmware versions. Therefore, in most cases, the problem can be solved by updating the firmware. But in cases where a firmware fix is not available, or when you want to increase the chances of playability when you give the disc to other people with an unknown player, you could solve the issue by using bitsetting to mark a DVD+R or DVD+RW disc as a DVD-ROM disc.

To instruct your DVD home recorder to mark your DVD+R or DVD+RW discs as DVD-ROM, a special procedure must be followed. On a DVD+RW video recorder, you need to press a number of keys on the remote control. With a computer's DVD+R/DVD+RW drive, the use of a special utility is required to accomplish this.

Note that there are issues about whether bitsetting can take place before or after making a recording. See the following two links for more information on this subject:

Compatibility Bitsettings / Book Type Field -

http://www.dvdplusrw.org/Article.asp?mid=0&sid=2&aid=42

Apply Compatibility Bitsettings Using a DVD+R/+RW PC Drive -

"To change the compatibility bitsettings using a DVD+RW PC drive, you need a dedicated utility. Currently, there are several of these tools available. Of the DVD+RW drive manufacturers, Hewlett-Packard has publicly released a tool to change bitsettings on a DVD+RW disc (which can only be used with the HP DVD100/DVD200 drive), and Ricoh made a tool to change bitsettings for DVD+R discs (for usage with its MP5125 drive). The programs on this site are developed by users and can be used with all drives. We suggest you to use one of these (even if you own a HP or Ricoh DVD writer), because of their unmatched functionality. It is strongly advised not to install the HP utility on your system if you plan to use any of these, since it will most likely interfere with these tools and cause unexpected behaviour." -

http://www.dvdplusrw.org/article.asp?mid=0&sid=2&aid=44

Other factors that can affect disc playability and/or compatibility

You should note that the compatibility of burned DVDs is commonly much more dependent on factors other than the state of the bitsetting.

The most common incompatibility problem is caused by improperly formatted DVDs that can play on a computer's DVD drive but not on a standalone home DVD player. The disc-burning utility Nero has often been blamed for being the cause of that problem.

The brand of DVD+R (or DVD-R) disc being used is also a known factor with regard to playability and compatibility. The most trusted and compatible brands are Verbatim, Maxell, TDK, and Mitsui (now known as MAM-A). It's certainly not a good idea to use unbranded, cheap discs.

It is also a known fact that discs burned at the slow speed of 1x can often be read by drives that won't read the same make and format of disc that has been burned at the slightly faster speed of 2x.

How audio and video files are encoded can also affect playback compatibility. The current rule of thumb in this regard is to keep the total bit rate to 7Mbit/s or lower, to use a Closed GOP setting for MPEG2 video, and always use a compressed option for the audio. E.g, Dolby Digital/AC3 audio compression is supported by all DVD players. Compressed audio can have a bit rate of between 128Kbit/s and 224Kbit/s, while uncompressed audio requires a bit rate of more than 1,500Kbit/s to achieve the virtually the same sound.

Burned DVDs (DVD-R discs) produce CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) error messages

Problem

I am using a PC running Windows XP Home Edition, updated to the SP3 service pack and all subsequent security updates. I use Nero 6 Reloaded to burn DVDs, and all of a sudden I'm getting Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) errors from all of my recorded discs. The DVD writer used to work properly. It burns DVD-R discs at 8x (4x DVD-R DL - double-layer discs), but there is no brand-name on it. Can you tell me what could be causing this to happen?

Answer

You might be able to find out what the manufacturer of the drive is by having a look in the Device Manager by clicking the + beside DVD/CD-ROM drives. (Enter devmgmt.msc in the Start => Run box to open the Device Manager. In Windows Vista, enter that command in the Start => Start Search box.) Alternatively, using the free Belarc Advisor that creates an analysis of the hardware and software on a personal computer. Look under FREE DOWNLOAD on http://www.belarc.com/. This is what is says about the DVD drive and hard drive on my laptop:

Drives
97.40 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
57.37 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

PHILIPS DVD-RAM SDVD8821 [CD-ROM drive]

TOSHIBA MK1032GSX [Hard drive] (100.03 GB) -- drive 0, s/n 467H1534S, rev AS021G,

SMART Status: Healthy

When you know the make/model of the writer, you should be able to visit its manufacturer's website for the drive's latest device driver and the latest firmware update (if one is available for that particular model). You should only use the firmware that is designed for use with a particular make and model of drive/writer, otherwise you. It is always a good idea to have a DVD writer that is running the latest firmware, because it is what provides disc-compatibility. If a particular make (Verbatim) and format of disc (DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, etc) is included in the firmware, the drive will be able to use it, if not it probably won't be able to.

Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) error messages most commonly occur when a CD/DVD drive is trying to read data from a damaged CD or DVD. The drive will probably grind and whirl as it attempts to read the disc again and the PC may become slugglish. After trying several times, it gives up and displays the error message.

The problem can be hardware-related (loose cables, failing drive), software-related or damaged media (discs). Often just checking and cleaning the disc is the easiest way to overcome the problem. However, all of your discs are producing the error message, so cleaning probably won't work.

If different clean discs produce the error, it is probably a hardware issue. To find out if the discs are faulty, if possible, try using them in another drive.

Another common cause of the errors message is improperly burned CDs and DVDs - especially those that suffered buffer underuns. USB DVD burners can give rise to this problem if the burning speed is set too high, so setting the burning software to burn at a slower speed might fix the problem.

If your discs are damaged, you need a recovery tool if you want to recover your files. CDCheck 3 works for CDs and DVDs. Free for personal use, it checks the integrity of the disc and then provides you with the option to recover the files.

The writer might have developed a fatal fault. CD/DVD drives - even the best name-brand drives - can sometimes be functional one day and non-functional the next.

If the drive itself is not at fault and the discs themselves are not faulty, the first action to take when troubleshooting the burning of CDs or DVDs is to try burning them at a slower speed, because the maximum burning speed of the drive might be exceeding that of the discs. You set the burning speed in the burning software. If a slower speed corrects the problem, you may need to use that slower speed until your current stock of blank DVDs/CDs is used up. Then make sure when you buy new discs to obtain a type that specifically supports your DVD/CD burner's highest rated speed. It will say what burning speeds are supported on the disc-container's package label.

You don't say which brand(s) of discs you are using. Never buy cheap, no-brand discs. You should always buy brand-name discs. Not very long ago, Tom's Hardware Guide found that discs made by Verbatim were the most drive-compatible make.

Note that with the cheaper CD/DVD blank discs, a specified maximum burning speed isn't necessarily a guarantee that they'll function properly at the full burning speed.

If that doesn't work, try different burner software just to make sure that yours isn't to blame.

Before you spend money, try the excellent free program CDBurnerXP Pro 3 from http://www.cdburnerxp.se/. The critics are raving about it. "CDBurnerXP is a free application to burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs, as well as a multilanguage interface. Everyone, even companies, can use it for free. It does not include adware or similar malicious components."

If it's not a software problem, try uninstalling and then reinstalling your current software, using the latest device drivers and firmware for the writer and any patches from the software vendor's site.

If the problem still occurs with discs that work on another PC, the cause is probably a hardware problem with the DVD writer. Perhaps its insides may be have collected large dust bunnies that can be the cause of otherwise unexplained drive errors. These can be removed by opening the tray to the drive and then blowing them loose and out with a can of compressed air that can be obtained from most good computer shops.

Open the case and make sure that the drive is very securely screwed to the case at all four points, because the vibrations caused during use can make a loose drive malfunction. Make sure that the screws that are being used are short, because it is possible to screw a drive's mechanism up by using fastening screws that are too long.

If none of the above suggestions work, the lens of the CD/DVD burner may be unclean.

Note that the chances of damaging the drive increase markedly if you have to mess about with its optical mechanism, but you may as well try using a lens-cleaning kit, because if using one doesn't work, you'll probably have to buy a new drive. DVD writers are very cheap. You can buy them for under £20. Read: optical CD/DVD drive reviews and price comparisons on ciao.

You can try using a search phrase such as clean + dvd + lens (as is) in the Google search box at the top of this page to find cleaning advice and suitable vendors of the cleaning kits.

Note that the latest-standard Blu-ray writers are currently much more expensive, but most of them can also write to the recordable CD and DVD disc formats. A couple of years from now, you will probably be able to buy a Blu-ray writer for £20. Here is an example:

LG GGW H20L Super Multi Blue Blu-ray writer - £135 (April 2009) -
Supported disc formats and writing speeds:
BD-RE / HD DVD-ROM combo drive - Internal - Serial ATA - Read speed: 40x (CD) / 12x (DVD±R) / 8x (DVD±R DL) / 6x (BD-R) / 4.8x (BD-R DL) / 3x (HD DVD) / 3x (HD DVD DL) - Write speed: 40x (CD) / 16x (DVD±R) / 4x (DVD±R DL) / 6x (BD-R) / 4x (BD-R DL) - Rewrite speed: 24x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW) / 5x (DVD-RAM) / 2x (BD-RE) / 2x (BD-RE DL)

Why can't I write to DVD RAM discs with my PC's internal LG Super Multi DVD Rewriter (model GH22)?

Problem

I bought an OEM internal LG Super Multi DVD Rewriter DVD writer (model GH22) and some Fujifilm DVD-RAM discs that the drive is supposed to be compatible with. ("Fujifilm DVD-RAM discs are also compatible with DVD-RAM compatible DVD-ROM drives. Simply remove the disc from the cartridge and insert into a DVD-ROM drive for read-only access.") The DVD writer worked out of the box with DVD-R discs after I installed it. It can read and write DVD-RAM media, making it compatible with all the DVD media formats. The DVD-RAM discs are housed in a kind of jewel case that has a sliding door at its rear. It's a similar design to a Zip disk's case, but bigger. The discs in the case don't fit into the LG drive. There is an opening bar at the front of the case, so I tried loading a naked disc into the drive, but Windows XP just sees it as an ordinary CD-ROM disc. I expected that it would install as a removable drive and that I would be able to copy files to it or read files from it with Windows alone. Therefore, I need to know if DVD-RAM requires special software and/or drivers, none of which were provided with the drive.

Answer

DVD-RAM was the original kind of recordable DVD discs. It was followed by the competing DVD+R/DVD+RW and DVD-R/DVD-RW standards. Your LG Super Multi DVD Rewriter DVD writer is compatible with all three of those formats/standards (in fact all of the CD and DVD formats).

As is always the case as a technology matures, the prices of the DVD-RAM discs have dropped considerably from what they were to begin with, but DVD-RAM discs are always more expensive than the other two formats of rewritable discs - DVD+RW and DVD-RW. You can find the current prices by entering the format name (dvd-ram) in the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled.)

There are two types of media - Type 1 and Type 2.

Type 1 will hold up to 5.2GB on a single double-sided disc, with one-sided discs storing up to 2.6GB of data.

The unremovable double-sided discs are encased in a cartridge, but the single-sided discs are often available bare, in ordinary DVD cases, or in a cartridge from which the disc can be removed. In the UK, a supplier of DVD-RAM discs in an ordinary DVD case is PC World.

Type 2 is able to store 4.7GB on a single-sided disc, and 9.4GB on a double-sided disc, and can be removed from the cartridge so the disc can be used in other drive types if the data is in a compatible format.

The unremovable type of discs have to be used in a special DVD-RAM drive that is capable of using them. If the disc can be removed from its case, it can be used in any DVD writer that supports the DVD-RAM standard.

A DVD-RAM drive will read other CD/CDR/CD-RW and DVD media. Depending on the quality of the media, the DVD-RAM discs can be overwritten up to 100,000 times, making them a very attractive alternative to other removable media storage options.

DVD-RAM was designed for reliable industrial archive use. It has comprehensive built-in error and data integrity checks that are lacking in DVD+RW and DVD-RW. Because the data discs is arranged in sectors (in the same way as on a hard drive or floppy disk) instead of a continuous spiral, DVD-RAM discs are able to withstand 100 times more write cycles than the media for the other two technologiesand because the drive records on the lands and the pits of the disc, it is capable of higher-density storage. So, if you want to store large raw images, only recordable (BD-R record once) and rewritable Blu-ray discs (BD-RE) can beat them for storage capacity.

You were correct in believing that no special software is required. All you have to do is format the DVD-RAM discs with the FAT32 file system. Even Windows XP, which uses the NTFS file system itself, has to format the drives with FAT32 because the NTFS file system isn't supported due to its unsuitability for the purpose. Windows XP supports DVD-RAM directly for FAT32-formatted discs only. Windows Vista is able to write directly to both FAT32- and UDF-formatted DVD-RAM discs from within Windows Explorer. Device drivers or other software are required for earlier versions of Windows (98/98SE/Me), which do not support UDF, or any format, on DVD-RAM. However, note that Windows Vista uses its own version of the UDF format giving compatibility problems. Windows Vista also has issues with Windows-XP formatted FAT32 discs, because Vista uses the CPRM features (Content Protection for Recordable Media and Pre-Recorded Media (CPRM/CPPM).

To format a DVD-RAM disc, right click on the DVD writer's icon in Start => My Computer (in Windows XP) and click Format. (In Windows Vista, open Start => Computer and do likewise.) You can enter whatever you want for the Volume label. Full, illustrated instructions are provided on this page:

Using DVD-RAM disc under Windows XP - http://www.mytechguide.com/26/using-dvd-ram-disc-under-windows-xp/

The formatting process is slow. It can easily take up to an hour, but after it's done, the discs can be used just like big removable floppy or Zip disks, which is very convenient given their large capacity to hold data.

However, note that if you're using Windows XP, it's built-in CD-writing capability might prevent using a disc as a large floppy disk, because Windows regards a DVD-RAM disc as a CD-RW disc, which can't be written to in the manner just described. Therefore, you should turn off the CD-writing feature in order to get things running properly. To do that, go Start => open My Computer, right click with the mouse on the DVD-RAM drive's icon, click Properties, and then click on the Recording tab. Use your mouse to uncheck the option called Enable CD recording on this drive.

Note that the device drivers for many DVD-RAM drives are incompatible with Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2). If so, you will have to update the driver. Service Pack 3 - SP3 - is available and is the last service pack for Windows XP. If you have problems with SP3 installed, you may also require a driver update for a DVD-RAM-supporting DVD writer.

If you want to record to CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs with your LG drive, use the software that came with the retail, boxed drive. Packaged retail LG DVD writers supported by the manufacturer currently (April 2009) come with Nero or Cyberlink PowerDVD software, but OEM drives that aren't supported by the manufacturer, only by the vendor, often come as bare drives (without any CD/DVD-burning software).

If you don't have any CD/DVD-writing software, try the excellent free program CDBurnerXP Pro 3 from http://www.cdburnerxp.se/.

The system requirements of an external/internal DVD/Blu-ray writer that I bought don't match those of my netbook/laptop/desktop PC/computer

Problem

[April, 2009. - Note that any recently-purchased desktop or laptop PC with a single-core, dual-core or quad-core processor will be able to use any DVD or Blu-ray writer and the software that comes with it, or any third-party disc-writing software. However, the following problem still applies to using an external DVD/Blu-ray writer with a netbook laptop computer, which usually has a slow single-core Intel Atom processor, none of which currently runs faster than 2.0GHz.]

In May 2005, a computer magazine gave a five-star review to the LG GSA 4163B DVD writer, so I had a look at the specifications on a supplier's and LG's websites. My computer runs an Intel Celeron 1.7GHz processor. I found nothing to suggest that my computer wouldn't be able to use the drive. However, when it arrived, I was highly annoyed that a minimum processor speed of a 2.4GHz Intel Pentium 4 or higher was listed in the system requirements. That information wasn't provided in the computer magazine or on those websites.

Answer

That kind of information is both inaccurate and confusing. Inaccurate because the slowest AMD Athlon 64 3000+ processor (first available in 2005) only runs at 1.80GHz, but is rated by AMD as having an equivalent clock speed of 3000MHz+ (3.0GHz+). An Athlon 64 3000+ processor running Windows XP Home Edition and 512MB of DDR400 RAM in dual-channel mode could easily run that LG DVD writer and any of the software that comes with it.

Therefore, whoever wrote the information on the websites or the drive's packaging must have had only Intel processors in mind - and even then it is inaccurate.

Any fairly recent computer (purchased as far back as 2001 when Windows XP first became available) should be able to use any DVD writer.(However, note that Windows XP only comes with CD-writing, not DVD-writing software buit into it. Windows Vista can write to recordable DVDs.) If an Intel processor is slower than 2.4GHz, or the rating of an AMD processor has a lower rating than 2400+, the computer may not be able to burn data at the drive's top burning speed, but it should still be able to burn data at an acceptable speed very close to the top-rated speed.

I think that the reason that a 2.4GHz processor is specified could have more to do with the fact that it comes with DVD-authoring software that requires a processor with that kind of clock speed in order to do things such as edit video files or capture video from a camcorder and convert it into a digital file. Therefore, you have to take the software that comes with a drive into consideration when buying a drive. If you don't want to use DVD-authoring software, your computer shouldn't have any problem using the drive to burn DVDs. Indeed, your computer should be able to run that DVD-authoring software, but not at the optimal speed that it is capable of running at.

The best advice is to ignore the required system specifications and remember that to be able to edit video requires the minimum of a 2.0GHz Intel single-core processor, or an AMD single-core processor with a 2000+ rating.

Note that AMD Phenom and Phenom II triple-core and quad-core processors no longer use speed-rating to compare them to Intel's equivalent processors; they just have model numbers like Intel's processors. As can be seen on this page:

CPU Benchmarks - Common CPU's - "This chart comparing common CPU's is made using thousands of PerformanceTest benchmark results and is updated daily. This chart mainly compares Desktop CPUs, from high end CPUs (such as Intel Core2, Intel Core2 Quad and AMD Phenom Quad-Core processors) to mid-range and lower end CPUs (such as Intel Pentium 4 and AMD Athlon processors)." -

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/common_cpus.html

If I format a CD-RW disc and drag and drop files to it in Windows XP, would another Windows computer be able to read and write to the same disc?

Answer

A technology called packet writing is usually used to allow a user to record files to a CD drive by dragging and dropping files to the drive's icon.

Packet-writing software installs at the driver level. The Universal Data Format (UDF) used in CD packet writing allows the user to use a CD/DVD writer in the same way as a floppy or hard disk drive.

Note that the UDF format is only used for packet writing to CDs. Elsewhere, notably in DVD recording, it has other applications.

Note well that Windows XP only provides standard CD-burning software, it does not provide packet-writing or built-in DVD-writing software; you have to use third-party packet-writing and DVD disc-burning software. Windows Vista and Windows 7 (not yet released at the time of writing) provide DVD-burning software. Windows Vista does not require third-party packet-writing software, which means that the same will apply to Window 7 when it is officially released. Read this forum thread on packet writing in Windows Vista:

Packet Writing in Windows Vista - http://www.howtofixcomputers.com/bb/ftopic217669.html

A user can write files to CD-R or CD-RW discs simply by dragging and dropping the files over the drive's icon in My Computer (just Computer in Windows Vista), or placed on the Windows Desktop, or save the files to the drive from within an application, and they should be written to a recordable disc automatically.

The format used in packet writing is called Universal Disk Format (UDF).

Wenguang's Introduction to Universal Disk Format (UDF) -

"UDF is a truly universal file system. It can be used on all kinds of optical media, including read only (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, BD-ROM (Blu-ray Disc Read-Only)), write once (CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R, BD-R), rewritable (CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, CD-MRW, DVD+MRW, BD-RE), and of course block device (hard drives). Even write-once media appears as a big overwritable floppy under UDF." -

http://homepage.mac.com/wenguangwang/myhome/udf.html

Nero InCD - "InCD is a program which formats rewritable CDs (CD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-RW) in such a way that they can be used like hard discs or diskettes. This means that you can save files from any application onto the CD-RW. InCD uses only rewritable discs (CD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RW). Discs which can only be written to once (CD-R, DVD+R or DVD-R) cannot be used with InCD. InCD can handle discs formatted by other packet-writing software. However, InCD is not compatible with other packet writing software. You must uninstall any other packet writing packages before you install InCD." - http://www.argentuma.com/backup/software/incd.html

Packet writing software - http://www.backup4all.com/kb/packet-writing-software-114.html

In theory, a packet-written UDF CD ought to work on another computer with a CD writer and software that recognises the UDF format. Unfortunately, packet-writing and the UDF format aren't completely universal yet. Consequently, different software developers can use different flavours of packet-writing, and even within the proposed UDF standard itself there are two major variants. Recording in the usual CD format (ISO 9660) is much more standardised. An ISO 9660 CD can be written to on almost any computer and can be read on almost any other computer. However, the ISO format doesn't support packet-writing, therefore it can't be used for drag-and-drop recording. Drag-and-drop recording is the easiest way or recording, but another computer may or may not be be able to read the discs. Standard CD burning creates discs that can be read on almost any computer, but you can't use drag-and-drop; files have to be recorded by using the CD writing software. Therefore, if you have to be able to read recorded discs on any computer, it's best not to use drag-and-drop recording.

To read another article on the subject, visit this page: Packet Writing - http://www.mrichter.com/cdr/primer/udf.htm. You can find more information by entering a search term such as packet + writing + udf in the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button selected).

Why can Windows XP only read some of the CD-RW discs I burned with Nero and Roxio in Windows 98 several years ago?

Problem

Several years ago, I burned many CD-RW discs using Nero and Roxio in a Windows 98 SE system. However, when I try to access them in Windows XP Home Edition, only some of them can be read.

Answer

If your old CD-RW discs were not 'closed' or 'finalised' (US: finalized) when written, a standard CD drive won't be able to read their contents. Nero and Roxio, and other CD/DVD-writing software, have options that allow a user to close or finalise a disc when it has run out of space, or the user doesn't want to write any more data to it.

Closing a CD or DVD writes the table of contents to the disc and allows the CD to be read on almost any other CD drive, including a CD-ROM drive. If your CD-RW discs weren't closed, then they can only be read on a PC that has a CD/DVD writer.

Note that Windows XP can only write/burn to recordable CD discs, not to recordable DVD discs. DVD-writing or Blu-ray disc-writing requires third-party software. Windows Vista can write to DVD discs. April 15, 2009. - Apparently, when SP2 for Windows Vista is made available later in 2009, it will add support for writing Blu-ray discs (BD-R and BD-RE), but nothing more (no playback or movie-related features).

However, the CD-RW discs themselves may have gone bad. This can happen very easily when they've been written on with solvent-based inks, or have glue-on labels. Moreover, with CD-R and CD-RW discs that were created with the first CD writers, the latest CD and DVD drives can have problems reading the discs because they find that alignment of the tracks is not what they require. If that is the case, specialised hardware can find and read data that appears misaligned to modern CD / DVD drives, but, because it is expensive equipment, only data-recovery services use it.

If you have the original drive that they were written on, you should be able to read the discs if they haven't gone bad. Alternatively, try the discs you can't read on as many different CD/DVD writers as you can. A computer shop might allow you to try reading the discs on their demo PCs - under supervision. If nothing works, the only other alternative is to make use of an expensive, reputable data-recovery service. But if the discs have gone bad, your files are lost forever, because not even a data recovery service will be able to access them.

How do I change the drive letter of my DVD drive (from H: back to D: ) using Windows XP and Windows Vista?

Problem

I removed a second hard disk drive on my main desktop PC to another desktop PC in order to find out if its hard drive was the cause of a problem. However, when I reinstalled the drive in my main PC, I discovered that my DVD writer's drive letter had changed from D: to H:. How can I change the DVD drive/writer letter back to D:? The computer runs Windows XP Home Edition fully updated to Service Pack 3 (SP3) and subsequent security updates.

Answer

The following two pages provides the information on how to change the drive letter in Windows XP.

How to change drive letter assignments in Windows XP - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307844&sd=tech

Changing Drive Letters in Windows XP? - http://www.dougknox.com/tips/xp_drive_letters.htm

Here is a page that explains how to change drive letters in Windows Vista:

Change, add, or remove a drive letter [in Windows Vista] -

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-us/help/ada5519d-850d-465d-a6a7-598fa2f110521033.mspx

Why can't I use CD-R90 CDs?

Problem

I have Roxio and Sonic CD-writing software, but I cannot find out how to make those programs write more than 700MBs of data to Philips CD-R90 recordable CDs, which support 790MBs.

Answer

CD-R CDs come in two standard sizes - 650MB, which is 74 minutes of CD audio, and 700MBs, which is 80 minutes of CD audio.

In order to write (burn) high-capacity R90 and R99 CDs requires a compatible CD writer and writing/burning software. Only CD writers that can burn CD-R discs at 24X or greater writing speeds are likely to be compatible with high-capacity CD-R CDs.

Most CD-writing software has a default limit of 79 minutes 59 seconds of audio. A standard audio CD plays at 150KB per second, so 700MB of audio data can play for that long. R90 CD-R CDs should support 90 minutes of audio, or up to 791MBs. The actual capacity of a CD is always a little less than the minutes of audio that the disc supports. R99 CDs support 99 minutes 59 seconds of audio, which translates as 878MB of audio data.

You CD-writing software has a fixed limit of 700MB. Roxio says that because the R90 and R99 formats go against the specifications that have been set for CD-R, which can cause problems, so the company refuses to support those formats.

To write to CDs that are larger than the standard 700MB discs requires software that can do it. Nero 5.5 and later versions can write high-capacity CD-R R99 discs (99 minutes 59 seconds, or 878MBs). However, you have to open Preferences, click on the Expert tab, check the Allow overburn setting, and set a limit. Remember that only CD writers that can burn CD-R discs at 24X or greater writing speeds are likely to be compatible with high-capacity CD-R CDs.

Visit the CD/DVD Drives page on this site to find out which writing formats and speeds your CD/DVD writer supports.

Why won't the CDs and DVDs that I burn from ISO files boot? - Why are Burned ISO files not bootable?

Problem

I have burned two ISO CDs - SpinRite 6.0 (hard-disk-drive diagnostic utility) and BartPE (Windows XP boot disc) - but neither of them boots, even though the WinISO utility tells me that the CD is bootable. The one CD has the file SpinRite6.iso file on it and the other has BartPE.iso. I searched Google, but but found no information that would put me on the right road.

Answer

ISO stands for International Standards Organization.

The ISO defined a standard CD format called ISO 9660. Any CD burned using the ISO 9660 format can be read by any operating system that supports the ISO 9660 format. For example, if you burn an ISO 9660 data CD on a Windows PC, the CD will be readable on Macs and Linux PCs, etc., and vice versa. Read about it here: ISO image - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_image.

An ISO file is a kind of disc image or clone of an ISO-standard CD. It contains the data that's on the CD plus information about how the data is formatted. Therefore, you can't just copy an ISO file to a blank CD. The ISO file has to be processed by software that separates the stored data from the formatting information. The software uses the formatting data in the ISO file to burn an exact duplicate or clone of the original CD's contents. For example, if you download an ISO file of a whole distribution of Linux (free open-source operating system), you can't just copy the .iso file to a partition on your computer's hard drive and then expect to be able to run that distribution of Linux, you have to use special software that turns the .iso file into the full Linux installation CD that allows you to install that distribution of Linux.

Most third-party CD/DVD-burning software can do this. For example, in Cyberlink's Power2Go, you are provided with these options down the left hand side of the program's window: Data Disc, Music Disc, Video/photo Disc, Copy Disc, Mixed Disc and Disc Utilities. Clicking on each option provides the options for that option on the right hand side of the window - e.g., Disc Type: CD or DVD. Under Disc Utilities, you have Burn Disc Image (the one you want to use to burn an ISO image), Save Disc Image, Erase Disc (for rewritable CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM discs), Rip Audio and Audio Converter.

In Nero Express, you use the the Disk Image or Saved Project option. However, note that some CD/DVD-burning software can't handle ISO files.

Alternatively, you may just want to extract one or more files from an ISO file, and therefore you don't want to burn a whole CD/DVD just to obtain them. A utility such as WinISO allows you to do just that - extract a file or files from an .iso file without having to burn the whole CD/DVD.

Note that some software requires the companion files on the .iso file in order to be able to function, so you can't extract individual files. For example, the ISO files containing the setup programs for Linux distributions, or the BartPE ISO, require that the whole .iso file is translated and burned to a blank CD.

There are many utilities, free or paid for, that allow a user to burn a CD/DVD from an ISO file, or extract selected files from an ISO image. Click the following automatic Google searches to find them and more information on ISO files.

http://www.google.com/search?q=burn+ISO+to+CD

http://www.google.com/search?q=iso+file

It is also possible to create ISO files from CDs and DVDs, store them on a computer's hard disk drive and then use the ISO files as virtual CD/DVDs.

Lug Around Less by Creating and Mounting ISO Images of Your DVDs/CDs -

"If your job requires you to lug around a bunch of CD/DVDs just in case you need them, you might want to consider lightening your load by mounting your CD/DVD disks as ISO images on your hard drive. In this article, I'll first show you how to create ISO (International Organization for Standardization) images from your DVD and CD disks using Nero Burning ROM. From there, I'll teach you how to mount your ISO images as if you were inserting the original source CD/DVD into your drive. Why would you want to do this? Imagine the freedom of not having to lug around your CD/DVDs wherever you go but instead being able to copy your CD/DVDs as ISO images to your hard drive and subsequently use them whenever needed as "virtual" CD/DVDs." - http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=406936

My desktop PC only boots into Safe Mode in Windows XP, so I can't save my data files and images to an external USB CD/DVD writer

Problem

My desktop PC runs Windows XP Home Edition fully updated to Service Pack 3 (SP3) plus all of the subsequent security updates. It will only boot into Safe Mode and shows vertical lines on the screen. I think that it's on the way out, so I want to copy my many files to DVD-R discs on my external USB DVD writer and then transfer them to my other computer. The problem is that I can't access the USB DVD writer from Safe Mode. Is there a way out of this situation?

Answer

You need Windows XP to be running in order to be able to access USB devices, because the device drivers have to be loaded before they can function, and they aren't loaded by Safe Mode. Therefore, backups made to an external USB device are not usually of much use when Windows XP or Windows Vista isn't working. However, there are several possible ways to solve your problem.

The first action you should take is to try using System Restore from Safe Mode to restore a restore point that predates the problem. The information on System Restore is found here on this website: http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/Recovering_Windows_XP.htm#restore. There are many other methods of recovering Windows XP provided on that page.

I take it that the PC also has a standard internal CD/DVD drive installed.

If using System Restore doesn't work (sometimes it simply won't work), then try performing a repair installation. A repair installation, which installs over the existing installation, is an effective way of repairing damaged or corrupt files and settings, because it leaves all of the programs and preference settings intact. The Windows Registry isn't replaced by a new version that has no knowledge of the installed programs, so they don't have to be reinstalled. As with reinstalling Windows XP over itself, detailed next, you have to reinstall any missing service packs, fixes and updates. How to do that is detailed here on this website:

http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/Recovering_Windows_XP.htm#repair

Reinstalling Windows XP over itself without formatting the C: drive first is the next option you should try to get Windows itself operating in normal mode if restoring a restore point in System Restore and a repair installation failed to work. It is possible to recover Windows XP just by reinstalling it over itself by running its setup program on its installation CD. None of the settings are lost, the files and folders remain intact, and you can use all of your programs and your Internet connection, etc. However, you will have to reinstall all of the missing service packs (SP1, SP2, SP3) and updates that Automatic Updates installed. For example, if you have a Windows XP SP2 installation disc, you will have to reinstall Service Pack 3 (SP3) and all of the subsequent fixes and security updates. Service Pack 2 (SP2) incorporates SP1, so you don't have to install SP1 first, just install SP2. The SP3 update will update a Windows XP Service Pack 1 installation and a Windows XP Service Pack 2 installation. Windows XP SP3 aggregates all of the previously-released XP fixes, but Microsoft says that at least SP1 has to be installed on a system running the original release of Windows XP before installing SP3. It recommends installing SP2 first as well to the original 2001 release, but that is not a strict requirement.

You can check this for yourself after you have reinstalled Windows XP over itself by opening Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel. You must have the Show updates option enabled. To do that, if the PC's BIOS supports booting from a CD/DVD drive, you can set it (in the BIOS) as the first boot drive, boot from the Windows XP installation CD, and follow the setup procedure that unfolds automatically.

If attempting that didn't solve the problem, check the motherboard's BIOS setup program to find out if it supports a "Boot from USB" setting for a USB CD/DVD drive. The settings for the CD-ROM drive boot priority (which includes CD and DVD drives) are usually on the second page of the BIOS, which is usually called something like Advanced BIOS Features. The older the computer, the less likely you are to find the required setting. If the option is there, you can enable it and then try booting from the external USB drive with the Windows XP installation CD in it. If the PC supports booting from a CD/DVD disc, the Windows XP installation disc is a bootable CD.

If the "Boot from USB" option is there, but won't work with your DVD writer, consider using a cheap USB flash drive. For under £10 you can buy one that can hold an operating system such as Puppy Linux from http://www.puppyos.com/, which can be used to boot the system. I recently purchased a 4GB SanDisk memory stick/flash drive with a retractable connector instead of a cap for £6.

Google search: http://www.google.com/search?q=windows+xp+boot+flash+thumb+drive

Here is a page that I found using the above search:

How To Boot From A USB Flash Drive - http://www.bootdisk.com/pendrive.htm

Solving USB Boot Problems - http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=28700158

If you can get the external USB CD/DVD writer to boot from a CD or DVD, you can also make use of a version of Linux that runs from a CD to rescue your files. You have to download an .iso file and burn it to a CD by making use of CD-burning software, such as Nero Express, which comes with many CD/DVD writers. Puppy Linux will allow you use the USB DVD writer, copy files, make backups, etc. Click here! to go to information on this site on this subject.

You can also install Windows XP on a memory stick (USB flash drive) and the use it to boot a system:

How to install a complete copy of Windows XP on a USB flash drive -

http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/Recovering_Windows_XP.htm#completexp

The website of the Dell/HP laptop PC/computer I want to buy says: "This computer does not have an internal optical drive for software installation"

Question

While searching the web for a Windows XP or Windows Vista laptop PC, I noticed that several online stores and manufacturers, including Dell and HP, provide a note stating that: "This computer does not have an internal optical drive for software installation," or words to that effect. Does this mean that I won't be able to install any software that is not preinstalled on the computer?

Answer

It simply means that the make/model of laptop PC does not come with a CD/DVD or Blu-ray optical drive, which means that you won't be able to install software from a CD or DVD or Blu-ray disc unless you buy such a drive, which could be an internal drive if the laptop has a free bay for one, or an external drive that is connected to the laptop via a USB 2.0 port.

Cheap as they are now, low-end, inexpensive laptops may not be provided with a CD/DVD drive/writer. However, such a laptop may have an empty bay for such a drive. If that is the case, you may have the option, at extra cost, to have a DVD drive/writer installed by the seller or manufacturer, or you could just buy and install one yourself. You also may have the option to install a Blu-ray writer, or you could buy one yourself. However, note that if the laptop only has provision for an IDE ATAPI drive (old technology), you cannot install an SATA drive (new technology), because the wiring is different between those two standards. Blu-ray drives/writer use the SATA interface, not the IDE ATAPI interface. If the laptop only has provision for an IDE DVD drive/writer, you must not purchase an SATA DVD drive/writer.

In new laptops, optical CD/DVD drives are modular devices that are very easy to slide into place (plug in). When you are upgrading the optical drive in a laptop, you usually only have to remove two or three screws to remove the old drive, then slide the new drive into the bay and replace the screws. If there was no old drive to replace, just an empty drive bay, you would just insert the new drive into the bay. It will probably come with the required screws. If it is a bare OEM product (supported by the vendor not the manufacturer) that doesn't come with screws, you should be able to obtain some from a computer shop. Just don't try using your own screws, which may be too long and damage the drive.

Ultra-portable laptops may have no room for a drive in their case. Sellers/manufacturers of such laptops usually provide an option an external optical drive that connects via a USB 2.0 or FireWire port. You don't have to buy an external optical drive from the computer's supplier, because they are easily to obtain. Generic external optical drives are very cheap now - under £20. However, if you want the device to have a wonderful-looking case, to operate at the highest burning speeds and provide advanced playback and disc-burning capabilities, the cost will be higher.

PC Buyer Beware! Copyright © Eric Legge 2004-2009. All rights reserved.