Burning CDs ...

[Mara]

This is an 'age old' program with my computer (2 years old) ... I have a Vaio computer made by Sony and run Windows XP.

 

 

Please forgive me if I'm not using the correct computer terms but I'm doing my best - gentle smile.

 

When the computer was brand new, I loved the feature that let me mouse-over a file, look on the left side of the screen and click, "Burn to CD". (So easy!).

 

Then I did a sad thing ... I discovered something called 'Roxio' had been added in the factory - and used it. And the moment I did, never again would my computer recognise a disk in either of my drives without using Roxio to burn.

 

Even tried uninstalling Roxio - but it did no good, my original feature of burning straight from a file seems to be gone forever.

 

(Did ask for assistance at another site when this woe first occurred and while they were ever so kind, I'd rather not download/install another 'burning program'.)

 

Re-installed Roxio but I'd far rather have my original feature back - if that's possible.

 

Any suggestions will be appreciated - thanks so much!

[Goku]

Hello Mara. It seems that when you first installed Roxio, it overrode Windows in-built burner settings. Please perform the instructions in the following article and see if they can help you restore the settings or not.

 

Windows XP CD Burning Secrets

 

Let us know how it goes. Good Luck.

 

-- Goku

[Mara]

Hi Goku,

 

It's a great article and once I overcome my first wee hurdle, it will be so exciting to see if I can get my original system working once again - thank you!!

 

The wee hurdle is the instructions start out by saying:

1. Open My Computer, R-click on "CD Drive" Properties.

 

Oh, oh ... because I have the below showing:

Local Disk (C:)

DVD-RW Drive (D:)

DvD Drive (E) ...

 

... but no "CD Drive". Drat. (The answer is likely obvious and undoubtedly I'll be abashed later - but not too sure what I can do to make "CD Drive" show).

 

Thanks again.

[AdvancedSetup]

DVD-RW is the same drive.

 

It looks like you may have a multi-drive and the E: drive is probably also part of the same CD/DVD drive.

 

 

Even though you can burn data with the built-in tools of XP it is VERY limited.

If you don't like Roxio then you may want to consider trying this Free program to burn your disks.

 

You may want to uninstall the Roxio software though. At times having multiple burning applications can cause odd behaviors.

 

Astroburn

 

Astroburn is a simple tool for burning and mastering CD, DVD, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD media. Astroburn supports all types of optical storage media (including CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, BD-R/RE, HD-DVD-R/RW and DVD-RAM) as well as a wide variety of burning hardware. With Astroburn you can perform burning and mastering operations. Astroburn enables you to create CDs / DVDs with just a few mouse clicks. Astroburn is easy to learn and to use.

Edited August 14, 2008 by AdvancedSetup

[Guest Wolfeymole]

It looks to me Mara like the D: drive is the DVD RW + CD RW drive whereas the E: drive is a stand alone DVD ROM drive which will only read data, eg; films etc and wherefore will not burn any disks unlike your D: drive.

[Goku]

Hello Mara. We will start by assuming that your D:/ is your primary CD drive. Assuming it as your CD-Drive, please perform the instructions provided in the article. Next, try burning a CD. See if the problem is fixed or not. If not, then please move on to the next drive letter that is E:/.

 

Also, I should have asked you earlier but are you experiencing any problems with the burner or the option is not available to you?

 

-- Goku

[Mara]

(Thank you but I'd honestly rather not install another burning program - at least at this point, 'AS', but thank you for the suggestion and I'll keep the new program bookmarked for the future).

 

 

 

 

What great help is being offered and I thank you so very much! Have following the instructions and:

 

 

A. Went to DVD-RW Drive (D:), then Properties ... compared the instructions against what was already ticked ... it looked the same so just clicked ‘OK’.

 

Rebooted computer.

 

Oops, placing a CD in drive no longer opens a window automatically showing me the contents on disc! (But even though it doesn’t ‘show’, I can click ‘Explore’ and get a view of contents).

 

Tried to burn via:

 

• Windows ‘basic’ option – no luck as once again it doesn’t recognize a CD as being in the drive)
  
• Drag and Drop option to above drive -
  

a) Little window opened saying "you have files waiting to be written to CD, to see files now, click on this balloon"

b) Clicked on balloon, a window opened with the heading “DVD-RW Drive D”... clicked on file under heading ‘Files Ready to be Written to CD’... clicked on ‘Write these files to CD”

c) New window opens saying ‘CD Writing Wizard’ and “There is no disc in the drive”

 

• Roxio – Please see snapshot below:
  

http://i33.tinypic.com/20f9nya.jpg

and;

a) The disc tray opens ... clicked ‘Add CD’... tray closes and a window says, “Do you want to erase data on disc?” ... I clicked ‘no’ and

b) Please see same screen capture above

c) Tray reopens but now Roxio screen is frozen and ‘x’ to close it not available

(Closed it by using Ctrl and Alt and Delete)

 

 

Have tried using the above noted RW disc with data already on it plus 3 new CDs (2 CD-RW and 1 CD-R with the same results.

 

 

B. Went to DVD-Drive E ... not my burning drive as I don’t have the same options showing when I went to ‘Properties’

 

Ever so sorry this post is so lengthy – just not sure what is important and what isn’t when trying to overcome the problem.

(Gosh, I wish the 'system restore' fixed things like this! Gentle smile).

[Seth]

Have a look here Mara:

 

EPS000399 : CD or DVD drives not accessible.

[Mara]

Hi Seth,

 

Oh crumb bum because now when I click on 'C' Drive, rather than getting to see a page of yellow file folders containing programs, I get a pesky 'Search' window that opens automatically.

 

Re-booted with same result.

 

(At this point I'm darn near tempted to 'start from scratch' with my computer but with my luck I'd put in the CDs I created when it was new - and then discover they won't open - and I'd be left with just this box - gentle groan).

[Goku]

Thanks for your explanation Mara. It really helps understanding your situation.

 

Please read the following article from the Microsoft Knowledge Base and perform the troubleshooting instructions provided. See if they help or not.

 

CD-R drive or CD-RW drive is not recognized as a recordable device

 

Let us know how it goes. Good Luck. :)

 

-- Goku

[Dalo Harkin]

Pioneer devices are known to need firmware updates - how old is the drive?

here is the link for firmware Pioneer PC & Pro Blu-ray, DVD/CD Writers for PC

if you do need an upgrade make sure that you follow the instructions completely as they can render your drive inoperable :eek:

[Mara]

My computer is two years old now - so off I go to the site you were so kind to provide the link to - and shall bookmark the site.

 

Since I did the C: Drive restore the other day, the CD burner is working once again, thankfully - but should it start to act up, I'll do the upgrade. (Knowing that upgrades "can render your drive inoperable" is daunting - eep! - so thanks ever so much for the warning).

[Dalo Harkin]

No problem Mara - :)