Hi, I have a HP 716n system with Windows XP SP2 on it, I recently had upgraded a FW from my DVD burner from [HP DVD Writer 300n Version: 1.25 to HP 300n/NEC ND-1100A 4X DVD+R/RW 3.15 Rev. A] due to many burn errors. I've always used the Nero Express data dvd feature to burn my data, btw I have Nero Express 7 version 7.8.5.0 The problems I have been having recently is that I've had Data DVD's that I've previously burned before & even one's that I've burned recently (burned successfully) either freezes or when I try to view the vids/files in Thumbnails it seems to either freeze or take an awfully long time to read the data on the DVD. I am using Sony DVD+R media for burning data. It's been getting on my nerves due to the fact that I want to at least verify that the files I burned have successfully burned onto the DVD & would be able to retrieve data later on, also so I can remove the files from my pc to make for room/free space. I did not however very after burning which was my mistake but being that I've burned many data disc's successfully I didn't think I should use that option. Not being able to access the video files in a quick manner & not being able to see the thumbs concerns me that maybe the files might not have burned correctly? Also don't know if this helps in any way but I've been able to burn DVD movies successfully with no problems or errors when playing on my DVD player so I don't know if the burner is the problem. Unfortunately I don't have a log of one of the burns but I do however have a capture of a Scan Disc using Nero CD/DVD Speed 4.7.0.4 and I don't know if that would help much. The scan is of a burnt data DVD that was successfully burned (according to Nero) but has many errors as you can see. I don't know what to do right now and would appreciate any tips/suggestions on resolving my problem. Thanks in advance.
Hi GLcorps First thing I would probably do is try and rip the data on these dvd's back to the hard drive to burn to another disc at some point. From the pic doesn't look like the scan completed and was going pretty slow probably due to all the read errors. (to display the pic in the post change the img tag to lower case) Try doing a scan disc on one of the dvd's movies that plays fine and see what that shows. May just be the burner too - it is an older one so I would seriously consider getting another one. They are so much cheaper now. Another thing to try is cleaning the lens of the burner with either a dvd lens cleaner or some canned air. If the lens is dusty may cause read errors.
Thanks for the reply. I didn't allow the test to fully finish due to it scanning very slow. I will do a full scan of the disc including one of a dvd movie fully burnt. I hope I can somehow recover some things to my pc, like I said when I click on an item it either freezes or takes an awfully long time for it to ask me what to do with it and even then sometimes it would sometimes get an error. I will also do a thorough cleaning of my PC since I rarely ever cleaned the inside much if at all since I purchased it in 2003 as I don't want to mess up anything inside the PC. Any tips/links on cleaning it properly? If problem persists I may just look into buying a new DVD Burner, any suggestions as to which brands are good? As stated though I will post the results of the scans which may take a while but I will contact you and keep you posted, I hope you will offer some more tips/suggestions once the test's are fully complete.
Ok - sounds like the pc needs some cleaning. To cleans the lens you can buy a commercial dvd lens cleaner from any store or try blowing canned air in the drive itself with the tray open. The inside of the pc you'll need to open the case and blow canned air to get the dust out. If you haven't cleaned the inside in awhile it's probably pretty dusty. Clean out the fans. How about regular pc maintenance - keeping up on that? Like disc defrag, registry cleaner and virus scans? If you need a registry cleaner here's a good free one ccleaner. Use the issues and cleaner options. Check and make sure all of your drives are in DMA mode and not PIO - if not in DMA may also be a factor in the slowness and possibly the read errors. Here's a guide. I'd do the above 1st and then try scanning and accessing the data the discs.
I tried the DMA suggestion and seems like the secondary IDE channel device 1 is PIO so I changed that to DMA, once this is enabled do I have to change anything regarding burning speed? I have been keeping pretty good maintenance with my PC. I did a full system recovery not too long ago and currently I have antivirus/antispy installed and scan once every week, I defrag every so often (when needed), use Firefox 2 with no-script & adblock plus and to be honest I really haven't had much problems with my pc at all aside from the current problems. The Disc's are still scanning atm and will give you the heads up once their done.
Hi again. I finally finished the scan of the Data DVD and of the DVD Movie [both as stated by Nero as successfully burned]. Here are both of the pics and I hope to hear your suggestions again. I will however try to do the thorough cleaning of my PC so I might be off my computer for a while so I hope to read your comments once I'm fully done. Heres the Data DVD scan using Nero CD/DVD speed: Here is the Scan results from a Successfully burned DVD using Nero Express: The Data DVD disc I edited to show what was shown in Red as either not burning or an error as everything else came out normal in Green & was supposedly ok.
Good that you're keeping up on the pc maintenance - can go along way. I'd run the registry cleaner too - probably won't solve this problem but ccleaner does a better job cleaning out the temp files then the winodws utility and the issues options clears out leftover registry entries. Cleaning the inside of the pc - try and do that like ever 6 months. You'd be surprised how much dust can accumulate in there. Again may not be the cause of the issue can lead to pc overheating. Now those scans - not looking good - esp since DMA is back on. Once that's back on nothing else to change really. If you have another drive you can try and rip these with I would do that. Or maybe a family member or friend has a drive you can test them out on and maybe get them ripped. If cleaning up the lens of the drive doesn't do the trick then yep I'm still thinking it's the drive itself.
I haven't yet started to clean my PC from the inside but will get to it tomorrow. Should turning the DMA on have helped read errors in some situations? Because I haven't yet tried to burn another disc with the dma on. I'll try to burn another data DVD after the clean and hopefully (*crosses fingers*) that the cleaning is what the pc needed but like you said that's a big 'if'. I'll keep you posted.
If the drive being in PIO mode caused some of the read errors then turning DMA back on would have given you a better scan. PIO is a slow transfer and can cause problems though maybe not this one. For the next dvd you burn turn on 'verify' in Nero and let's see what happens when it hits that check.
Another quick question. I've always burned at the lowest speeds using nero express/vision & used the default settings. Is there any specific settings I should use using Nero express/Vision/Back It Up? & or should I change the speed settings in the DVD drive properties? I have Nero 7 Express 7.8.5.0 & Nero BackItUp 2.7.3.2 & Nero Vision 4.9.5.7 Any suggested burn settings/advanced settings would be helpful to me as well.
You can just leave the default settings - that shouldn't be a problem at all. Since the drive is a max 4x for +R media - I would burn at 4x. The newer media like 16x may not do as well at lower speeds.
Well I did a thorough cleaning of my PC and there was a bit of dust in it, also did a dvd cleaning as well. The results are that the PC sounds a lot quieter than before and some of the disc's that were not viewable in thumb-view (the error plagued disc that was shown) I can view with thumbnails a bit quicker than before but seeing as how some videos were not properly burned they were not viewable. I have yet to do thorough burn tests but I did burn a regular music cd, the first had a power calibration error but the speed was way too high. The second try at 8x speed burned perfectly & had a verify data test done and seems to show it was fine. I haven't done other test's regarding a data DVD or movie but I will go ahead and do those in a while, just wanted to keep you updated and I will keep you posted.
Txs for the update! Looks like a step in the right direction. PC's can collect dust big time so every 6 months or so good idea to clean them out. I'd still try and see if you can get a friend or family member with a dvd-rom drive (will rip only not burn to dvd) or a dvd burner to try and rip these again to get them reburned. Some drives are better than others at less than perfect discs. There's also IsoBuster to try & rip with.
Hey there again. Here's what has happened with the burner since I cleaned the PC/Burner. I was able to burn a Data DVD full of Videos and had it verify the data after burning it and was successful. I tried burning a Data DVD (2 times) with iso's & both times had constant data errors towards the end of reading the discs. The good news though is that I was able to retrieve the majority of the Data Discs that I had some of my stuff on (which had the errors shown in previous posts) but some of it was lost but no biggie. I am thinking about getting an external DVD burner just to burn CD/DVD Data, etc... I was thinking about two brands: Lite-on & Plextor Burners. I don't know if those are any good but if you have any suggestions as to which brands I should choose I would appreciate it. Thanks for all of your support through all of my troubles.
Hey GLcorps Glad to hear you where able to get some of the data off finally. Try another program too to burn the data discs. You can use this good free - ImgBurn. Use the build mode to add the files and burn. LiteOn's and Plextors are both good drives. LiteOn's are much cheaper then Plextor. I have a few LiteOn's and love them. If you're in the US try newegg.com - good prices.
