Hi, I have a dell Inspirion 1100 (yes, I know Dell sucks, please don't remind me) and recently it has not been able to read my cds or dvds. I can hear noises when I put my discs in as if the drive is trying to read them, but then nothing happens. Usually when I pop in a disc, the drive reads it and a screen automatically opens up, but now nothing happens. I've tried shuttin off and restarting my computer, manually running the drive (it says enter a disc) and I even bought a dvd cleaner, but it won't read that! Does anybody have any suggestions?
My problem seems related (I don't think my drive is dead) I recently purchased, and may return, an E-machine. It has a dvd rom-cdr/rw combo drive in it. When I feel I want to void the warranty or spend a lot of money for store installation, I will install my dvd Burner. However, this drive reads and rips an original DVD just fine (using shrink) I was surprised to find that it [bold]wouldn't recognize[/bold] any of my dvd-+r's. When I install my working burner, will this problem be fixed? The new e-machine has xp. I have backed up several DVDs successfully using my older, slower machine (also an e-machine[98se]) I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has experience, not just someone who wants to bad mouth e-machines. Conjecturing is also welcome.
I'm having the same problem with the Hp dvdwriter 630i. I will read dvds but will not even recognize that any type of cd is inserted. I have tried to install the firmware updates but I cannot ever open the page. HP cust. srvc. has given three or four suggestions. Could I just have a bad drive?
jahern: In your case, it's possible that the new drive will read dvd+-r's just fine. It is possible that the combo drive doesn't like the media but your burner might so give it a try, you could always take it out if it doesn't any how. btitus: Its possible the drive is bad, but you wouldn't know for sure without the latest firmware update. Try putting the links here and maybe someone can download it and email it or something (it shouldn't be very large).
I actually had to "try" to return the writer to HP as the firmware updates did not work. Laughingly HP and FedEx cannot agree upon which division FedEx is responsible for picking it up for return.
I have an eMachines T4852 and I cannot burn CDs either. Nero and any other program I try to use will not acknowledge a CD in the drive. I can use these drives to retrieve info from CDs and DVDs, but cannot burn info to a blank CD in these drives. After spending an hour long distance phone call with eMachines, I got the runaround and I'm told I have to wipe out my hard drive (restore) and then maybe mail the drives to them. I have a ton of stuff on this computer I cannot save first! Please please someone tell me there is some other way! There must be a simpler solution.
ravengirl: What other program are you using to try to burn? If it's Easy CD Creator, then Nero has a known problem coexisting with Easy CD and it is not easy to uninstall. The only other thing i have to ask is are you sure you even have a cd burner in that machine?
Hi King, thanks for responding. There is definitely a burner in this machine, a built-in dvd rom-cdr/rw combo drive. This computer also came with Roxio, which is a drag to disc burner... but it doesn't work. Even in Window's explorer, I'm getting a message that there is no disc in the drive when there is. I'm aware that Nero 6 has a compatibility issue with XP, and I emailed them for assistance...but this appears to be an eMachine defect. Unless it is a defect somehow brought on by Nero or another program I installed?
Ravengirl Do not think you are quite getting it. A dvd rom-cdr/rw combo drive means you can play but not burn DVD's. You should be able to both play and burn CD's. Nero does not have a compatibility issue with Windows XP - it has a compatibility issue with Roxio/Easy CD. Would suggest removing all traces of Roxio/Easy CD from your machine and trying free trial version of Nero. Use this link to remove all traces of Roxio after uninstalling. http://media.fastclick.net/w/get.me...www.microadvantage.net/downloads/zapper60.zip
Hi colw, you are so right about me not getting this. I admit this is way over my head and I do not understand this. I uninstalled Roxio and used the zapper to remove all traces, thanks for the link. But the problem still remains that the blank discs are not acknowledged in the drives. When I view the CD drive in windows explorer, I get a popup message that says:"please insert a disc into drive J" ...but there is a disc there. It will read a disc that has info on it, no problem. It just won't read a blank.
I had that problem with my hp dvd writer 630i and eventually just had to send it back for an exchange. It would read dvds but would not read cds. I had tried to change the type of blank media from office depot to memorex but it would not read it. It would not read commercially made (original) cds either.
