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DVD drive won't write to DVD +RW that it created
The hard disk on my Dell Dimension 8400 crashed with a Hal.dll error after 4 years. I installed a new hard disk, but my DVD drive (P7875 Assembly,DVD+/-RW,16X,Half Height,NEC Corporation,01) won't write to disks to which it previously wrote. I get a Windows error message telling me I should erase the disk. These are DVD +RW disks, so I know the disks aren't the problem and I already reinstalled the Cyberlink PowerDVD softward from the CD-ROM and rebooted. Why do I still have this incompatibility? Thanks in advance.
osprey4
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January 23rd, 2009 15:00
Hi, arbrody:
PowerDVD is for watching DVDs, not writing to DVD discs. Let me suggest you look through your discs and see if you can find and reinstall the program you originally had for burning to blank CD and DVD discs. It might be something like Sonic or Roxio.
arbrody
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January 23rd, 2009 16:00
Thanks for your reply. I did figure out that PowerDVD was just for watching. I installed Roxio, but I didn't use that when I originally wrote to the DVD, and it didn't help either. Previously, I just dragged files to the DVD as I would to a floppy, or network drive. Now, when I try that, I get a msg suggesting that I erase the CD. I get the impression that I may be able to write to CDs, but not DVDs. Does that make sense? How do I fix that? I added a few display drivers, which enabled me to play DVDs, but I still can't write files to to DVD +RW.
osprey4
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January 24th, 2009 04:00
Hi, arbrody:
XP is not able to write to DVDs using the "Burning Wizard", only CDs. That explains the current behavior.
If you were previously dragging files to write to a DVD RW, then you must have had a UDF writing program installed such as Sonic DLA or Roxio Drag-to-disc. You should either have a separate disc for this, or it's on the Roxio disc.
arbrody
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January 24th, 2009 09:00
I reinstalled Roxio, but I was not running it when I previously wrote to the the DVDs. Indeed, all of those earlier DVDs now show as completely full with absolutely no Free Space when I look at them in Windows Explorer and there's no way that that could be the case. Not even 1M free? I think there is definitely some other system config out of whack or something else missing. I didn't see the Roxio CD giving me some Drag-to-disc ability. Is that what you are suggesting?
arbrody
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January 24th, 2009 13:00
I tried that, but when I did so, the CD said Roxio was already installed. :(
osprey4
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January 24th, 2009 13:00
It will be a separate installation from the regular Roxio program. Try inserting the CD and look for this option.
osprey4
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January 25th, 2009 11:00
Ok, I found this thread on the Roxio site, which indicates that Drag-to-disc may already be installed but is simply not working (not sure if that's the version you have). See if that thread helps you.
Let me reiterate that what is wrong with your system is that you were previously using Drag-to-disc, a UDF writer (aka, packet-writing program) for your DVDs. If you do a bit of searching in this forum, you'll find that this format of writing to CD and DVD discs is fraught with problems, the primary one being incompatibility with systems that do not have a UDF writer. In general, forum regulars recommend not using one of these programs. The convenience does not make up for the problems, at least not to me.