Particular CD causing CD drive to not read any CDs

Question

Hi, I jregistered here to ask a question about something that's really puzzling me because you all seem like a very helpful and knowledgeable group.

I recently got a new Dimension 8300, with Windows XP Home and CD-RW and CD-ROM drives. So far I've been using the Dell Jukebox to rip tunes from, and burn CDs without any problem...except for one strange thing.

I ripped songs from about 40 CDs in a row and then put in a Los Lobos CD. The CD-RW drive (and/or the Jukebox program) suddenly quit reading. I couldn't play songs from the CD and it wouldn't even display the tracks. And, to make matters worse, every subsequent CD I put in had the same problem.

Not sure what it was, I tried playing existing MP3s on my hard drive. No problem, so it wasn't the sound system. I put the Los Lobos CD in my DVD drive and was able to read it from there.

Frustrated, I called Dell Tech Support. The guy told me he had other callers with a similar problem and had me do a "Restore" back to a date af ew days after I received my computer.

Curious if it was actually that particular CD or whether the CD drive/software had coincidentally quit when I put that CD in, I tried it again. Same thing. Couldn't read CDs anymore...so, once again, I did a restore (and, needless to say, haven't put that Los Lobos CD in the drive anymore.) But I'm wondering if other CDs are going to trigger this same problem? And, out of curiousity, although I now know how to fix the problem if it happens again -- via this "Restore" -- I'm really wondering what it is on this, or a, CD which would cause this to happen...a defect or something?

I appreciate any insight anyone can give...thanks! Also, would you recommend using a different program to rip/burn CDs? I'm happy with the Dell Jukebox program but I'd certainly be open to something better. Thanks!

osprey4 · Answer

I'm suspecting this may be one of the newer "copy-protected" discs. These are designed specifically so they cannot be read on personal computers to avoid being copied or ripped. Go here to read more about this:

http://homepage3.nifty.com/kent-i/Articles/CDprotect.html

Scary, huh?

capo60 · Answer

Thanks for the prompt reply, osprey! How coincidental that the guy at the link you provided also had a problem with a Los Lobos CD.

I'm guessing you're right, that the CD I have must be one of these copy-protected CDs. Funny thing is, though, that I can still play it from my DVD-ROM drive so it doesn't prevent me from playing it on my computer; it just prevents me from ripping songs (which is probably the primary intent of the copy-protection anyway...I doubt they want to prevent people from playing the CDs on their computers.)

I could deal with the occasional CD having this copy-protection (if that, in fact, is what's causing the problem.) What fries me is how it, apparently, then screws things up for every subsequent CD, including those I was able to successfully read/rip songs from before. I wonder if there's any way to prevent that from happening, or fix it without doing a "Restore."

Thanks again for your help.

fireberd · Answer

Some Audio CD's have copy protection on them and they will not play on a PC. This may be the case with this particular CD, since all the others work OK. However, I haven't seen any reports of a copy protected CD locking up the PC, but I guess it could happen depending on the particular copy protect scheme that is used.

purrplexed · Answer

Thanks for that link, Osprey4. Interesting reading.

osprey4 · Answer

The scary part is that, for a while, many audio CD manufacturers were thinking of making this a standard feature of all CDs, but there was so much public outrage they changed their mind.

Storage, Drives & Media

Particular CD causing CD drive to not read any CDs

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