About two weeks ago I bought a Dell Dimension 4700 with a Philips +- RW DVD drive (DVD 8631). I've been trying for a week to back up my hard drive to a DVD +RW disc without success. The software I am using is Stomp Back Up My PC.

Whenever the software attempts to write to a +RW disc in the drive, I usually get the following error message:

"The current drive is unavailable. It may be in use by another application or shared as a system device. To continue, try shutting down the other applications."

Occasionally I will get a message that instructs me to put a blank disc in the drive, even though there is a blank disc in the drive.

I have downloaded and installed the firmware upgrade for this drive from the Dell website, but the results are the same. I have tried running the software in Safe mode, but again the results are the same.

I thought the problem could be related to the Imation DVD +RW media, so I bought some Sony DVD +RW media, but the results were the same.

I have been able to use the same backup software to back up the hard drive on my Dell Dimension 4400 to the Imation DVD +RW media using an older TDK drive.

I am convinced that the problem is with the Philips drive.

I would appreciate any suggestions to help resolve this problem?

Jerry