burning DVD-R's

​ Hello! I have an Inspiron 600m with a HL-DT-ST DVD+RW GCA-4040N drive (I have no idea what those letters/numbers mean, it's just the information in the drive's properties window). Anyways, I have been able to burn DVD-RW's just fine, but for some reason the drive does not even recognize DVD-R's. ​

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​ Is there any way for me to ​

​ 1. get the drive to recognize a DVD-R is there ​

​ 2. burn information on the DVD-R with my DVD+RW drive? ​

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​ Or am I solely restricted to DVD-RW's? ​

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​ Thank you for any information you can provide me. ​