Cannot Format CD/DVD discs

Question

Several days ago I burned several slideshows to CD-Rs using Dell Image
Expert. This program required that the new/blank CDs first be formatted. I
formatted the CDs with no problem, and successfully burned the slideshows to
the CDs.

Today I tried to format a new/blank DVD+R and to my surprise when I right
clicked on 'Properties', for the CD/DVD burner, the 'FORMAT' option was no
longer there (it does still show up for floppy and flash drives). Also,
curiously when I insert a new/blank disc a window pops up stating that the
media is read only --never saw this message before.

The drive is working fine in all other aspects --I can read discs and can
write discs using other 3rd party s/w (Roxio RecordNow and Backup MyPC), as I
could also have done before this problem.

Any help would be appreciated.

osprey4 · Answer

Hi, zayde:   It would really help if you provided the model of your Dell system and your drive, as well as your operating system.

osprey4 · Answer

Discs only need to be formatted if you are using a disc file system called UDF. However, I am unable to determine if Dell Image Expert requires this, or if it is your computer that is set up to write to discs using UDF. Would you please tell me if you have a program such as Roxio Drag-to-disc or Sonic DLA installed on your system?

zayde · Answer

Oops, sorry   Dell 8250, Win XP Pro SP2, NEC ND-110A w/ 108B (never updated f/w --never had a problem) CD/DVD were Verbatim and/or Maxell (do not use Memorex)

zayde · Answer

As stated in my original post: '...Dell Image Expert. This program required that the new/blank CDs first be formatted. ...'   I use Sonic/Roxio RecordNow8, and have DLA installed.

osprey4 · Answer

If you disable DLA, are you still able to prepare slide shows on CDs?   Again, I'm trying to distinguish between what the program requires and what is actually running. I would normally advise against using DLA for DVD media due to incompatibility issues.

zayde · Answer

Not sure what you mean by disabling DLA ???

osprey4 · Answer

In drive properties, you should see a DLA tab and should have the option to disable DLA.

zayde · Answer

Disabling DLA does not make a difference since I cannot format the CD.

Since the CD is not writable, Dell Image Expert does not offer the CD/DVD burner as an available device when an unformatted CD is inserted.

Dell Image Expert expects a pre-formatted disc to be used --hence my problem, I cannot format discs as I previously could.

osprey4 · Answer

Unfortunately, I'm not going to be much help with Dell Image Expert. You might want to try the photo forum: http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board?board.id=si_digvideo   In theory, you should be able to format DVD+R discs using DLA. What kind of discs are you using?

Storage, Drives & Media

Cannot Format CD/DVD discs

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