what burning software are you using and have you tried reinstalling it?

Sonic DigitalMedia LE v7.  Haven't tried re-installing it as it worked on two other discs immediately beforehand. 

When I go into My Computer, there is no disc showing in either of my DVD drives, even when there is a blank disc inserted.  I have tried numerous blank discs including from the same box as those that were successfully burned, and also from brand new packs.

Next step would be to install the latest drivers ( firmware tells the device what to do, drivers help it to communicate with Windows and other devices. Use PC Wizard (free from Download.com) or similar program To find the maker and model of your burner. Go to their wbsite and download the newest drivers, and install.

If that does not work, consider uninstalling Roxio/Sonic. Run a registry cleaner like CCleaner or Glary Utilities, restart, and re-install. Of all burning programs, Roxio/Sonic is my least favorite.

Larna,
Run the Dell Diagnostics on the drive if it is on your hard drive.
Press F12 at startup while the blue Dell shows on the screen.  This
will enter the boot menu.  Choose Utility Partition or Diagnostics.
Run the Custom Test on the drive and have a data DVD (not movie DVD)
ready for the read test.

I have just downloaded Firmware (whatever that is) from Dell's support site for the DVD driver, and then restarted my PC, but it hasn't made any difference.

Thank you both for trying to help.  Unfortunately I have still had no luck. 

I tried using F12 on the blue screen but nothing happened. 

I then downloaded PC Wizaed from Download.com, but it didn't tell me anything extra about my DVD drive.  It just gave me the same letters and numbers as you see below on my signature.  (I think I clicked on the wrong PC Wizard to begin with as it took me to 'RegCure', scanned my PC and said it had found 1059 problems!! then it asked me for 29 dollars to fix them.  I have to try to avoid spending money especially on things I don't understand as I am retired, and could end up trying all the wrong things, and paying every time to do it!)

Larna

I know nothing about "RegCure" and certainly don't recommend it.

I have researched your drive in the public forums and read about many people with your burner  who had similar issues; the CD working and the DVD dead.

You have two lasers in the drive, and the DVD laser is either dirty, or much more likely, dead.

Compressed air can be blown in or discs with little brushes (cleaning discs) could be run to clean the laser, but it is likely a lost cause.

I recomend installing a new DVD burner -->  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151175 ; total cost, $20.99 delivered.

ddd1ddd

I am not sure that the problem is with the burner. 

Neither of my DVD drives recognise any blank disc that I insert, but they will play CD's & DVD's.

This is really strange as I had just successfully burned two data DVD's.  I have looked at them after burning and they are recognised by the drives & all the data is there.

The problem is just getting my D & E drives to recognise that there is a blank disc inserted.

Larna

We don't expect the DVD Rom to recognize the blank, but certainly the burner should. Re-install the burning software as noted above.

I have at last managed to burn a data DVD!  I have no idea how, as I don't seem to have done anything new other than turn off the computer and restart yet again.  I seem to remember having a similar problem a few years ago, and I think it was something to do with the automatic updates for the OS.  I suppose these may sometimes cause conflict, but if that was the case this time, I really don't know what has resolved it.

Anyway thank you for your support, and I will just keep my fingers crossed that all will be well now.

Well here we are again.  I have burned two DVDs in the last 2 days, and today the Drive (E) will not recognise that there is a blank disc.

I have a really important DVD to burn in the next 3 days.  It has been created on Roxio 'My DVD Premier Suite 8', and contains slideshows & music.  When I try to burn it from the software that created it, nothing happens after the encoding & saving to an ISO file.

So I downloaded some free software (Videolan) that burns ISO image files, but that does not recognise that there is a blank disc inserted either.  I have the latest firmware & DirectX 9, so I am really stuck once again.

My DVD burner is HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GWA4164B, on a Dell Dimension 5150, with OS Windows XP Home Edition.

Please help.