DVD drive inaccessible?

I have exported 4 photos out of Photoshop Elements 3 into a separate file. I simply want to burn those 4 photos to a CD. (Not sure if that answers your question.)

I am such a newbie I really know nothing about "formatting a CD." Usually when I burn a CD within XP, it just burns. I've never had to format. Guess I better learn now.

I have Nero (latest version). Will that help me do this formatting? If so, would you give me the steps or send me to the steps on-line? (I am already feeling hopeful you may have the solution for me!) Thanks so much.

I did not try formatting anything, as I was unsure on what you meant. Ultimately, however, I activated my NERO software (which I am not that familiar with yet) and was able to burn the photos to a CD quite easily.

My Windows XP burning still refuses to work though. Can I ask one more question: Is there a reason my Windows XP burning process is no longer recognizing my drives but NERO works fine? Thanks in advance.

Windows XP's CD burning capability just isn't the greatest..Others have had similar problems and as a result, it's something I don't use. As you've found out, the third party programs such as Nero or Easy CD Creator just do a better job.

Hope this helps.

Grif

If so, would you tell me where to find instructions on that? Much, much appreciated!

From now on, when you need to burn a CD, simply open your Nero program and do it that way. In a short period of time, you won't even remember that you did it any other way.

If you really want to disable it, there are a couple of ways to do it. First, you can RIGHT click on the drive icon in "My Computer", then choose "Properties". When that loads, click on the "Recording" tab, then UNCHECK the box that says: "Enable CD recording on this drive", then click on "apply", then OK, etc. Also, the registry edit in the link below should do it for you.

http://www.winguides.com/registry/display.php/979/

Hope this helps.

Grif

Thanks for taking the time with me on this. Much appreciated! I do not know what I would do without this forum!

I have loved this computer. I could not recommend them highly enough. You should have seen the packaging they mailed this computer in. They were great through the whole sales process. I have not had to test the service yet, but everything I hear is great! Just take a peek at their ratings on resellers.com.

I am guessing that someone on these forums can help me with this particular burning problem. I doubt it is a problem with the computer hardware. I certainly will call Monarch if I think otherwise. I am guessing I need a tweak like the one you suggested, which I will try soon. Thanks!

I don't have a Monarch computer but one I built. All of a sudden my burner kept returning "incorrect function" when a blank media was put in. Non-blank CDs and DVDs worked. I even bought another drive thinking the one I bought off Ebay was malfunctioning. When the same thing happened to my Sony 800UL I was baffled.

I was searching with A9.com for DVD burner and "incorrect funtion" when I came upon this thread. Both burners did not have a check in the box to enable CD recording. After checking the boxes, both now work.

I don't know why my first burner worked for a while then failed but thanks Earth9111 you were a great help. Now I have an extra burner.

My motherboard got zapped from a power surge and now I have a Dell 2.4 for my kids.Computer shope will get the case and a Gigebyte motherboard P4 3.2 GHZ,Seagate Barracuda HD, Corsair 1 Gig memory Windows XP Home but I have an Xp Pro upgrade.Install everything I have and he will supply Case,motherboard,Intel P4 3.2 Ghz CPU for $543.00 Take care!!!

I have right-clicked on the two drives and gone into properties. I get 5 tabs: General, AutoPlay, Hardware, Settings, and Sharing. None offer the option to "enable CD recording on this drive."

Once in the Hardware tab, I clicked on the drive (they appear in a drop-down list) and saw a "properties" button. I clicked on it. That led me to these 5 tabs: General, Properties, DVD Region, Volumes, and Driver. None of these tabs gave me the option to "enable CD recording on this drive." Under the "general" tab, there is a drop-down box entitled "Device Usage" and both drives were set to "Use this device (enable)." Under the separate "properties" tab there is a check next to "Enable digital CD audio for this CD-ROM device."

Open to ANY other ideas. Am I missing a step somewhere? Willing to try other suggestions. Thanks for any help!

the photos to a CD with my Nero software. I am now unsure how the internal Windows burning software was disabled? (I have asked grif this question above.)

Thanks again for your help! Much appreciated by this total newbie.

Checked the "enable" box and finally, the problem of writing to CD's is fixed.