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General discussion

DVD Drive turns into CD drive

by ramonkind99 Jul 8, 2007 12:47AM PDT

MY DVDRW becomes a cd drive when I insert a DVD+ or - disc into it. Under My computer with no disc it says dvd-ram drive, but once that blank dvd goes in, whammo it's a cd drive. Even if I try to explore the disc I get "F:/ is not accessible. Incorrect Function."
I'm running Windows XP pro, 64 bit version. My dvd drive was a Toshiba Writemaster model # SH-s182. Thinking it was that I went and bought a new DVD Drive, a memorex 20x multi format with lightscribe, model #MRX-530L, but I get the same problem.
As far as burning software I've tried MagicISO, Nero essentials, and just exporting my Adobe Premiere files to dvd (which is what I'm trying to burn) to no avail. I've also run CCcleaner in case it was some old reg files and no help.
I've found similar posts but no one seems to really be able to answer the question. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Discussion is locked

3 Posts
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Sounds proper.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Jul 8, 2007 1:01AM PDT

You wrote "blank dvd goes in, whammo it's a cd drive. Even if I try to explore the disc I get "F:/ is not accessible. Incorrect Function."

XP does not have native DVD recordable media handling so that's not a bug.

As to the softwares listed, those may work but given the above you seem to be trying to use Explorer on blank DVD media which is always going to be trouble.

However if I never use Explorer and run my DVD recording software (either what came with the drive or a retail purchase) I never have an issue. Your issue may be as simple as you trying something that should never work.

Bob

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but i should be able to burn right?
by ramonkind99 Jul 8, 2007 1:47AM PDT

YEah, I don't normally use the explore command to burn or do any of that stuff, I was just listing it in case it was another problem. Even with my burning software it won't let me and doesn't recognize that I have a drive capable of burning DVD's. XP might not do it at the get-go but with the correct software it should right? And why would XP randomly decide to change the type of drive I have when inserting a disc? Is there a way to fix that?

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Still sounds proper.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Jul 8, 2007 3:20AM PDT

I have such a machine that does that DVD to CD change and my software still records.

Let's skip all what XP does since it sounds more like a software issue or an old drive. I'll start with a statement about CD/DVD recorders since it seems hard to accept and then move to software.

CD/DVD recorders last from 1 to a few years. The amount of time lost from owners trying to save dead drives is nothing short of amazing. I have our tech keep spares around for a quick swap to keep from falling into this time loss trap.

-> About software. I have a very simple test for such drives. If I need to prove the drive is dead I boot up Linux from an USB drive and then run K3b. I don't offer any tutorials about this but only note it so you can research this if you need proof about the drive.

In Windows I'll remove the upper and lower filters noted in the usual Microsoft articles about CD/DVD problems and then I'll run CDBURNERXP since it will peacefully coexist with all other softwares. From those tests I decide what to do next.

Bob

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