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General discussion

Recognizes new burner as CD-ROM only

May 11, 2006 10:29PM PDT

Running WindowsXP on a Compaq with an Athalon. Picked up an NEC 3550A burner from Newegg. Windows, Roxio, etc. all only recognize it as CD-ROM. Isolated drive, switched jumpers, updated software, even hacked regedit with no success.

Explorer does list the unit properly, but when a disk is inserted the ID changes.

ControlPanel>System>Hardware>DeviceManager shows CD-ROM and lacks the 5th tab.

Any ideas?

Thanx

Discussion is locked

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Does it work properly?
May 12, 2006 1:16AM PDT

If so, no worries. My home built with an Anthlon XP shows my two optical drives, DVD-RW and CD-RW as "CD Drives". My other home built with a Sempron shows it's DVD-RW as a "DVD-RW" drive.

It's dependant on the motherboard, it's drivers, and the BIOS. Like I said, if it works, no worries.

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That's the problem ...
May 12, 2006 1:51AM PDT

it will only read, not write. The error message states that the device is Read Only.

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firmware and registry fix
May 13, 2006 2:37PM PDT

NEC has firmware updates for just about all of its DVD drives. Make sure you read all instructions and follow them exactly if you do this.

Also you might want to try DELETE UPPERFILTERS and LOWERFILTERS.
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314060

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Got it!
May 14, 2006 9:44PM PDT

Uninstalled Roxio EasyCDCreator5 which eliminated the problem. Thanks for the tips.

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I have same trouble.......
May 18, 2006 9:49PM PDT

I have a Philips 1625K DVD drive which is recognised by the system as that. The drive is described by Explorer as "DVD-RW drive". When I put a DVD -RW in ready for writing, the description changes to "Blank disc". When I right-click on the drive the caption says "Write these files to CD". If I try that I get the CD writing wizard.

I too had a version of Roxio installed but removing it has not solved the problem.

Any ideas please?

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P.S.
May 18, 2006 10:05PM PDT

Nero will write the files correctly. It's WinXP that does not recognise the DVD's

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Why would XP recognise the DVD?
May 18, 2006 10:11PM PDT

XP doesn't do this in stock form.

Bob

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Now I'm stuck.......
May 18, 2006 11:12PM PDT

as to what you are saying. Do I always have to use a software program to write DVD's? If so, why does XP let me copy the files to a temporary area and ask if I want to write them to disc if it will not do the job?

I assumed that if you ask XP to "send the files to drive D" that it would write them for you afterwards. Is this not the case then?

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Try this.
May 18, 2006 11:27PM PDT

"Do I always have to use a software program to write DVD's?"

Yes.

"If so, why does XP let me copy the files to a temporary area and ask if I want to write them to disc if it will not do the job?"

XP does not support DVD recording. There are many areas in XP that we could write about that don't work as expected. Since I'm not one of the XP architects, I will not be able to tell you why this is so except to note that XP does not come equipped to write DVDs. We'll have to add software to do this.

The good news is that I use CDBURNERXP to write what DATA DVDs I need which is free.


"I assumed that if you ask XP to "send the files to drive D" that it would write them for you afterwards. Is this not the case then?"

This is not the case when it comes to XP. I'm sure somewhere on microsoft.com they reveal what media types XP will record to and I'm sure that DVD is not on the list.

Bob

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Well that clears up that problem!
May 18, 2006 11:31PM PDT

Many thanks for your reply Robert. Obviously I have misunderstood XP's capabilities. No wonder Nero came with the drive when I bought it. Thanks once again

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makes you wanna go hmmm
May 18, 2006 11:30PM PDT

I have always used Roxio's CD Creator 5. I just tried copying data to cd-r using just windows. It worked. I guess you don't have to use extra software. I still use Windows media to copy music. It's just easier since I have all the music listed in one place.

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thanks for bringing up question
May 18, 2006 11:40PM PDT

Now I know DVDs need software, CDs don't. Can we get input from people about what DVD sfotware they use?

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Many good ones.
May 19, 2006 1:12AM PDT

The simplest free DVD burning software I use was already mentioned once. It's called CDBurnerXP Pro3, and covers many needs including ISO files.

The next one isn't free, but I bought it for very cheap. Nero Burning 6 is a time-tested standard. After updates of my earlier version it will do almost anything I throw at it.

If you want to be up and burning right away, download CDBurnerXP Pro3. If you want to spend a little, shop around for Nero OEM.