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Question

Windows 7 not burning BDRs

Mar 8, 2015 7:23AM PDT

Okay my computer has started doing something really weird and I can't find any answers on tech support sites so this is my last hope.

I have a bluray burner drive on my windows seven computer and it has always worked fine but lately something weird is happening. It burns CDs and dvds just fine and it still reads Bluray discs without a problem but for some reason no matter what program I use it refuses to burn data to bluray discs.

Now normally I would think the burning lazer died or something but what is happening is that it is burning data to the discs and when I take them out I can see where they have been burnt but for some reason the computer is just giving up and refusing to burn the final step onto the discs so they can be read by a computer. It just gives up and says an error happened as soon as it tries to close the discs and leave me with a disc that has data on it but it can't be read by anything.


As I said this happens no matter what program or type of disc I use, I have tried three different types of discs that have never given me problems before and none of them work.


I have tried reinstalling the drive, updating the drivers, updating windows 7, and reinstalling all my burning software but nothing works. Even using the data burning program that is built into windows and never lets me down doesn't work.


This has been going on for more then a month and I am out of ideas and it is a big problem for me since my computer is my DVR and most of my blank discs are bluray discs and I don't have the money to buy new discs or a USB hard drive right now. My hard drive is starting to fill up because I have no way to get video files off of it.


If anyone has any idea what is going on and can help me I would be very grateful.


Thank you for your time.

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
Tell more.
Mar 8, 2015 7:27AM PDT

Yes, BR burners do wear out. There's only one good test and that is to try this drive on another PC then another burner. Don't fret, folk don't like that answer but it's been the answer for years.

Yes you could wipe the OS and try that but I find that too much work.
Bob

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Okay thanks.
Mar 8, 2015 7:35AM PDT

Thanks for the help.

I find it hard to believe that the drive has worn out because it is burning data, just not the lead out that makes the disc work after it has been burnt to, it's really weird.

Yeah I will have to see if my dad will let me try it on his computer. it's really odd because as I said it's burning the data but then crashing at the end and it still does it when I uninstall everything else and just use windows so I think it must be something with windows 7 64 bit.

Thanks for your help.

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There are no less than 3 lasers and they dim in just a few
Mar 8, 2015 7:42AM PDT

Years. All owners do think that if it burns one way it should the next.

HOWEVER I don't see any clues that it's a software issue. Some folk try to create Video BluRay discs and that is known to crash due to software issues. My take on that is that the software industry and apps are not bug free but we can skip the BR burner to test for that. Just make the .ISO image for the rendering step. If that works then we put that image on the BR media. That's all data and ...

Remember you are claiming it writes DATA BD discs. As far as I can tell.
Bob

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Oh sorry I didn't make that clear.
Mar 8, 2015 7:53AM PDT

It isn't finishing discs of any kind. I tried to burn ISOs and data directly to the disc and it goes through burning the data to the disc but then when it gets to the step where it either says "Finishing disc" when burning data to it with windows, or "burning leadout" when burning with a program like DvD arcitech pro 5.0 and Roxio it crashes and all it says is 'The disc could not be completed" Sorry I didn't make that clear.

Thanks for your help and time.

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The thing is, that Windows "burning" does not do BR.
Mar 8, 2015 8:11AM PDT

We have to add applications to record on BR. I know it sounds as if I'm trying to be too exact but when bugs/issues like this happen I have to know exactly what's at play.

--> OK. You have an ISO and the disc could not be completed.

One of my old tricks was to reduce the recording speed to half the drive or media speed, whichever is the lowest when my drive started to age.

Since ANY disc (CD/DVD/BR) can't be made it sounds like a hardware issue to me. But there is a way to test that without installing any OS. I like a Linux boot DVD/USB for that. I noted it years ago at:
http://tips.oncomputers.info/archives2004/0401/2004-Jan-11.htm

http://puppylinuxfaq.org/bundled.../55-pburn-cd-dvd-blue-ray-burner.html notes it was bundled with Puppy for a long time.
Bob

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Okay, I will try that. Thanks
Mar 8, 2015 8:25AM PDT

Thanks I will give that a shot and let you know if I find anything.

I don't mind you being exact, I know it is needed. I build my own computers but I still don't know much about drivers and such and since everything has worked fine for me for years I have not really learned alot about how to deal with problems like this.

The more research I do on google the more I am thinking that my drive may have just died, but it still seems strange to me that it burns up to this one point before failing, still I guess that could be the nature of the the beast.

I will try your idea and hooking the drive up to my dad's computer.

Thanks for the help.

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Well this is odd
Mar 10, 2015 3:50AM PDT

After spending a month doing everything I could think of to fix this problem including unpluging and replugging the drive and all sorts of other things today I was taking the drive out in order to plug it into my dad's computer tonight and test it there when it slipped out of my hands and fell on the floor.

So I decided to plug the drive back in to see if it had been damaged and right away it started working good as new, I have no idea why. I have plugged it into the same cables several times but that didn't fix the problem before so I can only conclude that dropping the drive on the floor somehow fixed it???!

I have no idea why it is working now but I will take it.

Thanks for all of your help.

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For years the hammer fix.
Mar 10, 2015 4:06AM PDT

One of the last hurrah fixes for decades is to take a bad thing and drop it. This is not new. Why it might work is that any connection may get jostled and get a better connection.

To me it proves the drive had issues.
Bob

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Great fix!
Mar 10, 2015 5:16AM PDT

How high and how many times? We had a saying when I was working then..."that's the mystery of electrons".

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Yeah i guess it was the drive.
Mar 10, 2015 9:13AM PDT

I dropped it about four feet onto a carpeted floor because I had my PC open and on my bed at the time.

I'll just chulk this one up to a mystery and remember that dropping and hitting stuff is the last resortHappy

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Spoke too soon:(
Mar 11, 2015 9:02AM PDT

Well it looks like I spoke too soon when I said that I had fixed my
Bluray drive, now it is not even reading Bluray discs let alone writing
to them. I guess I am going to have to replace the drive. The strange
thing is Windows is now displaying an icon on top of my drive in My
Computer that I have never seen before. If anyone can fill me in on what
this icon means it would be a big help. My bluray drive on my computer
stopped working and the only information Windows will give me on what
has gone wrong is this icon. I am pretty sure i will have to replace the
drive but I would love to know what the picture of a photo in front of
the name of the drive is supposed to tell me. I have looked all over for
a guide to icons in windows 7 online but have come up with nothing. It
would just be nice to knw what has gone wrong this time is all.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/11054382_636367033159860_4654914450857557731_n.jpg?oh=078c1cda92e1043bbc232817d43950cb&oe=5572FB6A&__gda__=1434128054_d1359654fdfaea9ed788461d977da5df

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Sorry but is this about F: drive or the Roxio drive?
Mar 11, 2015 9:10AM PDT

Either way both are OK in my opinion. Not a sign of breakage.

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Open it and see...
Mar 11, 2015 10:19AM PDT

what's there...or right click on the icon and look at its "properties". I could tell you one thing for sure. If the burning software is looking at D and the disc is in F, it will fail every time.

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okay thanks.
Mar 11, 2015 10:53AM PDT

Thank a lot.

The more research I do the more sure I become that I need to replace the drive.

Thanks a lot for the help.

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Good decision...also, recommend setting the new optical
Mar 11, 2015 11:31AM PDT

drive letter to say "R:". This will ensure that no matter what hard drives, external drives or flash drives you install or connect....your optical drive will always be drive letter "R:". My system has two opticals so I use drive letters "R" and "S" and my media reader set to "W", "X", "Y" and "Z".

VAPCMD

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Thanks, that is good advice.
Mar 11, 2015 12:15PM PDT

I am not sure it will help here but that seems like good general advice that I have never heard before.

You know now that I think of it just because I went four years without a problem is no reason why I shouldn't have done some research into this stuff sooner.

Thanks a bunch.

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Definitely right about not fixing the current problem but
Mar 13, 2015 10:40AM PDT

for me it's been worthwhile for configuration consistency and control. I've added several HDDs, one with two partitions, and it hasn't changed my optical drive letters at all. Hope you find it useful.

VAPCMD

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WAG here
Mar 13, 2015 5:14AM PDT

I suspect a dust blob was moved in the drop or similar by a sensor. That allowed the sensor to do its job and thus working all together. It could be a minor jolt was enough to move some mechanism to regain its placement in the "track rail" that allows the R/W head to move back and forth, etc.. Again, this is a guess on my part and all the "sheep entrails" i have used in yrs. past. Wink enjoy -----Willy Happy

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Where can you get sheep entrails these days?
Mar 14, 2015 2:04AM PDT

I wasn't home yesterday but later today I am going to run a cleaning disc and take out the drive and give it a good cleaning and see what I can see.

Thanks for your help.

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Play all you want
Mar 14, 2015 2:58AM PDT

When it comes to CD drives, any type, it generally isn't really repairable if h/w at fault. Sure, you may get lucky but overall, its time to pitch it. For all the weirdness in your attempts to resolve this plus the luck of getting it to work after a fall, suggest also that it can return to NON-working condition just as fast. It maybe my WAG is correct or not but its left to those that fiddle all the time to really get it done. When I do similar attempts at fixes, I find a true broken mechanism not repairable unless I'm in the Himalayas and/or stuck on an island(get the idea) and I need to be rescued, I'll try all day otherwise, iI'll order another one and be done with it.

As for sheep entails, those can be gotten from a friendly farmer or butcher that's willing to part with them. Otherwise, I go to my panty and reach for the freeze-dried variety ordered by "Wxxxxx-r-us, Inc." Happy

Oh man, I did a quick google on the witches name and found there was one, so disregard.....

adios -----Willy Happy

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thanks a bunch.
Mar 14, 2015 3:59AM PDT

Still now as strange as it seems it must be the fault of Windows 7.

Okay now my Bluray drive is refusing to burn normal DvDs and Cds and my normal DvD drive has started screwing up the exact same way my Bluray drive was.

I can't find a fix for this from Microsoft or anywhere else. so I guess I am going to have to try wiping my hard drive and doing a complete reinstall on windows7.

What a pain in the neck.

If you don't hear from me for a few days it's because my computer is down and I am having to reinstall everything.

Thanks for all of your help and See ya in a few days.