Does this make any sense?

[twister6]

I was doing a backup of my projects to DVD+RW (I use rewriteable since I need to update those from time to time). I have Lite-ON external DVD burner SOHW-1673SX which supports every possible forwmat etc and I have used it for more than half a year without any problem. Also, I use ROXIO Easy Media creator. So, yesterday I backed my data, than checked to see if all the files are on DVDRW and it was OK. This morning, I had to look again and was not able to read the disk from my external Lite-ON burner which I used yesterday. I tried it on my laptops (2 year old Thinkpad) DVD ROM drive, can't read it either. Than, tried it on my wife's 4 year old Thinkpad and it reads fine?!?!? I use a high quality TDK DVD+RW media. How could this be possible???

This is very frustating. Is there a problem with Roxio that creates intermittent read compatibility? Or, TDK (which I always though of as a top brand) is not good, so which one is better? Any other suggestions? I mostly use this for my backup, not sure if I need to get one of those external hard drives instead?

[Dv8ted2]

Is the disc scratched in any way? Is it dirty? Have you cleaned it?

[twister6]

It didn't look scratched to me, perfect surface. Beside, if it would be scratched or dirty, how come I can read it on other much older DVD-ROM drive?

BTW, what would you recommend for cleaning DVDR?

[Dv8ted2]

It sounds like the lens might be dirty on the other drives.

You might try a lens cleaner.

Just trying to help.

[twister6]

Your help is greately appreciated! Will look for a lens and DVDR cleaners... Still, if the lens is dirty, how come I can read a dozen of my other half-scratched dirty DVDRs and CDRs? This is always a mystery to me. Unortunately, when I have to deal with a valuable data which I need to back up, this becomes very frustrating