Old DVD doesn't detect in Windows

[twist123]

Ok heres whats happend:

I have a Pioneer 106 DVD-RW drive. (Fairly old, one of the first in mainstream i think)

1: I burnt a DVD, works fine, use to be able to watch it on both computer DVD and the Standalone DVD player in my living room.
2: Now probably been a month, but my computer no longer detects the disc at all in the DVD drive, however i can still play it on the standalone.
3: DVD decryptor on windows detects all the files in the video_ts folder, even though 'My Computer' shows no sign of any discs.

Its not the DVD-meda because i've burnt discs long before this one with the same media and they still work perfectly fine. (TDK's)

So its just this one. I'm currently ripping form the vob files using DVD decryptor, just to have a backup. But could anyone provide and explanation of why this happened?

I've also installed the region free firmware on my DVD-RW. It also happened to a few movies my cousin brought back from Thailand, my computer doesn't detect the disc at all.

[redwudz]

It could be the burner. Update the firmware if you haven't. And reading a DVD and burning a DVD are two separate operations. One may work while the other doesn't. The drive may need cleaning of the laser lens.

You didn't mention what software player you are using for playing. For DVDs, PowerDVD is one I use, though the freeware VLC Media Player works also.

I realize you said the drive won't recognize the disc at all. One thing that is easy to try is to uninstall the IDE channel the drive is on. This resets Windows to acquire the drive again. It sometimes cures problems like that. Windows will reinstall the drive after a reboot.

You also want to look at the programs used for reading, burning on your computer. Some may have made changes to your system that is causing a problem. Pretty vague, I know. But since it worked before, something changed. I would suspect software first.

[MOVIEGEEK]

That happens on my PC from time to time...especially DVD-R,as long as PowerDVD or DVDDecrypter recognizes the disc I don't worry about it.You might use Nero CD-DVDSpeed to check for errors.

[ybeard]

Try blowing a can of air into the drive. I've had a similar problem on more than one Pioneer drive. I could burn DVDr's with DVD Decrypter and when it went to verify the write, it wouldn't read the DVDr. Taking it to a standalone player it worked just fine.

Took a can of air, blew out the inside of the drive and all was well. Rebooting the computer didn't do a bit of good. Tried different media, etc, all no go. Simply a dirty lens evidently.

[twist123]

hey thnx guys, the uninstall trick worked like a treat =]

[twist123]

Hey guys ive got a new problem now.. My dad bought me a 50 pack of philips DVD-R's. They're fine when i put them in, they detect as blank DVD's however, after i burn onto them, they nolonger are detectable on the drive, however the standalone DVD player reads them fine.

This is after i uninstalled and reinstalled the drive aswell. The problem was fixed for the TDK's which was the one in question earlier in this topic, however, it still remains for these discs. I use Power DVD to play DVDs, however windows simply doesn't detect the disc at all, and this time, neither does DVD decryptor.

Any further advice? BTW i cant seem to find any places selling compressed air, or any place selling it for a reasonable price.

You guys recon i should just invest in a new DVD drive? And probably a new case aswell then, maybe a new powersupply while im at it too...
My computer runs kinda hot -.- Athlon 64 754 3000+ jumps all the way up to like 55degress celcius on load and my case starts rattling for some reason.. but thats offtopic..

[MOVIEGEEK]

I would say the problem is your Pioneer.

[twist123]

yeah this sux (am i allowed to say that?), what kinda DVD-RW drive you guys reccommend i get? i should probably invest in one of those dual-layer capable ones too. So any recommendations on a brand/model? i thought pioneer was suppose to be a really good DVD-RW when i bought the 106.. i guess i was wrong. Something not too expensive would be nice, but then again if its worth the money, i don't mind either