What's the main reason discs hang?

[randyannie]

Hey everyone, I'm wondering why so many - say 35% - of the CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW discs that I slide into my various disc drives, tend to hang up and sort of lock up my system?

All the discs that I'm referring to have been previously written on by the same drives but then it seems as though they don't like each other anymore after that.

I usually can get out of the lock up by using Ctl+Alt+Del/End Task on the disc process that is trying to run, but it would be nice to know why they are hanging up in the first place.

Thanks for any input gang, Randy

[normcar]

The quality of the DVD/CD, and the compatability of the DVD/CD to the writer. Using good quality DVD/CD brands as opposed to what is on sale is a good bet. But then check the compatability of the particular media with your writer. Many writers don't like many brands of media (or media codes).

Also don't write at higher speeds than the rating on the DVD. Some writers will allow you to do that, but is saving time worth a poorer resulting burn?

[oldandinthe way]

Some folks will tell you crap media. Other folks will question your drives. In any case the media you buy and the drives you have probably are incompatible about 35% of the time.

Do your disks work elsewhere? Do you drives read disk burned on other writers? It still is unlikley to point a finger at one or the other.

Try to find media that work for you and stick with it. Or buy a new writer which is not responsible for lots of bad media reports on the lists to the left.

[SingSing]

Have you clean these disc and try again ?
Did you count the scratches on these disc, and throw them out ?

[normcar]

Also, if you label the DVDs, remove the labels and NEVER label DVDs again. The labels will warp the DVDs enough to prevent playback when they get warm during play.

There is no easy answer as to why burned DVDs don't play. Bad players, bad blanks, bad labels, bad burners, bad conversions, bad etc. Each step adds to the possibilty of problems. Learning best practices by reading posts and instructions here on videohelp.com can help diminish bad DVDs, but not eliminate them. Once you find a series of steps that works for your equipment, keep doing what works.

KEEP LEARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Nelson37]

As you are describing the problem with 4 distinct types of disks, this tends to point to the burner or some other systemic issue.

Unless you are buying the absolute cheapest crap available, or throwing them around the room before using?

The question is somewhat like asking "what's the main reason my car runs slow?" There are so many possibilities, the occurrence is so frequent, and the top 3 to 5 reasons so close in commonality, that there is no really "main reason".

You find the cause by process of elimination. Noting paragraph #2, you are already pretty close to eliminating media.

Test commercial, pressed disks, and do it several times. Test burned disks which consistently hang in your PC on another. I have two drives right now, one CD and one DVD, which will read a pressed disk perfectly but will not even recognize a burned disk of any kind.