Help With DVD Driver? Firmware? unknown burning problems..

[spongecake]

I recently Reformatted my computer and reinstalled nero 8 and have been havinjg trouble burning/ backing up dvd's.

I'm running windows xp service pack 2..

I'm wondering if I should install anything do something to get the ball rolling with my drive.

I burn dvd's and they work, but they skip very minmally-alot towards the end..

HELP!

[Baldrick]

It sounds like a media problem. Have you changed dvd media recently? Or try switch to GOOD media like verbatim, see www.nomorecoasters.com

[spongecake]

I've never had a problem before. I was burning perfect on all dvd's before the reformat.

Ever since I had to reinstall everything on my comp....

I'm so frustrated!

Would it have something to do with going from service pack 1 to service pack 2?

[Nelson37]

Nothing you have mentioned should affect your DVD drive in any way.

WHY did you have to re-format?

Have you checked all cables and connections to the drive? How is it connected? Any changes internally to the PC?

It was explained to you that defective media often causes this very problem, to emphasize it is the ONLY cause of this problem about 95% of the time.

You were asked if you have changed media. You failed to answer this. Please explain why it is that you do not wish to assist in troubleshooting your own problem.

If you have a box of blanks, several of which worked BEFORE the re-format, and since the re-format, blanks FROM THE SAME BOX have failed several times, this would be useful information.

If that is not the case, and the failures result from a box of blanks which have been used only AFTER the re-format, I think we would have near-total agreement that you should get another box, of good quality blank disks.

[spongecake]

Sorry about not answering and helping my own problem...

I was almost out of a swindle of 16x maxell dvd-r when my comp was reformatted which I had problems with...BUT THESE WORKED PERFECT BEFORE THE REFORMAT!

I bought a new box of memorex 16x dvd+r and continued to have these problems...

Could it be Nero causing these problems???

I did not fool with the drive/internally...

[spongecake]

ALSO:

I reformatted because my computer was slowing down a whole lot because of spyware and so much crap on my computer...

I thought the burn speed was a factor,but its not as well...

[Nelson37]

How many of the Maxells were left in the box, AFTER the re-format? How many had the error problem? How often do your videos completely fill the disk, especially BEFORE the format? What happens if you burn a video of 3 to 3.5 GB?

So now you are using a completely different brand, and are having completely different results? hmmm And you have only tried ONE brand, after being told that the media was most likely the problem?

Neither one of these known as high quality disks.

Sure, Nero could be the problem. Your left elbow could be the problem. Try keeping both out of the process.

Try another burning program. Try another brand of disks. Fill a disk with data and run a file compare with the originals.

ISOLATE and IDENTIFY, there are currently too many variables. To isolate Nero, try another burning prog, IMGburn, CDBurnerXPPro are two good ones. To isolate video issues, run the data compare test described above.

And, just in case you missed it, to isolate media problems, try another brand of GOOD QUALITY media. Look for Made in Japan on the label.

SFAIK, there is nothing else known to cause skipping video towards the end of the disk, other than bad media. So much so that this symptom is generally considered dead-certain evidence of bad media.

Almost forgot - how many playback devices have been tested?

[redwudz]

SFAIK, there is nothing else known to cause skipping video towards the end of the disk, other than bad media.

I agree the vast majority of the time it's media caused with errors at the end of the burn, but a very few times the laser or the burner itself can overheat and cause those type of problems. But that would have happened before the reformat also.

If the errors happen in the last ten minutes or so of play, just reduce your DVD size by a couple of hundred megabytes. I doubt you would notice the quality loss most times. To paraphrase Nelson37, you need to rule out what isn't causing the problem. Substituting known good media should be the first thing to do. I also suspect when you reinstalled everything, minus the malware, you didn't get it exactly the same.

*Try good media.
*Use ImgBurn with a known good DVD file.
*Lower your burning speed by one 'notch' if you haven't tried that. Too slow a burn can cause problems also, IMO.
*Decrease the size of the file by a couple of hundred megabytes.
*Think back to what you re-installed and see if there are any conflicts on the off chance there is a software problem. A few programs seem to like to be installed in a particular order. Did you update, or otherwise change any programs that could be related to data exchange or burning?

If all this fails, update the firmware, though that is usually the cure for problems with different or newer media. And if that also fails, consider replacing the burner. If that also doesn't work, you will at least have a spare burner.