For the most part, DVD-R/RW (recordable/rewriteable) and CD-R/RW drives work as advertised, giving us a convenient, affordable way to make archival copies of software, media files, and the like and to create our own multimedia masterpieces. Yet sometimes the burning process (that of writing data to a CD or DVD) stops midway, with some enigmatic message appearing on our screens; or the results won’t play properly; or the drive itself is no longer recognized by Windows. It’s enough to make one yearn for the days of audio cassettes and VHS tapes. The copies you made were always a degraded image of the original, but barring mechanical failure in the media, they worked.The good news is that there are logical reasons for these problems, and we’ll cover several of them here. We’ll also try to give you the most likely and least expensive solutions, so you don’t blow your bankroll on a state-of-the-art combo drive only to discover that it, too, refuses to copy your entire collection of home movies.
Problem: I got a real deal on 300 blank CD-Rs from an off-brand manufacturer. But I’ve found that only five of the first 15 I tried actually worked; the rest were rejected by my CD burner.
Solution: We all like bargains, but the reason many off-brand CDs are such a great deal is that their manufacturers have less-than-exacting standards where quality control is concerned. This even applies to some name-brand discs, which are simply rebranded, priced-up versions of off-brand CDs. We’ve had very good luck with Verbatim and Maxell. They’re not the least expensive CDs around, but when you factor in frequent duds lost to bad manufacturing that show up on some other labels, they’re more cost-effective. So before you decide your software or CD player is bad, go out and buy some really good media. You’ve saved some real money if that solves your problem.
Problem: I’m trying to make an exact copy of a CD in my collection, but I keep getting an error message that the remaining tracks on my original won’t fit on my copy. This is despite the fact that the media are of identical length.
Solution: You’re probably experiencing a buffer underrun. This occurs when a CD copy is “closed” to any further burning before it has truly been filled.
Low memory’s usually the culprit:
You have too little available by the time you reach point X on your CD copy, so burning terminates as though you’ve reached the end of the disc. The best way to combat this is to provide more memory, and you can do that by closing all windows and memory-resident applications (screensavers, virus checkers, emulators, etc.) that you normally use while engaged in the burning process. Whatever you do, avoid running memory-intensive background processes such as defragmenting your hard drive while burning we all love to multitask, but this is the worst time for it. Slowing the burn speed might help, too. The faster you burn, the more intensive the process. Note, too, that the maximum burn speed for your CD/DVD drive may not be the best for your entire system. A very fast drive in a (relatively) underpowered CPU with low memory isn’t going to be live up to its potential. Finally, you may be experiencing a buffer underrun if you’re employing some forms of data compression on the source drive. This slows down access time, since the data has to be decompressed before it can be transferred to your writer.
Problem: I’m trying to burn a disc, but my CD drive isn’t coming up as an available source or destination.
Solution: Windows isn’t recognizing your CD-ROM drive. The most likely cause is an outdated driver. On a Windows XP system, right-click My Computer, then click System Properties. Click the Hardware tab in the System Properties dialog box and then click the Device Manager button. Click the plus (+) sign next to DVD/CDROM Drives, double-click the drive you want to check, and then click the Driver tab in the resulting dialog box. Under Driver Date, you should see the issue date of that driver. Go to the manufacturer’s Web site and check to see if an update is available. If one is, create a System Restore point (if you’re using System Restore), install the newer driver, and then reboot.
Problem: My PC is equipped with a CD/DVD combo drive. Recently, I’ve been unable to play or burn DVDs on it, although I can still use it to burn CDs.
Solution: If you can’t use both CDs and DVDs, a number of possibilities present themselves. The most likely is unfortunately the most unpleasant to consider: combo drives typically use a dual-laser setup; so if DVDs fail but CDs can still be used, it’s very likely a case of the DVD laser giving up the ghost.
Problem: The sound of my burned CD copy is very distorted.
Solution: This could be due to several possible issues. First, have you checked to make sure that the source disc is still in good shape? Contrary to manufacturer claims in the early years of CD technology, CD surfaces can deteriorate over time. Second, are those source files of decent quality? There are MP3 files available with a bit rate as low as 32Kbps (kilobits per second; although 80 or 96Kbps is more common). You can fit a lot of material on a disc using such a low bit rate, but the audio quality will suffer. For good, relatively distortion-free transfers, 128Kbps is a good minimum bit rate. Finally, is your system capable of handling the write speed you’ve chosen? Just because the CD-ROM drive comes with a very high setting doesn’t mean your computer can automatically handle that. Try authoring discs at a lower write setting and see if that lessens or eliminates the distortion.
Problem: I’ve been burning CDRWs lately because I like being able to reformat them and overwrite the old contents. But I now find that the music compilation discs I’ve made and updated over time won’t play on all my gear, and a couple of my CDRWs won’t even play in players that previously worked fine.
Solution: Yes, rewriteable CDs are great when you want to keep just a few discs around. You can theoretically replace their contents as often as you wish, as opposed to CD-Rs, which only let you write to them once. But there are a couple of drawbacks to CD-RWs.
First, older readers may not recognize them, and that seems to be in part what you’ve discovered.
Second, some have raised concerns that the material that makes up some CDRWs’ data layer can too easily go bad and become unreadable, though when this happens it usually occurs after a couple of years, not weeks or months. So CD-RWs are a good, economical bet if you don’t plan to use them for archival purposes and if you only want to play them on equipment purchased in the last couple of years. CD-R media, on the other hand, has been touted as having a life expectancy of 50 years barring manufacturing defects, scratches, high heat, and/or humidity. In any event, we recommend that you play it safe; if you want to keep a CD forever, make a fresh backup copy every few years.
Problem: I just got the latest version of a great burner software package I’ve used in the past. Suddenly, I’m getting tons of errors while making copies.
Solution: Unfortunately, new applications aren’t always released in a “ready for prime time” condition. Some require one or more software patches, or updates, to bring them up to speed. Some media-authoring programs are particularly notorious for this. The only real solution is to put aside that latest major release for several months, which may mean uninstalling the software and reinstalling the previous version. If the problems you’re having go away, you’ll know what’s to blame. In any case, when you install new software, always check the publisher’s site for the most recent updates.
Problem: I burned a CD on my computer, but it won’t play in my car stereo or the CD player in my home entertainment center.
Solution: There are several possibilities here. The most likely is that you didn’t finalize (or close) the burning session when you finished writing to it. If you haven’t finalized it, it can only be read by the burner you used to make it. (By the way, you’ll want to leave an uncompleted disc open, as that will let you add to it at a future time. Once a read-only disc is finalized, you can’t amend its contents.)
Second, are you trying to play a copy of a commercially recorded, store-purchased CD? Because some players won’t accept this. Check your player’s manual to find out. Third, are you using an audio format that your players are compatible with? CD-ROM drives are unusually broad in terms of what formats they’ll accept and reproduce, but you’ll need to check your manuals to be sure. Fourth, try burning another copy using higher-quality media. That might make a considerable difference. Fifth, make sure you transferred the disc from the computer to other players in a manner that prevented it from acquiring dust or scratches. Either imperfection can and will prevent a proper read.
Problem: My CD-ROM drive reads commercial software and music CDs, but if I load a CD I’ve made just a few weeks ago, the drive won’t recognize it and acts as though no CD is there.
Solution: Reboot your PC and then try loading other CDs you’ve made and successfully run before. If your drive fails to recognize the others, as well, your drive itself may be on its last legs. Typically, when the drive laser begins to weaken, it begins to have trouble reading CD-RWs and later CD-Rs. At some point, even commercial software and music CDs will go unrecognized. Fortunately, CD drives are very inexpensive these days, and replacing one yourself is relatively easy.
Most CD burning programs let you select the bit rate (measured in kilobits per second) you want your audio files to use.
Problem: I tried to burn a CD today, but my drive wouldn’t open.
Solution: The most likely explanation is that your drive is stuck in an attempt to read a damaged or unreadable disc. Power down your system, then gently probe the small hole just below the tray (often on the right side) with a straight, sturdy piece of wire, such as a straightened paper clip. This should trigger the drive door’s opening mechanism, and you’ll be able to slowly pull it the rest of the way open. Remove the disc, close the drive, and start up your system. If this problem persists, you may need to look at replacing the drive.
Problem: My DVDs are taking longer and longer to burn. I didn’t notice it at first, but where I used to burn one in fewer than 10 minutes, the process now takes 30 minutes or more.
Solution: DVD burning uses a lot of hard drive space, so that’s the first place to look. Do you defragment your drive often? A surprisingly large number of people go for months without defragmenting their hard drive, and it makes caching torturously slow. Another problem is the accumulation of junk files on your hard drive. A good hard drive utility package such as Iolo System Mechanic Professional (www.iolo.com) or Vcom System Suite (www.v-com.com) contains tools that defragment and also let you examine user-defined junk files for potential deletion. If these are done regularly, DVD burning should show a significant increase in speed. As a side effect, you should see an improvement in speed to many of your other applications, as well.
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