CD-RW laser life? errors?

so im testing burnt CD's for work

and some have come up with heaps of errors.

some ideas floating around are things to do with the system setup etc.

but would the age of the burner affect its ability to burn? i heard that the diodes or something powering the laser degrade over time. this tru?

cheers and beers

tristo

 

harrow? anywarn?

nudding?

 

I don't have any technical knowledge but I would say yes CD burners have a limited lifespan. Lasers can get out of alignment, dust and motor problems. I recently bought a new DVD burner and it always reads CDs my 5 year old CD burner has problems reading. I don't even bother trying to burn on the old unit.

Also after switching to Nero software from the Sonic installed by Dell, I've only had one bad disk burn out of hundreds. Nero's burn process includes data verification after the initial burn which seems to work well on my system.

 

From my best recollections, burnt cds are apt to errors. However, a contributing factor can also be dust on the laser lens itself which can also have the side effect of not allowing an optical drive to read a disc (correctly, or at all).

The solution in most cases is to remove the casing of the optical drive (not very difficult) locate the laser lens and clean it with isopropyl alcohol.

Good Luck