Faulty CDRW drive

hi

the CD/RW drive will no longer burn cds.
it will rarely read burned cds after multiple insertions.

but it plays CD ROM games and store bought cds just fine!?!

i suspect it started acting up sometime after i installed that useless HI MAT extension from windows update website some months back. but after uninstalling that, it is still not right.

i am running windows xp sp2 on a fairly old '02 gateway.

p.s. i was thinking it may just be dying from old age, but i wonder how it can still work for store bought cds and CD ROMs!?! the burned disks are in great condition, so it cannot be from scratches..

any help is appreciated!

 

You might need to replace the burner it sounds like it's starting to wear out.

 

You could try a lens cleaner, although with the minimal price of burners these days, it's generally easier and better just replacing it.

If you have Nero, it includes Nero CD-DVD Speed (In the toolkit), which you can use to test it.

It can be downloaded as freeware if you don't have Nero.

 

thanks for the replys.

turns out there was a pound of dust caked up inside the drive, so between cleaning off the lens, and scraping off the dust - it works like new!

i really need to get in the habit of dusting...