Two Cd-rw Drives Didn't Work!

A couple years ago, I bought a CD-RW drive from the internet, and the write functionality didn't work. I just received three CD-RW drives, and the one I tried didn't work. I need to create a WinXP Home boot CD to fix a broken computer. What could be causing the problem? How can I fix it?

 

Internal or External?

My initial thought is that multiple CD-RW drives not working in a specific configuration would suggest that there is another issue at hand. It could of course be that the write laser is faulty on multiple drives.

So for clarity the optical drive is correctly recognised by the o/s (which ever one you use) and given a drive letter?

Does the optical drive recognises a CD when inserted ie when inserting say a music cd into it, does it autorun?

What burning software are you using eg IMGBurn, other....?

Details of your system / rig would be useful

 

The drive is external. I'm using a Win10/64 laptop. I used a program I found from the internet called Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool. The drive included a CD with software on it, but it didn't work. A blank CD worked--until after I burned it. Is this enough?

 

For total clarity:

1. When the USB optical drive is plugged in, Win10 recognises it and assigns it a drive letter, correct?

2. When a music cd, or other is inserted into the optical drive is it recognised and autoruns?

I am not sure what you mean. Are you saying that a blank disc is detected when placed in the optical drive but that same disc does not run / work after you burned it with USB DVD download Tool.

I would download and try IMGBurn

BTW, what type of cd are you trying to burn by that I mean what are your trying to put on it and are we talking about burning a CD or DVD disc?

 

Win10 recognizes the drive and assigns a drive letter. The blank disc is[/i] recognized, and Win10 displays the How to Burn CD dialog box. I didn't try a music CD, but the DVD Suite CD that came with the drive didn't work. The CD stopped working after I burned it. I'm burning a CD-RW.

 

If the drive is correctly detected and the disc (albeit blank) recognised by the o/s then clearly the problem lies beyond that point.

Possible problems could be as follows:

(i) the blank disc media is faulty or of poor quality (I usually go for verbatim).
(ii) the burn speed that is being used is to fast for the media and creating 'coasters'
(iii) the burning program used for some reason has a problem
(iv) external optical has issues, but given that you tried others with seemingly same problem, I would think low possibility.

There may be other aspects but I cannot thing of any now

In your shoes I would try IMGBurn. Great program, excellent reviews. Last version is 2.5.8.

https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/imgburn.html

It hasn't been updated in some years but will work in Win10 be it 32 or 64 bit versions. Lots of online tutorial or YouTube videos to explain how it works

 

I downloaded the program. I will now try to reformat the test disc.

 

Uhh...the burning worked! The files I was burning are on the test disc. Sorry for wasting your time. Now another issue: I have a CD drive for my Win98 computer an want to use it. Unfortunately, my Win98 computer has only two USB ports; one is always in use, and the other is required for info-sharing purposes. So, I will need to keep swapping devices. Should this work on at least some CD drives?

 

Pleased that IMGBurn resolved your issue, if that is what you are saying.....

HarryPotter, it is a bit difficult, for me at least, to fully understand what you are saying sometimes perhaps as a result of my grey matter having slowed down over the years.

I presume that, in part at least, your may be referring to your other thread

https://forums.majorgeeks.com/threads/win98-usb-cd-drive.320083/

The same external USB optical drive or another (internal?) one

That program that I linked to in that thread will almost certainly allow you to use your external USB optical drive in Win98(SE). Internal optical drives will work fine with 98(SE).

If you only have 2 USB ports on your mobo (and it must be an old one), then unless you get a powered USB hub, you will only have the option of swapping items on the USB port that is not always in use.

If you are looking to boot from the external USB drive on 98(SE), then as I stated before

"Clearly there would be two requirements 1. That your hardware supports it and 2. whether 98 or 98SE can actually see USB in dos." The latter point I am unsure of.

???? don't understand.......

 

The disc-burning did work. However, I did not use the program you recommended. I'm trying a different USB CD drive on the Win98 system. And I am not talking about the CD appearing in DOS mode for now.

BTW, I just tried to connect the drive, and Windows didn't recognize the drive. I have USB drivers--don't remember which ones--so it should work.

 

Is this the driver that you tried as it never failed me, even when using an external USB optical drive when using 98SE

http://www.technical-assistance.co.uk/kb/usbmsd98.php

There are 2 versions one for 98FE (First Edition) and another for 98SE

 

The instructions say to disable ALL USB drivers. I'm not willing to do that. Also, I can access USB flash drives right now.

 

The only final advice that I can offer you is that you should image your boot partition and try that USB driver, that way if it doesn't work or there is a problem you can restore it and no harm done.

If you do not know how to image a partition, may I say that it would be a useful skill to add to your arsenal.

Failing that perhaps some other user may have some other or better ideas to suggest.

Good Luck

 

Well...I do have an internal CD drive to replace the current, broken one. I just need somebody to install it for me. I'm asking this because I want a temporarily solution. I have another spare USB CD drive that might work.

 

It started working, but the Win98 PC got stuck on installing Flash Disk Device. I disconnected the drive, and got an error message. I didn't take a good look at the message, but I think there was a problem loading a .DLL file. I did it again, and the mouse responded to my input but not Windows. I disconnected the drive again, and everything returned to normal. I tried to disable the driver in the System control panel. I disabled the wrong driver, but all that happened was that Windows had to reinstall the driver. The Add Hardware wizard didn't detect the drive, and I couldn't find the broken device in System.

 

It worked! I had to install the driver manually, and after choosing the folder in the Add Hardware wizard that contains the USB drivers, it was easy to recognize the necessary driver. I thank all of you for your help.