Why would a certain brand of DVD-R make my drive rattle?

Ive been going through a lot of my old backup discs to see what I have, and Ive noticed all the DVD-Rs of a certain type (there are several different ones, depending on what was cheap at the time) would make the drive "rattle." However, other brands wouldn't. Is this normal, or a bad sign?

Also, how can I slow down the drive on Vista? Nero DriveSpeed either doesn't do a thing or spits out an error message, depending on the compatibility settings.

 

Hi Aimee,

Most likely the labels are off center which would make the disks out-of-balance. I've seen pieces thrown off the disk when it is way off balance.

Good Luck, Jim

 

Cheap discs often have lower manufacturing tolerances. They could be slightly oblong or the hole could be off center, for example. the discs would be off balance and would rattle the disc drive.

 

Thanks. These are just a cheap no-name brand.

Any idea on how to slow down the drive?

 

I haven't used a Nero product in years but I've had several apps that don't run properly unless I've checked "Run as Administrator" in the compatibility tab because they dip into the nuts and bolts of Windows. That is, if you haven't yet. Alternatively, check for an updated version.

 

The Run as Admin is what caused the error message. :-D No updated version that I know of.

 

It may possibly also be that due to the disc's cost they have degraded to such a point where the drive needs to read at a lower speed, and the speed it has found to work is the most rattly speed in the system.

 

If you're using an older version, it may just not be compatible. They probably expect you to buy an upgrade.