DVD+RW question?

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 1:37 pm

I downloaded many images of plane and tank models on floppy disks and finally transferred them to a single Memorex dvd+rw.

The transfer goes well, but when I begin to rename each image, after I rename several dozen images, the dvd suddenly stops working. Now, when I click on my dvd, nothing happens. I tried this with 2 dvd's and everything is great until I start renaming the images, then the dvd goes dead---now I've got 2 dead dvd's.

Any answers as to what's wrong?

[CAT]CplSlade · Post by **[CAT]CplSlade** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 5:18 pm

What app are using to burn the disc?

And what brand discs are you using?

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:24 am

[CAT]CPLSLADE:

I'm using Memorex. I don't know what app I'm using.

I've decided to rename all of the images on the floppies and then transfer them to dvd+rw.

The only problem now is that I tried to erase the 2 dead dvd+rw discs and nothing happens---they just sit there and when I click on the dvd+rw icon, the toolbox that's supposed to appear so I can click "erase disc" never appears.

[CAT]CplSlade · Post by **[CAT]CplSlade** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:55 am

This seems to be something that happens to rw discs on occasion. Do you get any error messages when attempting to alter files on the disc or when you attempt to erase them?

Another thing to try is updating the firmware for the drive - careful doing this as the firmware MUST match the drive you're updating or you'll kill it. Kind of like flashing your mobo BIOS with the wrong BIOS.

If you Google "cannot erase dvd+rw" you'll get a number of hits with complaints of this nature, and the various things folks have tried. One suggestion is to leave the discs in the sun about 30 minutes and then try it - don't let it get TOO hot though.

If you can find what apps is doing the burning that would help. Are you dragging'n'dropping the files onto the disc? Does Nero or Roxio sound familiar when looking through your installed program list?

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 9:01 am

[CAT]CPLSLADE:

Roxio is on my Vista pc.

No, I never got any error messages---first, I transferred the images from floppy discs to the dvd+rw, then I began to rename the images on the dvd+rw. On both dvd+rw's, I renamed about 20-30 images, then the dvd+rw died.

During transfer, I clicked on the floppy image and then clicked "burn". The problem isn't with transferring the images---the problems always begins when I rename the images.

Any more suggestions based on this info?

[CAT]CplSlade · Post by **[CAT]CplSlade** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 10:26 am

I'm assuming you are trying to change the names while within the process that burns the disc?

Try opening up the disc by right-clicking the dvd drive and choosing "Explore". Open it so the files appear in the right-hand pane and attempt to change them here (either click twice in succession to get a cursor inside the name or r-c then "rename") and let me know what happens.

If it wasn't Memorex but some cheap third-rung brand I might suspect the media is just crap - like the Dynex brand Worst Buy sells - but I use Memorex all the time and have not had a bad disc yet.

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 4:16 pm

[CAT]CPLSLADE:

I clicked on "Explore" and all I got was at the top of my screen there is a green progress bar going from "Computer" to a red "X" (left to right) with a white light also going from left to right. Then I got a pop-up saying to insert a disc.

Does it sound like I can erase the dvd+rws or are they totally lost?

[CAT]CplSlade · Post by **[CAT]CplSlade** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 4:30 pm

I'd have to say at this point that without taking time to research this further they can be considered dead.

My advice for now would be to dump your pics in a temp folder on your desktop and rename them there before burning to disc. However, if you do this and your PC still won't recognize the disc there is a bigger issue at hand.

You could try removing the device (through Device Manager) and then "reinstalling" it to make Vista reload the default drivers and see if that helps. A file may have been corrupted and is ruining the process. You could also remove Roxio and reinstall it if you have the original disc (although I'm betting you don't -- is this a Dell PC?).

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 5:26 pm

MY pc is a Dell---one year old.

I have to rename about 300-400 images because I've got them named "Phantom", others are "BBI F-4J" and others are "F-4J", others are "F-4D"---so I need to name them consistently. Also, my floppy drive is very slow on my Dell so I want them on dvd+rw so I can look at them faster.

I'm renaming them on the floppy and then I'll transfer them to dvd+rw. Hopefully, that won't kill the dvd+rw like the first two.

Thanks a lot for the info and help.

[CAT]CplSlade · Post by **[CAT]CplSlade** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 9:04 pm

Are you using something to rename files in batches, or are you renaming them individually?

If you need something to do a mass rename I would suggest http://www.irfanview.com/. Since you mentioned doing them by plane type you can set it up to something like "F-4J001, F-4J002, etc." I use it all the time for resizing and converting from one file type to another, i.e. .bmp to .jpg to .png to .tga ...

Sorry about the floppy drive. They shouldn't have been putting those on there as they (Dell) knew then production of floppies has ended. You'd be better off replacing it with a floppy/media card reader if you don't already have those interfaces.

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Tue Apr 29, 2008 8:06 am

[Cat]CPLSLADE:

I'm renaming them one by one.
Also, I ordered a floppy drive on my new Dell because I had lots of floppies left over from my old IBM which died. The Dell floppy drive is very slow---which is one of several reasons why I'm transferring the floppy images to dvd+rw.

Another question: Whenever I burn an internet image onto dvd+rw, my hard drive makes a loud buzzing noise for about 1 minute.
Is this normal?
(Example: I burned a photo of the BBI F6F Cat Mouth on SSHQ onto dvd+rw and the hard drive made the buzzing noise.)