Vista - Help! DVD format error: "Windows was unable to complete the format

I'm unable to format DVD rewritable media in the File Explorer. (I can burn
from other programs.)

I would like to copy backup files to disk -- and to use this basic
functionality! -- but I'm having the issue described in Knowledge Base
article KB931654, namely that my PC running Windows Vista Home Premium fails
to format optical media.

Apparently there's a hotfix, but you have to write or call to find out about
it. I don't have the time at the moment to go through that process, so I was
wondering if anyone else had had this issue, and more importantly, if anyone
has a solution.

Thanks!

I can't say that I have this issue, nor have I personally ever seen it.

I also do not use the built in burning capabilities. For the past 10 years I
have been using Roxio's Drag-To-Disk. This is perfect for those such as
myself who use the drive specifically for data backups and file storage.

Because Dell has been having so much trouble with the software they supply
as part of their package, Dell has placed a stand alone copy of the latest
version of Drag-To-Disk on their web site for download. It doesn't check as
to whether, or not, you have a Dell computer. It installed fine on my home
built computers and runs fine.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban MVP
Microsoft Windows Shell/User


"hamishmacdonald" <hamishmacdonald@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:4A6F6E07-7A7C-4A42-9ADF-961B22044239@microsoft.com...
> I'm unable to format DVD rewritable media in the File Explorer. (I can
> burn
> from other programs.)
>
> I would like to copy backup files to disk -- and to use this basic
> functionality! -- but I'm having the issue described in Knowledge Base
> article KB931654, namely that my PC running Windows Vista Home Premium
> fails
> to format optical media.
>
> Apparently there's a hotfix, but you have to write or call to find out
> about
> it. I don't have the time at the moment to go through that process, so I
> was
> wondering if anyone else had had this issue, and more importantly, if
> anyone
> has a solution.
>
> Thanks!

Is this not piracy?

"Richard Urban" <richardurbanREMOVETHIS@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:O2tMMW9ZHHA.4620@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>
> Because Dell has been having so much trouble with the software they supply
> as part of their package, Dell has placed a stand alone copy of the latest
> version of Drag-To-Disk on their web site for download. It doesn't check
> as to whether, or not, you have a Dell computer. It installed fine on my
> home built computers and runs fine.

No. There is no charge for this, as in free. And any way, I have 5 previous
versions of Easy CD Creator, Easy Media Creator etc. - going back to version
5.

It was placed there because Roxio found that there were problems - a lot of
problems. You can also get it from the Roxio web site but the Dell one is
easier to find.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban MVP
Microsoft Windows Shell/User


"LaRoux" <hlx@newsgroup.nospam> wrote in message
news:OAOU1w9ZHHA.4888@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Is this not piracy?
>
> "Richard Urban" <richardurbanREMOVETHIS@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:O2tMMW9ZHHA.4620@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>
>> Because Dell has been having so much trouble with the software they
>> supply as part of their package, Dell has placed a stand alone copy of
>> the latest version of Drag-To-Disk on their web site for download. It
>> doesn't check as to whether, or not, you have a Dell computer. It
>> installed fine on my home built computers and runs fine.
>
>

Yes, um, well, apologies, but I didn't receive that software with my PC, so
it's not what I was asking about. In fact, I received the Nero suite, version
6, which is excellent, but doesn't run under Vista, and I was really hoping
to just use the native applications. If only they worked.

I've successfully made a DVD in Windows DVD Maker, but it's the shell
applications that don't want to work. They fail at the point of formatting
the disk.

So, anyone have helpful suggestions?

- Hamish

"Richard Urban" wrote:

> No. There is no charge for this, as in free. And any way, I have 5 previous
> versions of Easy CD Creator, Easy Media Creator etc. - going back to version
> 5.
>
> It was placed there because Roxio found that there were problems - a lot of
> problems. You can also get it from the Roxio web site but the Dell one is
> easier to find.
>
> --
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Richard Urban MVP
> Microsoft Windows Shell/User
>
>
> "LaRoux" <hlx@newsgroup.nospam> wrote in message
> news:OAOU1w9ZHHA.4888@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> > Is this not piracy?
> >
> > "Richard Urban" <richardurbanREMOVETHIS@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:O2tMMW9ZHHA.4620@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> >>
> >> Because Dell has been having so much trouble with the software they
> >> supply as part of their package, Dell has placed a stand alone copy of
> >> the latest version of Drag-To-Disk on their web site for download. It
> >> doesn't check as to whether, or not, you have a Dell computer. It
> >> installed fine on my home built computers and runs fine.
> >
> >
>
>

What I was saying is that you can use Drag-To-Disk to treat the DVD disk
just as a hard drive. It is your choice whether you want to rid yourself of
Nero - which doesn't seem to be working.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban MVP
Microsoft Windows Shell/User


"hamishmacdonald" <hamishmacdonald@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:87B6F8AF-26C8-4FC1-92D0-A47B12EE2AD9@microsoft.com...
> Yes, um, well, apologies, but I didn't receive that software with my PC,
> so
> it's not what I was asking about. In fact, I received the Nero suite,
> version
> 6, which is excellent, but doesn't run under Vista, and I was really
> hoping
> to just use the native applications. If only they worked.
>
> I've successfully made a DVD in Windows DVD Maker, but it's the shell
> applications that don't want to work. They fail at the point of formatting
> the disk.
>
> So, anyone have helpful suggestions?
>
> - Hamish
>
> "Richard Urban" wrote:
>
>> No. There is no charge for this, as in free. And any way, I have 5
>> previous
>> versions of Easy CD Creator, Easy Media Creator etc. - going back to
>> version
>> 5.
>>
>> It was placed there because Roxio found that there were problems - a lot
>> of
>> problems. You can also get it from the Roxio web site but the Dell one is
>> easier to find.
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Richard Urban MVP
>> Microsoft Windows Shell/User
>>
>>
>> "LaRoux" <hlx@newsgroup.nospam> wrote in message
>> news:OAOU1w9ZHHA.4888@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>> > Is this not piracy?
>> >
>> > "Richard Urban" <richardurbanREMOVETHIS@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> > news:O2tMMW9ZHHA.4620@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>> >>
>> >> Because Dell has been having so much trouble with the software they
>> >> supply as part of their package, Dell has placed a stand alone copy of
>> >> the latest version of Drag-To-Disk on their web site for download. It
>> >> doesn't check as to whether, or not, you have a Dell computer. It
>> >> installed fine on my home built computers and runs fine.
>> >
>> >
>>
>>

Have the time or running bootleg version of Vista?

EggHeadCafe.com - .NET Developer Portal of Choice
http://www.eggheadcafe.com

When I got my new pc it had a Samsung DVD burner and a Nero 6 CD came along
with it. I made my way to the Samsung site, just poking around for the specs
of the drive, and I found a link for a FREE upgrade to Nero 7 (vista
compatible) from the Nero website. I installed Nero 7 after they emailed me
my registration code and it seems to work fine.
Just thought I would mention that.....
Kirk

"hamishmacdonald" <hamishmacdonald@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:87B6F8AF-26C8-4FC1-92D0-A47B12EE2AD9@microsoft.com...
> Yes, um, well, apologies, but I didn't receive that software with my PC,
> so
> it's not what I was asking about. In fact, I received the Nero suite,
> version
> 6, which is excellent, but doesn't run under Vista, and I was really
> hoping
> to just use the native applications. If only they worked.
>
> I've successfully made a DVD in Windows DVD Maker, but it's the shell
> applications that don't want to work. They fail at the point of formatting
> the disk.
>
> So, anyone have helpful suggestions?
>
> - Hamish
>
> "Richard Urban" wrote:
>
>> No. There is no charge for this, as in free. And any way, I have 5
>> previous
>> versions of Easy CD Creator, Easy Media Creator etc. - going back to
>> version
>> 5.
>>
>> It was placed there because Roxio found that there were problems - a lot
>> of
>> problems. You can also get it from the Roxio web site but the Dell one is
>> easier to find.
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Richard Urban MVP
>> Microsoft Windows Shell/User
>>
>>
>> "LaRoux" <hlx@newsgroup.nospam> wrote in message
>> news:OAOU1w9ZHHA.4888@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>> > Is this not piracy?
>> >
>> > "Richard Urban" <richardurbanREMOVETHIS@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> > news:O2tMMW9ZHHA.4620@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>> >>
>> >> Because Dell has been having so much trouble with the software they
>> >> supply as part of their package, Dell has placed a stand alone copy of
>> >> the latest version of Drag-To-Disk on their web site for download. It
>> >> doesn't check as to whether, or not, you have a Dell computer. It
>> >> installed fine on my home built computers and runs fine.
>> >
>> >
>>
>>

Oh, now that's helpful! (re: the upgrade to Nero 7, 'cause my computer came
with a Samsung drive and the Nero disks).

Drag-and-dropping in the shell doesn't work, because the first thing the
system wants to do (tells me it has to do) is format the disk. And then it
fails to do that.

I'll go see if I can find that Nero upgrade link. Thanks!

- H

"reed" wrote:

> Have the time or running bootleg version of Vista?
>
> EggHeadCafe.com - .NET Developer Portal of Choice
> http://www.eggheadcafe.com
>

I'm not sure if this was a question to me, but no, my copy of Vista is a
legitimate copy of Vista Home Premium.

"reed" wrote:

> Have the time or running bootleg version of Vista?
>
> EggHeadCafe.com - .NET Developer Portal of Choice
> http://www.eggheadcafe.com
>