Vista - Optical drives

My DVD writer & CD writer are both locked in write mode, they will write but
will not read. CD's show as blank disks. Can anyone help? I am runnning Vista
home premium.

"doug" <doug@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
> My DVD writer & CD writer are both locked in write mode, they will write
> but
> will not read. CD's show as blank disks. Can anyone help? I am runnning
> Vista
> home premium.

Making Good Newsgroup Posts
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]

"doug" <doug@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
> My DVD writer & CD writer are both locked in write mode, they will write
> but
> will not read. CD's show as blank disks. Can anyone help? I am runnning
> Vista
> home premium.

Sorry Doug, I messed up. I inadvertently had two reply windows open for
your message and copied that link to an empty window and sent it by itself
instead of adding it to the reply that had some questions. Here are the
questions:

Has it always been this way or is it a recent change? If recent what
changed between when things worked and now? If it has always been this way
is this a new computer with Vista preinstalled, or an older system on which
you installed Vista? If the former have you talked with the computer's tech
support? If the latter, was this an upgrade from XP, or a clean install?
Did the drives work ok in XP?

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]

"Rock" wrote:

> "doug" <doug@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
> > My DVD writer & CD writer are both locked in write mode, they will write
> > but
> > will not read. CD's show as blank disks. Can anyone help? I am runnning
> > Vista
> > home premium.
>
> Sorry Doug, I messed up. I inadvertently had two reply windows open for
> your message and copied that link to an empty window and sent it by itself
> instead of adding it to the reply that had some questions. Here are the
> questions:
>
> Has it always been this way or is it a recent change? If recent what
> changed between when things worked and now? If it has always been this way
> is this a new computer with Vista preinstalled, or an older system on which
> you installed Vista? If the former have you talked with the computer's tech
> support? If the latter, was this an upgrade from XP, or a clean install?
> Did the drives work ok in XP?
>
> --
> Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]
>
>

"Rock" wrote:

> "doug" <doug@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
> > My DVD writer & CD writer are both locked in write mode, they will write
> > but
> > will not read. CD's show as blank disks. Can anyone help? I am runnning
> > Vista
> > home premium.
>
> Sorry Doug, I messed up. I inadvertently had two reply windows open for
> your message and copied that link to an empty window and sent it by itself
> instead of adding it to the reply that had some questions. Here are the
> questions:
>
> Has it always been this way or is it a recent change? If recent what
> changed between when things worked and now? If it has always been this way
> is this a new computer with Vista preinstalled, or an older system on which
> you installed Vista? If the former have you talked with the computer's tech
> support? If the latter, was this an upgrade from XP, or a clean install?
> Did the drives work ok in XP?
>
> --
> Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]
> This was an old machine which failed, I fitted a new motherboard, power suppy,keyboard,DVD writer,graphics card all of which were faulty. I was running XP but it was preinstalled so I had to buy an new OEM OS. This was a clean install and worked ok. I'm not sure when the drives stopped working, I've used the oldest system restore without sucsess.
>

"doug" <doug@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A69B1C55-5560-4F3D-8D54-787CF28D78AC@microsoft.com...
>
>
> "Rock" wrote:
>
>> "doug" <doug@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
>> > My DVD writer & CD writer are both locked in write mode, they will
>> > write
>> > but
>> > will not read. CD's show as blank disks. Can anyone help? I am runnning
>> > Vista
>> > home premium.
>>
>> Sorry Doug, I messed up. I inadvertently had two reply windows open for
>> your message and copied that link to an empty window and sent it by
>> itself
>> instead of adding it to the reply that had some questions. Here are the
>> questions:
>>
>> Has it always been this way or is it a recent change? If recent what
>> changed between when things worked and now? If it has always been this
>> way
>> is this a new computer with Vista preinstalled, or an older system on
>> which
>> you installed Vista? If the former have you talked with the computer's
>> tech
>> support? If the latter, was this an upgrade from XP, or a clean install?
>> Did the drives work ok in XP?

>> This was an old machine which failed, I fitted a new motherboard, power
>> suppy,keyboard,DVD writer,graphics card all of which were faulty. I was
>> running XP but it was preinstalled so I had to buy an new OEM OS. This
>> was a clean install and worked ok. I'm not sure when the drives stopped
>> working, I've used the oldest system restore without sucsess.

HOW TO: Troubleshoot Issues That Occur When You Write Data to a CD-R or
CD-RW Optical Disc in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=324129

How to Troubleshoot Issues with Reading CD, CD-R, CD-RW, and DVD Discs
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=321641

Resources for troubleshooting DVD problems in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=308012

Incorrect Contents Are Displayed in Windows Explorer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314939/en-us

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]

"doug" <doug@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A69B1C55-5560-4F3D-8D54-787CF28D78AC@microsoft.com...
>
>
> "Rock" wrote:
>
>> "doug" <doug@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
>> > My DVD writer & CD writer are both locked in write mode, they will
>> > write
>> > but
>> > will not read. CD's show as blank disks. Can anyone help? I am runnning
>> > Vista
>> > home premium.
>>
>> Sorry Doug, I messed up. I inadvertently had two reply windows open for
>> your message and copied that link to an empty window and sent it by
>> itself
>> instead of adding it to the reply that had some questions. Here are the
>> questions:
>>
>> Has it always been this way or is it a recent change? If recent what
>> changed between when things worked and now? If it has always been this
>> way
>> is this a new computer with Vista preinstalled, or an older system on
>> which
>> you installed Vista? If the former have you talked with the computer's
>> tech
>> support? If the latter, was this an upgrade from XP, or a clean install?
>> Did the drives work ok in XP?
>>
>> --
>> Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]

> This was an old machine which failed, I fitted a new motherboard, power
> suppy,keyboard,DVD writer,graphics
> card all of which were faulty. I was running XP but it was preinstalled so
> I had to buy an new OEM OS. This was a > clean install and worked ok. I'm
> not sure when the drives stopped working, I've used the oldest system
> restore
> without sucsess.

Sorry again Doug, I have been going back and forth between the Vista and XP
newsgroups, and in so doing forgot where I was. The links I gave you were
all for XP. There might be some similarities for Vista use. Here are some
for Vista. Also did you install any 3rd party CD / DVD burning software?

Optical drives do not work as expected after you upgrade a computer to
Windows Vista
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929461/en-us

CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive appears to be missing after you install
Windows XP or Windows Vista Beta 2
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320553

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]

I installed Nero burning rom but it won't run, it comes up as incompatible in
Vista and has been installled since just after the OS without any problem. I
am going to try a couple of things before tampering with the registry. Will
advise.

"Rock" wrote:

> "doug" <doug@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:A69B1C55-5560-4F3D-8D54-787CF28D78AC@microsoft.com...
> >
> >
> > "Rock" wrote:
> >
> >> "doug" <doug@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
> >> > My DVD writer & CD writer are both locked in write mode, they will
> >> > write
> >> > but
> >> > will not read. CD's show as blank disks. Can anyone help? I am runnning
> >> > Vista
> >> > home premium.
> >>
> >> Sorry Doug, I messed up. I inadvertently had two reply windows open for
> >> your message and copied that link to an empty window and sent it by
> >> itself
> >> instead of adding it to the reply that had some questions. Here are the
> >> questions:
> >>
> >> Has it always been this way or is it a recent change? If recent what
> >> changed between when things worked and now? If it has always been this
> >> way
> >> is this a new computer with Vista preinstalled, or an older system on
> >> which
> >> you installed Vista? If the former have you talked with the computer's
> >> tech
> >> support? If the latter, was this an upgrade from XP, or a clean install?
> >> Did the drives work ok in XP?
> >>
> >> --
> >> Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]
>
> > This was an old machine which failed, I fitted a new motherboard, power
> > suppy,keyboard,DVD writer,graphics
> > card all of which were faulty. I was running XP but it was preinstalled so
> > I had to buy an new OEM OS. This was a > clean install and worked ok. I'm
> > not sure when the drives stopped working, I've used the oldest system
> > restore
> > without sucsess.
>
> Sorry again Doug, I have been going back and forth between the Vista and XP
> newsgroups, and in so doing forgot where I was. The links I gave you were
> all for XP. There might be some similarities for Vista use. Here are some
> for Vista. Also did you install any 3rd party CD / DVD burning software?
>
> Optical drives do not work as expected after you upgrade a computer to
> Windows Vista
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929461/en-us
>
> CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive appears to be missing after you install
> Windows XP or Windows Vista Beta 2
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320553
>
> --
> Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]
>
>

Rock I unplugged power & IDE cables, restarted, both drives had gone from
device manager, I ran registry mecanic & shutdown, reconected cables and
restarted. The drives did not autorun but the files could be seen in explorer
& started. I restarted and the old fault was back "write only". I backed up
and tried regedit, but thre is no Upper or Lower filters in the subkey to
delete as KB/929461. So I am still at a loss in solving the problem.

"Rock" wrote:

> "doug" <doug@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:A69B1C55-5560-4F3D-8D54-787CF28D78AC@microsoft.com...
> >
> >
> > "Rock" wrote:
> >
> >> "doug" <doug@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
> >> > My DVD writer & CD writer are both locked in write mode, they will
> >> > write
> >> > but
> >> > will not read. CD's show as blank disks. Can anyone help? I am runnning
> >> > Vista
> >> > home premium.
> >>
> >> Sorry Doug, I messed up. I inadvertently had two reply windows open for
> >> your message and copied that link to an empty window and sent it by
> >> itself
> >> instead of adding it to the reply that had some questions. Here are the
> >> questions:
> >>
> >> Has it always been this way or is it a recent change? If recent what
> >> changed between when things worked and now? If it has always been this
> >> way
> >> is this a new computer with Vista preinstalled, or an older system on
> >> which
> >> you installed Vista? If the former have you talked with the computer's
> >> tech
> >> support? If the latter, was this an upgrade from XP, or a clean install?
> >> Did the drives work ok in XP?
> >>
> >> --
> >> Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]
>
> > This was an old machine which failed, I fitted a new motherboard, power
> > suppy,keyboard,DVD writer,graphics
> > card all of which were faulty. I was running XP but it was preinstalled so
> > I had to buy an new OEM OS. This was a > clean install and worked ok. I'm
> > not sure when the drives stopped working, I've used the oldest system
> > restore
> > without sucsess.
>
> Sorry again Doug, I have been going back and forth between the Vista and XP
> newsgroups, and in so doing forgot where I was. The links I gave you were
> all for XP. There might be some similarities for Vista use. Here are some
> for Vista. Also did you install any 3rd party CD / DVD burning software?
>
> Optical drives do not work as expected after you upgrade a computer to
> Windows Vista
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929461/en-us
>
> CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive appears to be missing after you install
> Windows XP or Windows Vista Beta 2
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320553
>
> --
> Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]
>
>

"doug" <doug@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1E281BFD-CA04-4F32-9600-F6F3DE5FABD1@microsoft.com...
> Rock I unplugged power & IDE cables, restarted, both drives had gone from
> device manager, I ran registry mecanic & shutdown, reconected cables and
> restarted. The drives did not autorun but the files could be seen in
> explorer
> & started. I restarted and the old fault was back "write only". I backed
> up
> and tried regedit, but thre is no Upper or Lower filters in the subkey to
> delete as KB/929461. So I am still at a loss in solving the problem.
>
> "Rock" wrote:
>
>> "doug" <doug@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:A69B1C55-5560-4F3D-8D54-787CF28D78AC@microsoft.com...
>> >
>> >
>> > "Rock" wrote:
>> >
>> >> "doug" <doug@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
>> >> > My DVD writer & CD writer are both locked in write mode, they will
>> >> > write
>> >> > but
>> >> > will not read. CD's show as blank disks. Can anyone help? I am
>> >> > runnning
>> >> > Vista
>> >> > home premium.
>> >>
>> >> Sorry Doug, I messed up. I inadvertently had two reply windows open
>> >> for
>> >> your message and copied that link to an empty window and sent it by
>> >> itself
>> >> instead of adding it to the reply that had some questions. Here are
>> >> the
>> >> questions:
>> >>
>> >> Has it always been this way or is it a recent change? If recent what
>> >> changed between when things worked and now? If it has always been
>> >> this
>> >> way
>> >> is this a new computer with Vista preinstalled, or an older system on
>> >> which
>> >> you installed Vista? If the former have you talked with the
>> >> computer's
>> >> tech
>> >> support? If the latter, was this an upgrade from XP, or a clean
>> >> install?
>> >> Did the drives work ok in XP?
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]
>>
>> > This was an old machine which failed, I fitted a new motherboard, power
>> > suppy,keyboard,DVD writer,graphics
>> > card all of which were faulty. I was running XP but it was preinstalled
>> > so
>> > I had to buy an new OEM OS. This was a > clean install and worked ok.
>> > I'm
>> > not sure when the drives stopped working, I've used the oldest system
>> > restore
>> > without sucsess.
>>
>> Sorry again Doug, I have been going back and forth between the Vista and
>> XP
>> newsgroups, and in so doing forgot where I was. The links I gave you
>> were
>> all for XP. There might be some similarities for Vista use. Here are
>> some
>> for Vista. Also did you install any 3rd party CD / DVD burning software?
>>
>> Optical drives do not work as expected after you upgrade a computer to
>> Windows Vista
>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929461/en-us
>>
>> CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive appears to be missing after you install
>> Windows XP or Windows Vista Beta 2
>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320553
>>
>> --
>> Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]
>>
>>


What about the other knowledge base articles starting with the second one
referenced above? Have you tried uninstalling the drives and the controller
they are on through Device Manager, shutting the system down, then
restarting and letting windows redetect them?

Where do you see this message about write only?

With System Mechanic, is that a registry cleaner? If so have you been using
that regularly? Registry cleaners are not needed, and often times cause
more problems than they are help (and seldom do they help). There was at
least one other thread in these newsgroups recently about CD/DVD problems
that were associated with the use of a registry cleaner. The OP resolved it
by reinstalling the OS.

If none of the above things correct the problem, and all the data is backed
up, try an upgrade of Vista over itself, similar to a repair install in XP.
Some people have reported it worked and helped. I don't recollect the
problems they were trying to correct.

If that doesn't do it, then you could look doing a clean resinstall of the
OS (always a last resort.)

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]