Hi there. wonder if anyone can shed a little light on this for me

I have been trying to write some files to a brand new completely blank cd but to no avail:sad:

the cd writing wizard appears to start ok and gets through scanning the disk image ok. it then comes up with Error: cannot complete the cd writing wizard. i am not sure what to do here as it says that an unknown error occurred and that the disk might be unusable for further work.

is there a way of which i can diagnose the exact problem as this is a real pain in the @*$*.

please help

thanks :-|

Did you cancel the writing process sometime ?? Put in another disc and then try to write the files on the other disc... I do come up with these situations and the cd becomes unusable.

no. I tried with 2 or 3 discs and the same error kept coming up on all 3. the odd thing is though that the day before i managed to write some files to one of these discs with no problems. there was space left on that disc. it was a 700mb disc and i'd only used 588mb so there was 112mb free. im confused but i am going to have another go and see if it will write this time round. if not well.... im baffled

Someone else here is having a similar problem, they are able to burn to CD-RW, but not to CD-R (they get the same message you get).

This isn't a solution, but it may be a work-around -- if you're using CD-R's, try a CD-RW and see if it works.

Member Avatar for nicentral

what CD Burning software are you using? I'll give the same suggestion I gave to the person with the CD-R/CD-RW problem. Try writing to the disc at the slowest speed possible. Some discs only work at 4x.

Andy

Good point! If you look at the package your CD's came in it should tell you what the maximum speed is.

Im using Roxio (pre installed). the discs are 48x speed and my drive is a 48x speed. could it be that maybe the discs and the drive are just incompatible. its the first time i've used this particular brand. i dont have any troubles usually. im going to try and write to a different makers disc later and i'll see what happens

puzzling but the cd writer seems to be ok now. i've done as i said i would and used a different manufacturers disc and seems to be ok (touch wood)

Did you try the other ones again to see if they still don't work? If they don't, I'd like to know what brand they are so I can avoid buying them :)

yes and they're a tad bit fussy. they are made by a company called logik. i wont be using them again. i'll be going back to master or tdk.

Thanks Janine, I haven't used that brand before and now I never will :)

i wont be again either. lol

Problem solved ... Confused a hell out of me lol.

Problem solved ... Confused a hell out of me lol.

it confused me too, i had no problems writing to other discs. odd eh? :mrgreen:

I have just spotted this forum and thread (via Google). I have the same problem - but I am using the same CDs as I have done for a while - Imation CD-R. I have had no trouble in the past but the set-up suddenly refused to burn some photos to a CD. A computer-literate friend tried and found that the Windows burner kept crashing. He wondered if some Windows update might have changed something to cause the problem (inadvertently, of course!)

I have just spotted this forum and thread (via Google). I have the same problem - but I am using the same CDs as I have done for a while - Imation CD-R. I have had no trouble in the past but the set-up suddenly refused to burn some photos to a CD. A computer-literate friend tried and found that the Windows burner kept crashing. He wondered if some Windows update might have changed something to cause the problem (inadvertently, of course!)

its unlikely that a windows update would have caused the problem to occur. what burning software are you using may i ask. when i first posted this thread i was using a preinstalled version of Roxio (still am).

maybe its just a faulty set of discs or one faulty disc.

try another one and if that doesnt want to work try uninstalling and reinstalling you drive/software.:)

p.s also try setting your drive to write at the lowest speed possibly for the disc. sometimes i have found that even though i use one specific makers disc the write speed just wont match it. have a go at this before going for the complete overhaul and uninstall

Janine,
Thank you for that. The reason I suggested a Windows update was because that was the only change that had occurred (an automatic update on closing the computer) was between succesfully burning CDs for a long time and being unable to do so.

I have tried several discs - to no avail.

The burner (a Sony DVD RW DW-U18A) came with the "made-to-order" computer a local firm did for me. I tried to reinstal Windows XP (Home) as this usually helps woth other software, which gives you a Repair option, but XP refused to help because I had a newer version (the updates) already installed. I have been warned that if I uninstall Windows XP and "start again" I will lose everything on my computer.

As for changing the drive, as I said it all worked previously.

Thanks again. :D

Try using System Restore to return your system to a date prior to the updates and see if that fixes the problem.

Thanks, but I tried that. In fact, I tried several restore dates and was told words to the effect that I could not restore to that (those) date(s).

If the system restore is not helping you to get you drive back in order then the only thing that would be possible for you at this time is to backup all your important files and settings to either another pc or to an external source I.E an external hard disk drive or external dvd writer. after doing this reinstall windows xp. this should put paid to the problem and bear in mind that now windows xp will need at least sp1 but preferably sp2 installed. you can also download updates from microsofts updates page (update.microsoft.com):)

I am afraid you are right, Janine. I have so many files and hundreds of photos I should have burned to CD a long time ago, that it is going to be a big jtask.

Had this same problem - uninstalled Nero (which wasn't working anyway, which is why I was using the XP/Roxio thing in the first place) and it started working immediately.

Power calibration error, invalid write state, could not perform end track

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.