Member Avatar for SgtBigG

Hey everyone. I'm new here and like the title says I need some help. I recently began having problems with by DVD-RW drive. For some reason it won't read CD-RWs or DVD-RWs or DVD+Rs. It used too but suddenly it stopped working. The system just locks up until I eject the disc. Curiously the discs won't work on two other computers either. I think the problem started after I installed a MS update but I'm not sure which one and I don't really want to uninstall every update for the last four months.

It's a Memorex DVD-RW and I'm running XP.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Duki

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Good follow-ups from and — removing/reinstalling the device and cross‑testing discs are the right first moves. If those steps did not fix the problem, the usual XP culprits are third‑party packet‑writing/filter drivers (InCD/DirectCD/Roxio/Nero) or a corrupted CD/DVD Class registry entry. The checklist below is ordered from least invasive to most.

  • Safe Mode / clean boot: boot Windows in Safe Mode (F8) and check the drive; then do a clean boot (msconfig -> Hide Microsoft services -> disable the rest, reboot). If the drive works in Safe Mode or after a clean boot, a third‑party filter/driver is likely.

  • Remove packet‑writing and ghost devices: uninstall packet‑writing apps (InCD, DirectCD, Roxio, etc.) from Add/Remove Programs. In a command prompt run:

    set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
start devmgmt.msc

    then in Device Manager choose View -> Show hidden devices and uninstall any greyed/duplicate CD/DVD entries under "DVD/CD-ROM drives".

  • Reinstall IDE controller: in Device Manager uninstall the IDE/ATA controllers (Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller) and reboot so Windows redetects the channel drivers.

If software/driver steps fail, carefully edit the registry to remove corrupted filter entries (make a full registry export or System Restore point first). In Regedit navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

Export that key, then delete only the UpperFilters and LowerFilters values if present. Reboot.

Final checks: verify power/IDE/SATA cable seating and jumper settings, try a firmware update from the drive vendor (match the exact model/firmware), and try a simple lens cleaner if the drive has trouble with only some media. If none of the above helps, replacement of the drive (rebranded Memorex models are inexpensive) is a pragmatic next step. Collect the drive model, firmware version and burning software name/version when continuing troubleshooting.

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Member Avatar for fry

may be the proublr is in the disks not in you DVD-RW? any way delete DVD-RW device from the from device manager and then reboot the system, windows will automaticaly reinstall it.

Member Avatar for knsljo

may be the proublr is in the disks not in you DVD-RW? any way delete DVD-RW device from the from device manager and then reboot the system, windows will automaticaly reinstall it.

Very unlikely to be disks if he has used 3 different types. Try an original music cd see if it plays. If it does then you could have corrupt disks. Are they new or have they been copied onto?

Member Avatar for SgtBigG

Music CDs play as do regular DVDs. I've tried blank discs and get an insert disc message. It's both new and copied on discs. I'll try deleting from the device manager.

Thanks,
Mike

Member Avatar for Duki

Try taking the disks and put them in the suspected drive and a drive on another computer. If neither read you know it's the disk. If one reads it, you've narrowed it to the drive. I agree with trying to reinstall the drive.


What troubleshooting steps have you taken so far?

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