A Windows XP help forum. PCbanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » PCbanter forum » Microsoft Windows XP » Windows XP and video cards, drivers and similar
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

DVDs are not playing or recognized



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #16  
Old July 13th 06, 05:31 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.video
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default DVDs are not playing or recognized

Hi,

Thanks.

Yes, that has been suggested. I have two DVD drives as is noted in my
original post.

"One is an older (5 years) Compaq DVD - ROM DV 5700B and the other is a
Sony DVD RW DRU-700A (a little more than a year old). Both played DVDs before
the system upgrade."

The symptoms are identical in both DVD drives. They each play the same DVDs
and don't play the same DVDs. Does that sound like a hardware problem?

I suppose I could buy another DVD drive so that I could eliminate that from
this process, and if it did work I would be amazed.

--
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.


"John Inzer" wrote:

Sounds like your DVD drive needs to be replaced.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

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

=======================================
I spent some time writing a response earlier only to have
all the info mysteriously deleted, but my signature
posted.

Anyway...

I apologize for my lack of clarity... just frustrated
from spending a lot of time searching and trying
different things with no resolution.

Originally thought I had a problem with all DVDs because
I only tried 4 or 5 and they were all newer. After
reading some troubleshooting on different sites I thought
I would try more of the DVDs from my collection. It
appears that the majority of the ones I am able to play
are older, I use the term majority loosely because I can
only play a select few.

Symptoms: When I insert certain DVDs the drive spins and
the little light comes on for about 15 seconds or so,
then the drive just stops. Nothing appears on screen, no
program attempts load, nothing. When I check the drive
properties (while the disk is in the drive) from "my
computer" the general information reads as if there is 0
bytes but the disk picture reads as full (all blue). In
WMP 10 when I attempt to play it reads as no disk in
drive. When I used Nero I would use the infotool and that
would also display information as no disk in drive. This
happens on both drives. Certain other DVDs work just fine
in both drives. Some of the DVDs that do not work in the
drives don't have interactual loaded, and like I said,
even if it is on the disk I don’t even get the option to
load it because nothing happens after the drive stops. I
have no way of telling which DVDs will work or not.

All the DVDs work in my home DVD player and on my Dell
Laptop.

Attempted solutions: Fresh install of XP Pro SP2 with all
critical updates installed. Upgraded firmware for the
Sony DVD RW drive. Tested the Sony drive with their read
and write test and the drive passed. Installed and
uninstalled Nero 6 from CD and installed Nero 6 upgrades
from their website, also tried Nero 7. Removed drives
from device manager. Disconnected drives from computer
and installed individually. Installed software while only
one drive was connected. Completely removed Nero software
and attempted to use WMP 10 with only the Nvidia video
decoder installed. Checked region code. All with the same
results, no change or solution to the problem.

Any help, information, or direction would be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks.






Ads
  #17  
Old July 13th 06, 05:43 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.video
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default DVDs are not playing or recognized

Sorry, I don't have the answer. Maybe a different
decoder like Power DVD or InterVideo WinDVD
Recorder would work but personally, I would try
replacing the drive. It will be interesting to see
what the fix turns out to be.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

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


Hi,

Thanks.

Yes, that has been suggested. I have two DVD drives as is
noted in my original post.

"One is an older (5 years) Compaq DVD - ROM DV 5700B and
the other is a
Sony DVD RW DRU-700A (a little more than a year old).
Both played DVDs before the system upgrade."

The symptoms are identical in both DVD drives. They each
play the same DVDs and don't play the same DVDs. Does
that sound like a hardware problem?

I suppose I could buy another DVD drive so that I could
eliminate that from this process, and if it did work I
would be amazed.


Sounds like your DVD drive needs to be replaced.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

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

=======================================
I spent some time writing a response earlier only to
have all the info mysteriously deleted, but my signature
posted.

Anyway...

I apologize for my lack of clarity... just frustrated
from spending a lot of time searching and trying
different things with no resolution.

Originally thought I had a problem with all DVDs because
I only tried 4 or 5 and they were all newer. After
reading some troubleshooting on different sites I
thought I would try more of the DVDs from my
collection. It appears that the majority of the ones I
am able to play are older, I use the term majority
loosely because I can only play a select few.

Symptoms: When I insert certain DVDs the drive spins and
the little light comes on for about 15 seconds or so,
then the drive just stops. Nothing appears on screen, no
program attempts load, nothing. When I check the drive
properties (while the disk is in the drive) from "my
computer" the general information reads as if there is 0
bytes but the disk picture reads as full (all blue). In
WMP 10 when I attempt to play it reads as no disk in
drive. When I used Nero I would use the infotool and
that would also display information as no disk in
drive. This happens on both drives. Certain other DVDs
work just fine in both drives. Some of the DVDs that do
not work in the drives don't have interactual loaded,
and like I said, even if it is on the disk I don’t even
get the option to load it because nothing happens after
the drive stops. I have no way of telling which DVDs
will work or not.

All the DVDs work in my home DVD player and on my Dell
Laptop.

Attempted solutions: Fresh install of XP Pro SP2 with
all critical updates installed. Upgraded firmware for
the Sony DVD RW drive. Tested the Sony drive with their
read and write test and the drive passed. Installed and
uninstalled Nero 6 from CD and installed Nero 6 upgrades
from their website, also tried Nero 7. Removed drives
from device manager. Disconnected drives from computer
and installed individually. Installed software while
only one drive was connected. Completely removed Nero
software and attempted to use WMP 10 with only the
Nvidia video decoder installed. Checked region code.
All with the same results, no change or solution to the
problem.

Any help, information, or direction would be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks.






  #18  
Old July 13th 06, 10:20 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.video
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default DVDs are not playing or recognized

Hello again,

Well, upon the advice of John (thank you!) I installed Power DVD 7 trial
version. I put in another DVD and the Compaq DVD Rom drive acted the same
way, but the Sony DVD RW drive actually spun for over 2 minutes, so something
was going on with communication, in the end though I received the same
result. This time I tried playing “The Last Samurai” and the DVD movie did
not work, however on a whim I decided to try the “special features” DVD. It
started right up the very first time. I got to the first menu and then
clicked on the special features went to that menu and was able to choose and
play any of the special features that I clicked on. I restarted the computer
and tried again just to see what would happen. The disk with the actual movie
on it still would not play but the interactual install program came up when I
tried the special features disk and I was asked if I wanted to install the
interactual program, I declined because the DVD special features played
without it.

I am pretty well convinced at this point that there is some type of software
or maybe a (root kit) stopping those certain DVDs from playing otherwise why
would I be able to view the special features and not the movie. Obviously the
drives are able to play DVDs.

Anyone got any ideas about this???

Thanks again.

--
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.


"John Inzer" wrote:

Sorry, I don't have the answer. Maybe a different
decoder like Power DVD or InterVideo WinDVD
Recorder would work but personally, I would try
replacing the drive. It will be interesting to see
what the fix turns out to be.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

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


Hi,

Thanks.

Yes, that has been suggested. I have two DVD drives as is
noted in my original post.

"One is an older (5 years) Compaq DVD - ROM DV 5700B and
the other is a
Sony DVD RW DRU-700A (a little more than a year old).
Both played DVDs before the system upgrade."

The symptoms are identical in both DVD drives. They each
play the same DVDs and don't play the same DVDs. Does
that sound like a hardware problem?

I suppose I could buy another DVD drive so that I could
eliminate that from this process, and if it did work I
would be amazed.


Sounds like your DVD drive needs to be replaced.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

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

=======================================
I spent some time writing a response earlier only to
have all the info mysteriously deleted, but my signature
posted.

Anyway...

I apologize for my lack of clarity... just frustrated
from spending a lot of time searching and trying
different things with no resolution.

Originally thought I had a problem with all DVDs because
I only tried 4 or 5 and they were all newer. After
reading some troubleshooting on different sites I
thought I would try more of the DVDs from my
collection. It appears that the majority of the ones I
am able to play are older, I use the term majority
loosely because I can only play a select few.

Symptoms: When I insert certain DVDs the drive spins and
the little light comes on for about 15 seconds or so,
then the drive just stops. Nothing appears on screen, no
program attempts load, nothing. When I check the drive
properties (while the disk is in the drive) from "my
computer" the general information reads as if there is 0
bytes but the disk picture reads as full (all blue). In
WMP 10 when I attempt to play it reads as no disk in
drive. When I used Nero I would use the infotool and
that would also display information as no disk in
drive. This happens on both drives. Certain other DVDs
work just fine in both drives. Some of the DVDs that do
not work in the drives don't have interactual loaded,
and like I said, even if it is on the disk I don’t even
get the option to load it because nothing happens after
the drive stops. I have no way of telling which DVDs
will work or not.

All the DVDs work in my home DVD player and on my Dell
Laptop.

Attempted solutions: Fresh install of XP Pro SP2 with
all critical updates installed. Upgraded firmware for
the Sony DVD RW drive. Tested the Sony drive with their
read and write test and the drive passed. Installed and
uninstalled Nero 6 from CD and installed Nero 6 upgrades
from their website, also tried Nero 7. Removed drives
from device manager. Disconnected drives from computer
and installed individually. Installed software while
only one drive was connected. Completely removed Nero
software and attempted to use WMP 10 with only the
Nvidia video decoder installed. Checked region code.
All with the same results, no change or solution to the
problem.

Any help, information, or direction would be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks.







  #19  
Old July 14th 06, 02:18 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.video
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default DVDs are not playing or recognized

I had an aggravating issue similar to yours
when my computer was still new...I tried
everything I could think of and sometimes
my Samsung DVD burner would work
sometimes it would not.

Finally, I took it to the dealer for warranty
service and they replaced the drive...bingo!
problem solved.

When you find a solution to your dilemma...
please share it with this newsgroup.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

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


Rob wrote:
Hello again,

Well, upon the advice of John (thank you!) I installed
Power DVD 7 trial version. I put in another DVD and the
Compaq DVD Rom drive acted the same way, but the Sony DVD
RW drive actually spun for over 2 minutes, so something
was going on with communication, in the end though I
received the same result. This time I tried playing “The
Last Samurai” and the DVD movie did not work, however on
a whim I decided to try the “special features” DVD. It
started right up the very first time. I got to the first
menu and then clicked on the special features went to
that menu and was able to choose and play any of the
special features that I clicked on. I restarted the
computer and tried again just to see what would happen.
The disk with the actual movie on it still would not play
but the interactual install program came up when I tried
the special features disk and I was asked if I wanted to
install the interactual program, I declined because the
DVD special features played without it.

I am pretty well convinced at this point that there is
some type of software or maybe a (root kit) stopping
those certain DVDs from playing otherwise why would I be
able to view the special features and not the movie.
Obviously the drives are able to play DVDs.

Anyone got any ideas about this???

Thanks again.




  #20  
Old July 14th 06, 05:38 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.video
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default DVDs are not playing or recognized

OK, OK,

I get the message. I might be a little stubborn. :-)

I will order a new drive ASAP and let you know what happens.



Thanks John!


--
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.


"John Inzer" wrote:

I had an aggravating issue similar to yours
when my computer was still new...I tried
everything I could think of and sometimes
my Samsung DVD burner would work
sometimes it would not.

Finally, I took it to the dealer for warranty
service and they replaced the drive...bingo!
problem solved.

When you find a solution to your dilemma...
please share it with this newsgroup.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

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


Rob wrote:
Hello again,

Well, upon the advice of John (thank you!) I installed
Power DVD 7 trial version. I put in another DVD and the
Compaq DVD Rom drive acted the same way, but the Sony DVD
RW drive actually spun for over 2 minutes, so something
was going on with communication, in the end though I
received the same result. This time I tried playing “The
Last Samurai” and the DVD movie did not work, however on
a whim I decided to try the “special features” DVD. It
started right up the very first time. I got to the first
menu and then clicked on the special features went to
that menu and was able to choose and play any of the
special features that I clicked on. I restarted the
computer and tried again just to see what would happen.
The disk with the actual movie on it still would not play
but the interactual install program came up when I tried
the special features disk and I was asked if I wanted to
install the interactual program, I declined because the
DVD special features played without it.

I am pretty well convinced at this point that there is
some type of software or maybe a (root kit) stopping
those certain DVDs from playing otherwise why would I be
able to view the special features and not the movie.
Obviously the drives are able to play DVDs.

Anyone got any ideas about this???

Thanks again.





  #21  
Old July 14th 06, 06:44 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.video
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default DVDs are not playing or recognized

Rob wrote:
OK, OK,

I get the message. I might be a little stubborn. :-)

I will order a new drive ASAP and let you know what
happens.



Thanks John!

===========================
It may not be the fix but I think it's
certainly worth a try.

Good luck...

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

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



  #22  
Old July 14th 06, 06:59 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.video
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default DVDs are not playing or recognized

I know it may not solve the problem. Nothing else has worked so far... and I
believe I have tried almost all things that are out there short of a new
drive so if it does not work then that will be eliminated from the
possibilities catagory. I will buy one where I can get a 30 day return and
may only loose shipping costs. At this point that would be such a small price
to pay because I would not want to calculate my hours spent on this problem
by my typical hourly rate... it would not be pretty. :-)

I appreciate your time.

I'll be back!

--
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.


"John Inzer" wrote:

Rob wrote:
OK, OK,

I get the message. I might be a little stubborn. :-)

I will order a new drive ASAP and let you know what
happens.



Thanks John!

===========================
It may not be the fix but I think it's
certainly worth a try.

Good luck...

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

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




  #23  
Old July 15th 06, 04:52 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.video
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default DVDs are not playing or recognized

If it helps I agree with John 100%
I too have had drives that seemed to be working sporadically so since it
worked "sometimes" I didn't think it was the drive but it was.
-Wojo

"Rob" wrote in message
...
I know it may not solve the problem. Nothing else has worked so far... and
I
believe I have tried almost all things that are out there short of a new
drive so if it does not work then that will be eliminated from the
possibilities catagory. I will buy one where I can get a 30 day return and
may only loose shipping costs. At this point that would be such a small
price
to pay because I would not want to calculate my hours spent on this
problem
by my typical hourly rate... it would not be pretty. :-)

I appreciate your time.

I'll be back!

--
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.


"John Inzer" wrote:

Rob wrote:
OK, OK,

I get the message. I might be a little stubborn. :-)

I will order a new drive ASAP and let you know what
happens.



Thanks John!

===========================
It may not be the fix but I think it's
certainly worth a try.

Good luck...

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

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





  #24  
Old July 16th 06, 08:06 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.video
Rob
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 180
Default DVDs are not playing or recognized

Thanks.

I should not have used the word random. The drives to not play randomly, it
is the disks that are playable that are random. The same disk will
consistantly play in the drive and the ones that do not work, never work.

Today, my older Compaq DVD ROM drive works again. I can play DVDs... so far
all the DVDs that I have tried work except one, and I think it might be the
disk.

The only thing that I did recently was to install and run a program call
CCleaner. It is freeware that cleans out history and alters and/or deletes
registry keys that the program deems as an error. If the drive continues to
work my belief will be confirmed that something somewhere on the computer was
stopping the drive from working.

I still have the original issue with the Sony DVD RW drive, although I can
burn DVDs which does not make sense to me. What is different with that drive
is that it seems to attempt to access information for about 2 minutes now
before it decides there is no disk. I have ordered new DVD drives but now I
strongly believe it is something in the OS and software that is the issue. I
wonder if the upgraded firmware could be the problem with the Sony drive. Is
there a way to clear that new firmware and install an older firmware?

Thanks again.

--
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.


"Wojo [MVP]" wrote:

If it helps I agree with John 100%
I too have had drives that seemed to be working sporadically so since it
worked "sometimes" I didn't think it was the drive but it was.
-Wojo

"Rob" wrote in message
...
I know it may not solve the problem. Nothing else has worked so far... and
I
believe I have tried almost all things that are out there short of a new
drive so if it does not work then that will be eliminated from the
possibilities catagory. I will buy one where I can get a 30 day return and
may only loose shipping costs. At this point that would be such a small
price
to pay because I would not want to calculate my hours spent on this
problem
by my typical hourly rate... it would not be pretty. :-)

I appreciate your time.

I'll be back!

--
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.


"John Inzer" wrote:

Rob wrote:
OK, OK,

I get the message. I might be a little stubborn. :-)

I will order a new drive ASAP and let you know what
happens.



Thanks John!
===========================
It may not be the fix but I think it's
certainly worth a try.

Good luck...

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

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






  #25  
Old July 16th 06, 05:54 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.video
Cari \(MS-MVP\)
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 471
Default DVDs are not playing or recognized

At this point it seems clear to me that CCleaner removed something very
important from the Registry. I'd NEVER recommend any Registry cleaners. If
you believe the Registry is just too full of unnecessary entries, then I'd
really say it was time to clean install and start afresh.

So let's totally uninstall ALL your optical drives from the computer and try
to get them back correctly.

In Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, Unistall any and all DVD burning
programs you may have installed and any DVD Decoding software you have
installed. BEFORE you do this, check you still have the CDs for the
reinstall.

Reboot the PC.

Go into the Device Manager and Uninstall the Optical Drives. Turn OFF the
PC.

Physically go into the case and REMOVE all optical drives. (You can just
disconnect both ribbon and power cables in this case since you know you are
going to put them back. While you are there, physically check the jumpers
at the rear of the drive(s)

Restart the PC... Ensure that My Computer is now showing you have NO optical
drives and that Device Manager also confirms no entries.

Turn off the PC. Physically reinstall the drive(s)... or reconnect both
cables. Turn on the PC. Ensure that XP redetects each drive and installs
drivers for it - and assigns a drive letter. Check at this point that XP
can read a data DVD. Reinstall your DVD Decoding software. Check that XP
can play a video DVD. Reinstall your DVD burning software. Check that it
burns.

Your next option is the format and clean install.

Unfortunately flashing the firmware is always a risk you alone undertake.
The manufacturers are never responsible for anything that goes wrong with
the drive at that point. Sony may decide to assist... but then again, they
are fully within their rights if they decide not to.
--
Cari (MS-MVP) Windows Client - Printing & Imaging
www.coribright.com/Windows


"Rob" wrote in message
...
Thanks.

I should not have used the word random. The drives to not play randomly,
it
is the disks that are playable that are random. The same disk will
consistantly play in the drive and the ones that do not work, never work.

Today, my older Compaq DVD ROM drive works again. I can play DVDs... so
far
all the DVDs that I have tried work except one, and I think it might be
the
disk.

The only thing that I did recently was to install and run a program call
CCleaner. It is freeware that cleans out history and alters and/or deletes
registry keys that the program deems as an error. If the drive continues
to
work my belief will be confirmed that something somewhere on the computer
was
stopping the drive from working.

I still have the original issue with the Sony DVD RW drive, although I can
burn DVDs which does not make sense to me. What is different with that
drive
is that it seems to attempt to access information for about 2 minutes now
before it decides there is no disk. I have ordered new DVD drives but now
I
strongly believe it is something in the OS and software that is the issue.
I
wonder if the upgraded firmware could be the problem with the Sony drive.
Is
there a way to clear that new firmware and install an older firmware?

Thanks again.

--



  #26  
Old July 16th 06, 08:21 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.video
Rob
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 180
Default DVDs are not playing or recognized

Hi,

Thanks Cari I appreciate the input, but I am not sure what you mean by
“removed something very important”. What it removed made my DVD ROM drive
work, how is that a problem? Maybe CCleaner was not a great idea, but, for
one of the drives the problem is solved and my computer seems to be working
great. Do you know much about that program?

I suppose that I was not specific enough when I explained what steps I have
taken when I replied to WOJO a few days ago. I have done the very steps you
suggest more than once and that did not solve the problems. That is why I was
willing to take John's and your advice and purchase a new drive, and why I
kept reading and searching.

Also, I did a fresh install of XP Pro SP 2 less than 3 weeks ago on brand
new hard drives which I believe I stated in my first post.

I have no idea of the exact item the CCleaner removed to assist with this
issue. I don't know if it had something to do with the Nero software (which I
installed and uninstalled 3 different versions several times and used Nero’s
cleaner tool as well) or something else. At this point I only have trial
versions of Power DVD 7 and NVIDIA’s video decoder installed and I am
reluctant to ever install Nero again.

I had done a fresh install of XP in April when I upgraded other system
components. I rarely used the DVD drives to view DVDs and I have had the
system for quite some time. Before April the Sony DVD RW was the last upgrade
I made (1 1/2 years ago) and that came with the Nero software. The problem
with the DVD drives was actually discovered in early June (I mis-stated that
timing in my first post) when I tried to make a DVD from my digital video
camera for the first time ever. At that time I was using Panasonic software
to download from my video camera and using Nero 6 to burn to DVD. At first I
thought it was the Panasonic software so I uninstalled that software and I
have not reinstalled it, yet. I could not get the newly burnt DVD to work
after trying several different things including setting write speed all the
way down to 1X (I made quite a few coasters). After reading too many
troubleshooting tips, that is when I put in a DVD movie to see if there was a
problem with the drives... and neither would play DVDs, at least the several
that I tried at that time.

After countless hours of searching, reading, and troubleshooting and
basically taking several of the same steps I decided to do another fresh
install of XP and I had wanted to upgrade the HDs, so I did that just a few
weeks ago. I took my time and installed all the SP 2 updates before
installing anything. Then it was one program at a time and then checking for
updates until I finally got back to Nero 6 from CD. Then I tried the Nero 6
updates and then trial version of Nero 7, all made no difference. So when I
ended up with the same problem again I tried playing more of the DVDs in my
library and that is when I discovered that some DVDs actually would work
every time I put them in. The DVDs that worked appeared to be older ones and
that is what made me think that something I installed knowingly or
unknowingly was/is causing this problem.

After using the CCleaner tool now when I pop in the Matrix DVD there is a
menu that does ask to install PC friendly. Even when I decline I can still
play the DVD. This happens in the 6 year old DVD ROM drive. As stated the
Sony Drive still will not play.

The DVD ROM drive works, there is no way I am uninstalling that drive at
this point. Not after so many hours. I would try that with the Sony drive
again but as I stated I have done that already. I installed the Sony drive
into another machine running Windows ME. I also installed the Nero 6 software
(from CD). I witnessed the exact same results. The same DVDs would work and
the others would not work. So you see, I believe it is something in Nero or a
conflict with Nero that was/is the problem, at least part of the problem. I
could be 100% wrong but why would the same condition exist on a completely
different machine with a different (older) OS? Currently the same problem
exists with the Sony drive, I can play a special features DVD (not the movie)
and some older DVDs but most of the DVDs I have will not work in that drive.
This is why I think it may be a firmware issue.

I have new drive(s) on the way and when I get them we can see where that
leads. I would like to solve these issues with accurate knowledge but I have
to balance how much time I can really dedicate to that. There may be a log
from the CCleaner listing items removed that I can look through, I will check
into that.

If you were in my shoes, what would you think, or do?

I hope this information is helpful in some way and I appreciate the help and
information that I have received. Thanks.

--
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.


"Cari (MS-MVP)" wrote:

At this point it seems clear to me that CCleaner removed something very
important from the Registry. I'd NEVER recommend any Registry cleaners. If
you believe the Registry is just too full of unnecessary entries, then I'd
really say it was time to clean install and start afresh.

So let's totally uninstall ALL your optical drives from the computer and try
to get them back correctly.

In Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, Unistall any and all DVD burning
programs you may have installed and any DVD Decoding software you have
installed. BEFORE you do this, check you still have the CDs for the
reinstall.

Reboot the PC.

Go into the Device Manager and Uninstall the Optical Drives. Turn OFF the
PC.

Physically go into the case and REMOVE all optical drives. (You can just
disconnect both ribbon and power cables in this case since you know you are
going to put them back. While you are there, physically check the jumpers
at the rear of the drive(s)

Restart the PC... Ensure that My Computer is now showing you have NO optical
drives and that Device Manager also confirms no entries.

Turn off the PC. Physically reinstall the drive(s)... or reconnect both
cables. Turn on the PC. Ensure that XP redetects each drive and installs
drivers for it - and assigns a drive letter. Check at this point that XP
can read a data DVD. Reinstall your DVD Decoding software. Check that XP
can play a video DVD. Reinstall your DVD burning software. Check that it
burns.

Your next option is the format and clean install.

Unfortunately flashing the firmware is always a risk you alone undertake.
The manufacturers are never responsible for anything that goes wrong with
the drive at that point. Sony may decide to assist... but then again, they
are fully within their rights if they decide not to.
--
Cari (MS-MVP) Windows Client - Printing & Imaging
www.coribright.com/Windows


"Rob" wrote in message
...
Thanks.

I should not have used the word random. The drives to not play randomly,
it
is the disks that are playable that are random. The same disk will
consistantly play in the drive and the ones that do not work, never work.

Today, my older Compaq DVD ROM drive works again. I can play DVDs... so
far
all the DVDs that I have tried work except one, and I think it might be
the
disk.

The only thing that I did recently was to install and run a program call
CCleaner. It is freeware that cleans out history and alters and/or deletes
registry keys that the program deems as an error. If the drive continues
to
work my belief will be confirmed that something somewhere on the computer
was
stopping the drive from working.

I still have the original issue with the Sony DVD RW drive, although I can
burn DVDs which does not make sense to me. What is different with that
drive
is that it seems to attempt to access information for about 2 minutes now
before it decides there is no disk. I have ordered new DVD drives but now
I
strongly believe it is something in the OS and software that is the issue.
I
wonder if the upgraded firmware could be the problem with the Sony drive.
Is
there a way to clear that new firmware and install an older firmware?

Thanks again.

--




  #27  
Old July 17th 06, 12:41 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.video
John Inzer
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 828
Default DVDs are not playing or recognized

FWIW, I use CCleaner daily and it has never
caused any problems. Others may report
differing views.

When you scan the registry if asks if you want
to save a backup which I always do but I've
never had the need to restore one.

Please understand...this is not tech support.
We are simply volunteers who attempt to assist
folks who are having problems. What works for
us may not work for anyone else...

Good luck in solving your problem.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

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

Hi,

Thanks Cari I appreciate the input, but I am not sure
what you mean by “removed something very important”. What
it removed made my DVD ROM drive work, how is that a
problem? Maybe CCleaner was not a great idea, but, for
one of the drives the problem is solved and my computer
seems to be working great. Do you know much about that
program?

I suppose that I was not specific enough when I explained
what steps I have taken when I replied to WOJO a few days
ago. I have done the very steps you suggest more than
once and that did not solve the problems. That is why I
was willing to take John's and your advice and purchase a
new drive, and why I kept reading and searching.

Also, I did a fresh install of XP Pro SP 2 less than 3
weeks ago on brand new hard drives which I believe I
stated in my first post.

I have no idea of the exact item the CCleaner removed to
assist with this issue. I don't know if it had something
to do with the Nero software (which I installed and
uninstalled 3 different versions several times and used
Nero’s cleaner tool as well) or something else. At this
point I only have trial versions of Power DVD 7 and
NVIDIA’s video decoder installed and I am reluctant to
ever install Nero again.

I had done a fresh install of XP in April when I upgraded
other system components. I rarely used the DVD drives to
view DVDs and I have had the system for quite some time.
Before April the Sony DVD RW was the last upgrade I made
(1 1/2 years ago) and that came with the Nero software.
The problem with the DVD drives was actually discovered
in early June (I mis-stated that timing in my first post)
when I tried to make a DVD from my digital video camera
for the first time ever. At that time I was using
Panasonic software to download from my video camera and
using Nero 6 to burn to DVD. At first I thought it was
the Panasonic software so I uninstalled that software and
I have not reinstalled it, yet. I could not get the newly
burnt DVD to work after trying several different things
including setting write speed all the way down to 1X (I
made quite a few coasters). After reading too many
troubleshooting tips, that is when I put in a DVD movie
to see if there was a problem with the drives... and
neither would play DVDs, at least the several that I
tried at that time.

After countless hours of searching, reading, and
troubleshooting and basically taking several of the same
steps I decided to do another fresh install of XP and I
had wanted to upgrade the HDs, so I did that just a few
weeks ago. I took my time and installed all the SP 2
updates before installing anything. Then it was one
program at a time and then checking for updates until I
finally got back to Nero 6 from CD. Then I tried the Nero
6 updates and then trial version of Nero 7, all made no
difference. So when I ended up with the same problem
again I tried playing more of the DVDs in my library and
that is when I discovered that some DVDs actually would
work every time I put them in. The DVDs that worked
appeared to be older ones and that is what made me think
that something I installed knowingly or unknowingly
was/is causing this problem.

After using the CCleaner tool now when I pop in the
Matrix DVD there is a menu that does ask to install PC
friendly. Even when I decline I can still play the DVD.
This happens in the 6 year old DVD ROM drive. As stated
the Sony Drive still will not play.

The DVD ROM drive works, there is no way I am
uninstalling that drive at this point. Not after so many
hours. I would try that with the Sony drive again but as
I stated I have done that already. I installed the Sony
drive into another machine running Windows ME. I also
installed the Nero 6 software (from CD). I witnessed the
exact same results. The same DVDs would work and the
others would not work. So you see, I believe it is
something in Nero or a conflict with Nero that was/is the
problem, at least part of the problem. I could be 100%
wrong but why would the same condition exist on a
completely different machine with a different (older) OS?
Currently the same problem exists with the Sony drive, I
can play a special features DVD (not the movie) and some
older DVDs but most of the DVDs I have will not work in
that drive. This is why I think it may be a firmware
issue.

I have new drive(s) on the way and when I get them we can
see where that leads. I would like to solve these issues
with accurate knowledge but I have to balance how much
time I can really dedicate to that. There may be a log
from the CCleaner listing items removed that I can look
through, I will check into that.

If you were in my shoes, what would you think, or do?

I hope this information is helpful in some way and I
appreciate the help and information that I have received.
Thanks.


At this point it seems clear to me that CCleaner removed
something very important from the Registry. I'd NEVER
recommend any Registry cleaners. If you believe the
Registry is just too full of unnecessary entries, then
I'd really say it was time to clean install and start
afresh.

So let's totally uninstall ALL your optical drives from
the computer and try to get them back correctly.

In Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, Unistall any and
all DVD burning programs you may have installed and any
DVD Decoding software you have installed. BEFORE you do
this, check you still have the CDs for the reinstall.

Reboot the PC.

Go into the Device Manager and Uninstall the Optical
Drives. Turn OFF the PC.

Physically go into the case and REMOVE all optical
drives. (You can just disconnect both ribbon and power
cables in this case since you know you are going to put
them back. While you are there, physically check the
jumpers at the rear of the drive(s)

Restart the PC... Ensure that My Computer is now showing
you have NO optical drives and that Device Manager also
confirms no entries.

Turn off the PC. Physically reinstall the drive(s)...
or reconnect both cables. Turn on the PC. Ensure that
XP redetects each drive and installs drivers for it -
and assigns a drive letter. Check at this point that XP
can read a data DVD. Reinstall your DVD Decoding
software. Check that XP can play a video DVD.
Reinstall your DVD burning software. Check that it
burns.

Your next option is the format and clean install.

Unfortunately flashing the firmware is always a risk you
alone undertake. The manufacturers are never responsible
for anything that goes wrong with the drive at that
point. Sony may decide to assist... but then again,
they are fully within their rights if they decide not
to. --
Cari (MS-MVP) Windows Client - Printing & Imaging
www.coribright.com/Windows


"Rob" wrote in message
...
Thanks.

I should not have used the word random. The drives to
not play randomly, it
is the disks that are playable that are random. The
same disk will consistantly play in the drive and the
ones that do not work, never work.

Today, my older Compaq DVD ROM drive works again. I can
play DVDs... so far
all the DVDs that I have tried work except one, and I
think it might be the
disk.

The only thing that I did recently was to install and
run a program call CCleaner. It is freeware that cleans
out history and alters and/or deletes registry keys
that the program deems as an error. If the drive
continues to
work my belief will be confirmed that something
somewhere on the computer was
stopping the drive from working.

I still have the original issue with the Sony DVD RW
drive, although I can burn DVDs which does not make
sense to me. What is different with that drive
is that it seems to attempt to access information for
about 2 minutes now before it decides there is no disk.
I have ordered new DVD drives but now I
strongly believe it is something in the OS and software
that is the issue. I
wonder if the upgraded firmware could be the problem
with the Sony drive. Is
there a way to clear that new firmware and install an
older firmware?

Thanks again.

--




  #28  
Old July 17th 06, 08:05 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.video
Rob
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 180
Default DVDs are not playing or recognized

I came here for help and information. I like getting different people's
opinions about things. I know this not tech support and I appreciate anyone
who takes the time to offer some info... to me or others and whether I use it
or not. You know I believe it is a good idea to continue to ask questions.

I usually do a pretty good amount of research before trying a new product or
even an old one :-). I read things about CCleaner and I basically stumbled
across the answer on this problem at least for one of the drives. I will see
about the other. It was worth a try, I like the program and it did work for
me. I read a few reveiws where people had trouble and maybe they did not back
up the registry. I back up the registry on a semi regular basis anyway so it
is nice to have that option in CCleaner.

Thanks all.




--
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.


"John Inzer" wrote:

FWIW, I use CCleaner daily and it has never
caused any problems. Others may report
differing views.

When you scan the registry if asks if you want
to save a backup which I always do but I've
never had the need to restore one.

Please understand...this is not tech support.
We are simply volunteers who attempt to assist
folks who are having problems. What works for
us may not work for anyone else...

Good luck in solving your problem.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

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

Hi,

Thanks Cari I appreciate the input, but I am not sure
what you mean by “removed something very important”. What
it removed made my DVD ROM drive work, how is that a
problem? Maybe CCleaner was not a great idea, but, for
one of the drives the problem is solved and my computer
seems to be working great. Do you know much about that
program?

I suppose that I was not specific enough when I explained
what steps I have taken when I replied to WOJO a few days
ago. I have done the very steps you suggest more than
once and that did not solve the problems. That is why I
was willing to take John's and your advice and purchase a
new drive, and why I kept reading and searching.

Also, I did a fresh install of XP Pro SP 2 less than 3
weeks ago on brand new hard drives which I believe I
stated in my first post.

I have no idea of the exact item the CCleaner removed to
assist with this issue. I don't know if it had something
to do with the Nero software (which I installed and
uninstalled 3 different versions several times and used
Nero’s cleaner tool as well) or something else. At this
point I only have trial versions of Power DVD 7 and
NVIDIA’s video decoder installed and I am reluctant to
ever install Nero again.

I had done a fresh install of XP in April when I upgraded
other system components. I rarely used the DVD drives to
view DVDs and I have had the system for quite some time.
Before April the Sony DVD RW was the last upgrade I made
(1 1/2 years ago) and that came with the Nero software.
The problem with the DVD drives was actually discovered
in early June (I mis-stated that timing in my first post)
when I tried to make a DVD from my digital video camera
for the first time ever. At that time I was using
Panasonic software to download from my video camera and
using Nero 6 to burn to DVD. At first I thought it was
the Panasonic software so I uninstalled that software and
I have not reinstalled it, yet. I could not get the newly
burnt DVD to work after trying several different things
including setting write speed all the way down to 1X (I
made quite a few coasters). After reading too many
troubleshooting tips, that is when I put in a DVD movie
to see if there was a problem with the drives... and
neither would play DVDs, at least the several that I
tried at that time.

After countless hours of searching, reading, and
troubleshooting and basically taking several of the same
steps I decided to do another fresh install of XP and I
had wanted to upgrade the HDs, so I did that just a few
weeks ago. I took my time and installed all the SP 2
updates before installing anything. Then it was one
program at a time and then checking for updates until I
finally got back to Nero 6 from CD. Then I tried the Nero
6 updates and then trial version of Nero 7, all made no
difference. So when I ended up with the same problem
again I tried playing more of the DVDs in my library and
that is when I discovered that some DVDs actually would
work every time I put them in. The DVDs that worked
appeared to be older ones and that is what made me think
that something I installed knowingly or unknowingly
was/is causing this problem.

After using the CCleaner tool now when I pop in the
Matrix DVD there is a menu that does ask to install PC
friendly. Even when I decline I can still play the DVD.
This happens in the 6 year old DVD ROM drive. As stated
the Sony Drive still will not play.

The DVD ROM drive works, there is no way I am
uninstalling that drive at this point. Not after so many
hours. I would try that with the Sony drive again but as
I stated I have done that already. I installed the Sony
drive into another machine running Windows ME. I also
installed the Nero 6 software (from CD). I witnessed the
exact same results. The same DVDs would work and the
others would not work. So you see, I believe it is
something in Nero or a conflict with Nero that was/is the
problem, at least part of the problem. I could be 100%
wrong but why would the same condition exist on a
completely different machine with a different (older) OS?
Currently the same problem exists with the Sony drive, I
can play a special features DVD (not the movie) and some
older DVDs but most of the DVDs I have will not work in
that drive. This is why I think it may be a firmware
issue.

I have new drive(s) on the way and when I get them we can
see where that leads. I would like to solve these issues
with accurate knowledge but I have to balance how much
time I can really dedicate to that. There may be a log
from the CCleaner listing items removed that I can look
through, I will check into that.

If you were in my shoes, what would you think, or do?

I hope this information is helpful in some way and I
appreciate the help and information that I have received.
Thanks.


At this point it seems clear to me that CCleaner removed
something very important from the Registry. I'd NEVER
recommend any Registry cleaners. If you believe the
Registry is just too full of unnecessary entries, then
I'd really say it was time to clean install and start
afresh.

So let's totally uninstall ALL your optical drives from
the computer and try to get them back correctly.

In Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, Unistall any and
all DVD burning programs you may have installed and any
DVD Decoding software you have installed. BEFORE you do
this, check you still have the CDs for the reinstall.

Reboot the PC.

Go into the Device Manager and Uninstall the Optical
Drives. Turn OFF the PC.

Physically go into the case and REMOVE all optical
drives. (You can just disconnect both ribbon and power
cables in this case since you know you are going to put
them back. While you are there, physically check the
jumpers at the rear of the drive(s)

Restart the PC... Ensure that My Computer is now showing
you have NO optical drives and that Device Manager also
confirms no entries.

Turn off the PC. Physically reinstall the drive(s)...
or reconnect both cables. Turn on the PC. Ensure that
XP redetects each drive and installs drivers for it -
and assigns a drive letter. Check at this point that XP
can read a data DVD. Reinstall your DVD Decoding
software. Check that XP can play a video DVD.
Reinstall your DVD burning software. Check that it
burns.

Your next option is the format and clean install.

Unfortunately flashing the firmware is always a risk you
alone undertake. The manufacturers are never responsible
for anything that goes wrong with the drive at that
point. Sony may decide to assist... but then again,
they are fully within their rights if they decide not
to. --
Cari (MS-MVP) Windows Client - Printing & Imaging
www.coribright.com/Windows


"Rob" wrote in message
...
Thanks.

I should not have used the word random. The drives to
not play randomly, it
is the disks that are playable that are random. The
same disk will consistantly play in the drive and the
ones that do not work, never work.

Today, my older Compaq DVD ROM drive works again. I can
play DVDs... so far
all the DVDs that I have tried work except one, and I
think it might be the
disk.

The only thing that I did recently was to install and
run a program call CCleaner. It is freeware that cleans
out history and alters and/or deletes registry keys
that the program deems as an error. If the drive
continues to
work my belief will be confirmed that something
somewhere on the computer was
stopping the drive from working.

I still have the original issue with the Sony DVD RW
drive, although I can burn DVDs which does not make
sense to me. What is different with that drive
is that it seems to attempt to access information for
about 2 minutes now before it decides there is no disk.
I have ordered new DVD drives but now I
strongly believe it is something in the OS and software
that is the issue. I
wonder if the upgraded firmware could be the problem
with the Sony drive. Is
there a way to clear that new firmware and install an
older firmware?

Thanks again.

--





  #29  
Old July 17th 06, 10:06 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.video
Bill's News
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 42
Default DVDs are not playing or recognized

John Inzer wrote:
FWIW, I use CCleaner daily and it has never
caused any problems. Others may report
differing views.

When you scan the registry if asks if you want
to save a backup which I always do but I've
never had the need to restore one.


Do you often restore one just to assure yourself that you know
how and that it works properly, should the need arise?

Please understand...this is not tech support.
We are simply volunteers who attempt to assist
folks who are having problems. What works for
us may not work for anyone else...

Good luck in solving your problem.


Hi,

Thanks Cari I appreciate the input, but I am not sure
what you mean by "removed something very important". What
it removed made my DVD ROM drive work, how is that a
problem? Maybe CCleaner was not a great idea, but, for
one of the drives the problem is solved and my computer
seems to be working great. Do you know much about that
program?

I suppose that I was not specific enough when I explained
what steps I have taken when I replied to WOJO a few days
ago. I have done the very steps you suggest more than
once and that did not solve the problems. That is why I
was willing to take John's and your advice and purchase a
new drive, and why I kept reading and searching.

Also, I did a fresh install of XP Pro SP 2 less than 3
weeks ago on brand new hard drives which I believe I
stated in my first post.

I have no idea of the exact item the CCleaner removed to
assist with this issue. I don't know if it had something
to do with the Nero software (which I installed and
uninstalled 3 different versions several times and used
Nero's cleaner tool as well) or something else. At this
point I only have trial versions of Power DVD 7 and
NVIDIA's video decoder installed and I am reluctant to
ever install Nero again.

I had done a fresh install of XP in April when I upgraded
other system components. I rarely used the DVD drives to
view DVDs and I have had the system for quite some time.
Before April the Sony DVD RW was the last upgrade I made
(1 1/2 years ago) and that came with the Nero software.
The problem with the DVD drives was actually discovered
in early June (I mis-stated that timing in my first post)
when I tried to make a DVD from my digital video camera
for the first time ever. At that time I was using
Panasonic software to download from my video camera and
using Nero 6 to burn to DVD. At first I thought it was
the Panasonic software so I uninstalled that software and
I have not reinstalled it, yet. I could not get the newly
burnt DVD to work after trying several different things
including setting write speed all the way down to 1X (I
made quite a few coasters). After reading too many
troubleshooting tips, that is when I put in a DVD movie
to see if there was a problem with the drives... and
neither would play DVDs, at least the several that I
tried at that time.

After countless hours of searching, reading, and
troubleshooting and basically taking several of the same
steps I decided to do another fresh install of XP and I
had wanted to upgrade the HDs, so I did that just a few
weeks ago. I took my time and installed all the SP 2
updates before installing anything. Then it was one
program at a time and then checking for updates until I
finally got back to Nero 6 from CD. Then I tried the Nero
6 updates and then trial version of Nero 7, all made no
difference. So when I ended up with the same problem
again I tried playing more of the DVDs in my library and
that is when I discovered that some DVDs actually would
work every time I put them in. The DVDs that worked
appeared to be older ones and that is what made me think
that something I installed knowingly or unknowingly
was/is causing this problem.

After using the CCleaner tool now when I pop in the
Matrix DVD there is a menu that does ask to install PC
friendly. Even when I decline I can still play the DVD.
This happens in the 6 year old DVD ROM drive. As stated
the Sony Drive still will not play.

The DVD ROM drive works, there is no way I am
uninstalling that drive at this point. Not after so many
hours. I would try that with the Sony drive again but as
I stated I have done that already. I installed the Sony
drive into another machine running Windows ME. I also
installed the Nero 6 software (from CD). I witnessed the
exact same results. The same DVDs would work and the
others would not work. So you see, I believe it is
something in Nero or a conflict with Nero that was/is the
problem, at least part of the problem. I could be 100%
wrong but why would the same condition exist on a
completely different machine with a different (older) OS?
Currently the same problem exists with the Sony drive, I
can play a special features DVD (not the movie) and some
older DVDs but most of the DVDs I have will not work in
that drive. This is why I think it may be a firmware
issue.

I have new drive(s) on the way and when I get them we can
see where that leads. I would like to solve these issues
with accurate knowledge but I have to balance how much
time I can really dedicate to that. There may be a log
from the CCleaner listing items removed that I can look
through, I will check into that.

If you were in my shoes, what would you think, or do?

I hope this information is helpful in some way and I
appreciate the help and information that I have received.
Thanks.


At this point it seems clear to me that CCleaner removed
something very important from the Registry. I'd NEVER
recommend any Registry cleaners. If you believe the
Registry is just too full of unnecessary entries, then
I'd really say it was time to clean install and start
afresh.

So let's totally uninstall ALL your optical drives from
the computer and try to get them back correctly.

In Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, Unistall any and
all DVD burning programs you may have installed and any
DVD Decoding software you have installed. BEFORE you do
this, check you still have the CDs for the reinstall.

Reboot the PC.

Go into the Device Manager and Uninstall the Optical
Drives. Turn OFF the PC.

Physically go into the case and REMOVE all optical
drives. (You can just disconnect both ribbon and power
cables in this case since you know you are going to put
them back. While you are there, physically check the
jumpers at the rear of the drive(s)

Restart the PC... Ensure that My Computer is now showing
you have NO optical drives and that Device Manager also
confirms no entries.

Turn off the PC. Physically reinstall the drive(s)...
or reconnect both cables. Turn on the PC. Ensure that
XP redetects each drive and installs drivers for it -
and assigns a drive letter. Check at this point that XP
can read a data DVD. Reinstall your DVD Decoding
software. Check that XP can play a video DVD.
Reinstall your DVD burning software. Check that it
burns.

Your next option is the format and clean install.

Unfortunately flashing the firmware is always a risk you
alone undertake. The manufacturers are never responsible
for anything that goes wrong with the drive at that
point. Sony may decide to assist... but then again,
they are fully within their rights if they decide not
to. --
Cari (MS-MVP) Windows Client - Printing & Imaging
www.coribright.com/Windows


"Rob" wrote in message
...
Thanks.

I should not have used the word random. The drives to
not play randomly, it
is the disks that are playable that are random. The
same disk will consistantly play in the drive and the
ones that do not work, never work.

Today, my older Compaq DVD ROM drive works again. I can
play DVDs... so far
all the DVDs that I have tried work except one, and I
think it might be the
disk.

The only thing that I did recently was to install and
run a program call CCleaner. It is freeware that cleans
out history and alters and/or deletes registry keys
that the program deems as an error. If the drive
continues to
work my belief will be confirmed that something
somewhere on the computer was
stopping the drive from working.

I still have the original issue with the Sony DVD RW
drive, although I can burn DVDs which does not make
sense to me. What is different with that drive
is that it seems to attempt to access information for
about 2 minutes now before it decides there is no disk.
I have ordered new DVD drives but now I
strongly believe it is something in the OS and software
that is the issue. I
wonder if the upgraded firmware could be the problem
with the Sony drive. Is
there a way to clear that new firmware and install an
older firmware?

Thanks again.

--




  #30  
Old July 17th 06, 11:21 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.video
John Inzer
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 828
Default DVDs are not playing or recognized

Bill's News wrote:
Do you often restore one just to assure yourself that you
know how and that it works properly, should the need
arise?

===========================
Restoring the .reg files is very simple.....
just right click and choose Merge.

The .reg files are stored in.....
My Documents / CCleaner Reg. Backup

Have you experienced problems
in restoring the CCleaner .reg files?

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Please understand...this is not tech support.
We are simply volunteers who attempt to assist
folks who are having problems. What works for
us may not work for anyone else...

Good luck in solving your problem.

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

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



 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
No audio when playing DVDs Blue Windows XP and video cards, drivers and similar 0 May 30th 06 11:00 PM
DVDs not playing Paul General XP issues or comments 10 November 1st 05 06:26 AM
No Sound when Playing DVD's gdden1 Windows XP and video cards, drivers and similar 1 October 26th 05 06:59 PM
dvd's not playing Lori General XP issues or comments 1 February 12th 05 03:28 PM
software to create DVDs capable of playing on DVD Players Ralph Windows XP Help and Support 3 July 22nd 04 07:17 PM






All times are GMT +1. The time now is 12:16 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright 2004-2024 PCbanter.
The comments are property of their posters.