New HP nc8430 laptop - trouble with [CD/DVD] RWs

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I'm having some difficulties with the optical drive in my new HP nc8430 laptop. It's a sort mega-combo drive that does everything: CD-RW, DVD+RW (incl. dual layer), and DVD-RW.

I just tried to erase a CD-RW using Windows XP's built-in tools, but it gave me no option to "Erase this CD-RW" as it normally should. I tried at least three different CD-RWs, and it did the same thing every time.

I tried using DeepBurner Free to erase the CD-RW. I opened up the "Erase Disc" dialog, tried both a Quick Erase and Full Erase, neither of which actually worked (they both showed the progress bar completing, but the disc was never actually erase...the contents still remain)

I know the burner hardware is not defective because I can burn DVDs using BootIt NG (my DOS-level partitioning and backup software).

HP support says that they do not provide any software tools for working with the optical device, and also suggests to call Microsoft about the issue...but I'm paying "talk-dirty-to-me" call rates to ask what third party software I need to use to work with my optical drive.

So...what third party software do I need to use to work with my optical drive? :p
 
I've used Nero in the past for burning/erasing CD-RWs:

http://www.nero.com/

...of course, it does a lot more than that, so maybe you can find something simplier/cheaper.

But Nero is pretty much the standard for all things related to burning.
 
I have always used Nero, but I've heard good things about Alcohol 120 too.

It is possible that the drive thinks that it's a CD-R instead of a CD-RW.
If that is the case, Nero's Disc-Info menu option will indicate the disk as being a CD-R.
A firmware update (if available) for your drive might possibly resolve that problem, however I have seen that behavior before on discs that were perhaps damaged.
But since you tried several disks, I think it is less likely that that is the case here.

Is this your drive?
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF08a/321957-321957-64295-321838-3329741-1839150.html#457415
 
I<3myV8 said:
Also, it is 7mb, and Nero is 170mb, which is just ridiculous. Bloatware anyone?
Click to expand...

epp_b said:
V8, I agree: 170MB for software that burns optical discs...something's not right. I'll check out Alcohol, thanks.
Click to expand...

Well, obviously Nero does a lot more than just "burn optical discs" (Nero has a full video editor, audio editor, DVD menu maker, Video player, Audio Player, Photo editor, Video Capture/TV Tuner/Media Center software etc.) It's a full software suite. It's 170MB, but for all it does, I'm surprised it's not bigger than that, lol.

It does everything relating to burning discs, plus a lot more....

But if you don't need all that stuff, then don't get it :)

Alcohol is good too. I used to use it all the time for mounting images, but I prefer Daemon Tools for that, especially since it's free. But Alcohol does some other cool stuff too, for what it is.
 
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I think I figured out the problem; Windows XP is caching the contents and not showing me the updated contents when I burn or wipe a CD.

If I eject the disc and put it back in after burning or erasing, it reads it correctly (I just have to use a third-party tool to erase CD-RWs)

So, I guess my next question is: how do disable the CDROM cache?
 
epp_b said:
So, I guess my next question is: how do disable the CDROM cache?
Click to expand...
I've had that problem before too, but I always thought that was due to having my auto-insert notification off ( http://help.acoustica.com/mp3-cd-burner/2kain.htm ).
(I keep my auto-insert off to prevent anything bad, such as a rootkit, from automatically running when you insert a CD.)

I found this with a google search, but that seems rather elaborate:
http://bitrazor.com/content/misc/cdromflush.php
 
I've had that problem before too, but I always thought that was due to having my auto-insert notification off ( http://help.acoustica.com/mp3-cd-burner/2kain.htm ).
(I keep my auto-insert off to prevent anything bad, such as a rootkit, from automatically running when you insert a CD.)
Click to expand...
Switching Autoplay is one of the first things I do on a clean Windows install. It's one of the worst pieces of infectious tripe Microsoft ever implemented in Windows.

I found this with a google search, but that seems rather elaborate:
http://bitrazor.com/content/misc/cdromflush.php
Click to expand...
Yeah, I found that too. I'd rather just disable the CD-ROM cache altogether.




PS.: Yes, I should be able to burn your DVD tomorrow, thanks for the help :D
 
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Problem number two: I tried burning the Top Gear special to a DVD+R DL (as a data disc) but the resultant file only came out as 3GB...the original file is 7GB!

I specifically used burning software capable of burning dual layer DVD+Rs, but clearly it didn't work properly. What's wrong here?
 
What burning s/w are you using?
I've never burned a DL disc before, so I don't know much about that.
I have had problems with a > 2GB file before where it mentioned to use DVD-ROM - UDF instead of DVD-ROM - ISO.

If you're still have problems, one option is to use winrar to break up the file in to smaller parts.

EDIT: Did some looking around:
According to these links UDF has a maximum file size equal to the size of the volume, so it looks like it is possible in UDF mode.
http://www.videohelp.com/forum/arch...uous-file-can-i-burn-on-a-dvd-dl-t332494.html
http://www.softarch.com/us/dvd/UDF_whitepaper.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_file_systems#Limits
 
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I used Sateria for the burn, and I also tried Free Easy Burner. I didn't burn with the latter, because it automatically capped the the file in the preview before burning the disc.

Would it be OK if I split up the file and burned to two regular DVDs?
 
epp_b said:
I used Sateria for the burn, and I also tried Free Easy Burner. I didn't burn with the latter, because it automatically capped the the file in the preview before burning the disc.

Would it be OK if I split up the file and burned to two regular DVDs?
Click to expand...
Sure no problem, can you use WinRar to split them and use WinRar's test feature to check that they got burned ok?
Click Add on WinRar, set the compression method to store and set the split size to 1GB :
http://img297.imageshack.**/img297/5295/winrarah8.png
 
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