CD/DVD burning software!

R

richedie

New Member
Hello everyone!

Ever since I re-built my PC....I have been unable to burn CDs! I did it all the time previously with Ahead Nero and it never asked about an image file! I also only had one CD drive at the time!

I am about to shoot my computer, set it on fire and throw it oof a cliff! LOL! Ever since I re-imaged my PC...I have not been bale to burn disks and I also recently bought a DVD writer. Still, no luck! Every single time I try to burn a disk....the software asks to write an image file. If I select yes, it writes to the hard drive and closes out the software. If I select no, it aborts the process. I feel like a complete idiot, but I give up and feel I'll never be able to burn another CD at home again. I have a stack of home CDs I need to make as well. I am at a loss.....I can't find what in the software that is causing this. I have two nearly new drives....one Sony CD writer and a Sony DVD writer. I have attempted this with Ahead Nero, Roxio and NTI CD Maker Gold.

I also tried the demo verson of Cute CD/DVD Burner software. It apperared to make the copy but can not read the newly burned disk. The original disk in this test has .cda files and I can see they have been copied to the new blank disk but are un-readable! What is going on here!

I am pulling my hair out....any ideas?

Thanks!
 
Deep Burner is a freeware I still have to try out. You can get the free version or the full retail Pro version at http://www.deepburner.com/?r=download
For strictly cd-rs and rws I found B's Recorder GOLD was one reliable burning software for backups and projects. I always have good results with that. The updated versions now support dvd burning as well as cd writing. For burning Linux iso images I used Roxio's Easy Media 8.0 until it kept goofing with Half Life 2 and the Steam engine there. Deep Burner was freeware option for that.
 
For test purposes you should be using a cd rw so if it does not work it is not costing you disks. Erase and try again.

I don't follow your statement "Every single time I try to burn a disk....the software asks to write an image file". Using Nero, that just does not happen. You tell Nero you want to burn an iso, music cd etc and add files to the compilation. It never asks about an image.

You have to select the writer at the top of the dialog. If you did not bother to select one of your writers and Image Recorder is selected, then of course it will ask to write an image. I don't see how you could make that mistake with several sets of software however.

Run the Nero Info Tool (from Start Smart) to check the two writers are as expected. You will probably see an ASPI error but you should find Nero ASPI is enabled.

Try recording a data cd, just add a few files. See if you can burn it. Check disk after the burn with cd/dvd speed, Scan Disc test, also accessed from Start Smart.

There could be a bunch of other things causing problems but try to get a few files on a data cd first.

Starman*
 
If you run into a bad batch of blank media you can also headaches trying to get a program to write. With most writing softwares the only time an image is created is when copying a cd like a software backup or audio disk where the program temporarily will use an approximate amount of drive space. If your drive is filled up past a certain point the programs may be stalling due to the lack of the temporary space needed.
 
Starman* said:
For test purposes you should be using a cd rw so if it does not work it is not costing you disks. Erase and try again.

I don't follow your statement "Every single time I try to burn a disk....the software asks to write an image file". Using Nero, that just does not happen. You tell Nero you want to burn an iso, music cd etc and add files to the compilation. It never asks about an image.

You have to select the writer at the top of the dialog. If you did not bother to select one of your writers and Image Recorder is selected, then of course it will ask to write an image. I don't see how you could make that mistake with several sets of software however.

Run the Nero Info Tool (from Start Smart) to check the two writers are as expected. You will probably see an ASPI error but you should find Nero ASPI is enabled.

Try recording a data cd, just add a few files. See if you can burn it. Check disk after the burn with cd/dvd speed, Scan Disc test, also accessed from Start Smart.

There could be a bunch of other things causing problems but try to get a few files on a data cd first.

Starman*
Click to expand...

First.....thank you everyone for the info.

Starman,

I meant that everytime I attempt to make a CD copy whether this is a copy from one CD to another, from one CD to the same drive (in which case it prompts to remove the CD and place blank CD in the drive) or creating a data CD. In each of these scenarios, it starts the process of reading the CD and then prompts to save the image file somewhere. I remember having this problem about a year ago and remember having the ability to clear up this issue. I just know that when i first installed Ahead Nero, it automatilly detected the drives and set the one as the image recorder which it never did until I bought this new drive. Odd...

I'll play around with it tonight.
 
Hello again!

I have a Sony CD-RW CRX 230EE and Sony DVD RW DW-Q 120A but I can't get any burning software to work.

The version of Nero I have is version 5 Burning room and you can't upgrade! You have to buy version 7. I have Nero Express 4. Either way.....I decided to try new software so I downloaded Cute CD DVD burnrer which seems user friendly but again I can't get it to burn anything.

I wish there was a new version of Nero Express available. There tech support is horrible.

I just re-installed Nero 5 and had the software detect the drives....opened CD-copy to copy a music CD from drive one(Master) to the CD/DVD drive two(Slave) and I had the same problem. I select Burn and then it looks like it is starting and then asks to save the image file as an image.nrg file and this is where it stops. Saving the file just saves the file and the entire process stops. Cancelling just aborts the process.

Rich
 
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For data cds, you can copy the files to the hard drive and then create a new data cd with Nero, adding the files and folders you copied. This will avoid any image requests.

Copying audio cds (which may or may not be legal depending on the content), you cannot copy the files as-is to the hdd because Windows does not recognize the audio information (the .cda files are tiny info files). I have no experience copying audio cds.

You said "when i first installed Ahead Nero, it automatilly detected the drives and set the one as the image recorder which it never did until I bought this new drive". The Image Recorder is NOT one of your drives. It is a virtual recorder that is used to create disk images. That's what I was ranting about a few messages back. If you have two drives, you should see the two drives PLUS the Image Recorder in the Nero dropdown box. I don't know whether this is related to your problem. If you set the second drive as the Image Recorder then it will try to create an image for sure.

Starman*
 
Starman* said:
For data cds, you can copy the files to the hard drive and then create a new data cd with Nero, adding the files and folders you copied. This will avoid any image requests.

Copying audio cds (which may or may not be legal depending on the content), you cannot copy the files as-is to the hdd because Windows does not recognize the audio information (the .cda files are tiny info files). I have no experience copying audio cds.

You said "when i first installed Ahead Nero, it automatilly detected the drives and set the one as the image recorder which it never did until I bought this new drive". The Image Recorder is NOT one of your drives. It is a virtual recorder that is used to create disk images. That's what I was ranting about a few messages back. If you have two drives, you should see the two drives PLUS the Image Recorder in the Nero dropdown box. I don't know whether this is related to your problem. If you set the second drive as the Image Recorder then it will try to create an image for sure.

Starman*
Click to expand...

Thanks, mopst of these CDs are fine.....either home pictures or music from my band or home recordings. Some are old CDs that are not copy writen against copying.

I was confused as to the Image Recorder. Interesting. Should I hit cancel next time it asks to set the image recorder? Do I need to use this feature? I have two drives. What is the meaning of virtual recorder and what is the purpose of the image file?

I guess I have a drive set as the image recorder but I have no idea how to turn this off on either the Express or Nero 5. :(
 
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Did you buy those drives retail or OEM? Usually Sony throws in B's Recorder GOLD or another software along with the drive for burning cds or dvds.
 
What is OEM? I bought these from a local computer shop that builds their own PCs for sale as I have done from this shop for many years. They gave me a copy of NTI CD maker and DVD maker....but no luck.
 
"Short for original equipment manufacturer, which is a misleading term for a company that has a special relationship with computer producers. OEMs are manufacturers who resell another company's product under their own name and branding. While an OEM is similar to a VAR (value-added reseller), it refers specifically to the act of a company rebranding a product to its own name and offering its own warranty, support and licensing of the product. The term is really a misnomer because OEMs are not the original manufacturers; they are the customizers." http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/O/OEM.html

You can always find a definition there. Unfortunately the software they gave you isn't what is usually seen with the retail package. They simply ordered the drives wholesale and added software they may have received from another distributer. The thought here is to see how the jumpers are set on the drives. The drive at the end of the cable should be set to the "MA" master setting there with the SL or SA seen for slave for the drive connected to the middle connector. Can you read cds or dvds put in the drives? If not either the jumpers have to be set as mentioned here or the cable needs to be replaced.
 
Thanks again! I found it wasn't a cable or slave/master setting...although I don't quite remember which portion of the cable was where. I didn't realize that was significant when setting slave/master. Anyway, I ended up installing NTI DVD Maker and it works great! I tested a CD last night and it burned fine - no problems! It must have benn an issue with how the other software was configured. I really like this software. I also set it to burn to a temporary spot on the hard drive and then to the CD because I have heard this is a more robust process with less issues rather than CD-CD although that would be faster.
 
The softwares used often will automatically create a temporary image of a disk when I go to copy a vcd project. When creating one NEODVD or Roxio will break an mpeg II file down into the five segments and then burn to disk. With B's Recorder you can also set the verify option to have everything in the image compared to the original and later the copy. That insures a good burn although once in a blue moon you can expect to toss one out.

Your find there shows the cable wasn't at fault. Generally the end of the secondary cable will be plugged into the top optical drive(cd/dvd) with the middle connector to the one just below it if that isn't slaved to the hard drive. Remember the end of the ide cable is master unless cable select is used. The middle is the slave position. On occasion when two drives are used one or both will have to set to cable select often to get a new hard drive runiing while the optical drives on the secondary remain mastered or slaved. On occasion you may have to swap bays when softwares won't work with dvd burner as master or vice versa. You should see some good burns now.
 
PCEYE, thanks for the insight. I am a bit confused on some of the slave/master talk but I do not have enough experience yet with IDE cables and the way in which the jumpers should be set. What exactly is cable select?
 
On the rear of the drive casing on any ide drive(hard drive, cd/dvd drive) you will find a small opening with usually five pairs of small metal pins with one pair having a plastic cap over them. Marked into the casing itself you will find "MA", "SL" or "SA" usually "SL", and "CS". The other two are recessed away from the marking since they are not used.

A pair of tweezers, a small pair of pliers with a fine point, or something that can gently grab the "jumper" as it is called is used to pull it and move it over to one of the other two pairs of pins for that setting. If your drive is currently at SA or SL and on the end connector of the cable the drive cannot be read properly. That requires moving the jumper cap over to either the MA or CS position. If it is set at MA and the drive is connected to the middle of the cable that would be moved to either the SL or CS to see the drive there.

The term cable select allows the position on the cable itself rather then the jumper setting to determine what the drive is set for. If you connect a drive to the end of the cable it is seen as "master". If it is in the middle is "slave". When installing the primary boot drive the drive is master on the end of the primary cable and set as first boot device in the bios if you are not planning to boot from a floppy or cd drive. The usual for a prebuilt system would be the floppy or cd rom set as the first with the hard drive as the second where you simply ignore the search of the floppy drive or "boot from cd..." seen on the screen right before Windows starts loading.
 
Thanks! What is the point of cable select then....I would think you would always want one drive on the end of the cable set to master and the other in the middle set SL.

Also, I only have one hard drive at this point and never boot from a CD unless re-building my PC. Should I set in the bios the HD as the primary boot device?
 
By default complete builds bought retail either have the floppy drive or cd rom device set as the first in the boot order. On newer boards as well to boot off of a floppy you assign that as the first in the bios and enable floppy search. This is of course on custom cases. For booting from a cd a newer board now offers a key to press for the boot order. From the temporary menu you can choose to boot from a cd or dvd drive by selecting cd rom where the "press any key to boot from cd..." message is seen after. Now you don't have to worry about having to go into the bios.

You have the option there to set the hard drive as the first in the order and disable the rest. A simple switch of the boot order is the usual however. If you don't want to have the floppy drive searched(if one is installed) at post time disable the floppy search option.

Most of the time you would want to see a drive mastered or slaved depending on the drive's position on the cable. That already works great on cd and dvd drives connected to the secondary cable or if slaved off of the hard drive. The problem where you may have to switch to cable select is seen at times when running more then one ide hard drive. SATA drives are excluded since they are jumper less. The cable decides depending on which socket it is plugged into(primary #1, primary #2, secondary #1, secondary #2 if SATA onboard controllers are present and board has secondary). Having run more then one drive often cable select may be needed on the second drive if you start seeing disk failure messages on booting.
(I usually have a second OS on the second drive. The last case saw dos, 3.1, 95, 98, and XP dual booted with Linux.)
 
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