Can not read cd

damnyank

I WILL NOT FORGET 911
Joined
14 Mar 2002
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My daughter did a "save as" on her tax return (selecting her cd drive) so she could bring the file to me to e-file for her.

When I got the cd in my computer it came up as showing a blank cd. (0 bytes used/available).

We laughed about it and redid her taxes on my computer so we could e-file them!

Well, when she got home she popped the cd into her computer and it came right up and showed the two files she had put on the cd. She named the cd "Tax Return" which shows as the name of the cd on her computer (using explorer)- but no name shows on mine - nothing but a cd icon.

We are both using Turbo Tax - as a matter of fact I installed it on hers off the cd I purchased and set it up as a trail version - which is perfectly legal per the Turbo Tax instructions/users agreement.

It is even stranger that she is also using XP and the "built-in" program - Record Now - the sameone I have on my computer - althought I burn with NERO - but I do not see what difference that would make.

Any ideas???? It is probably something simple that I am overlooking - but any help would be appreciated!
 
In my experience, one of two things is happening:

1) your cd drive doesn't like the brand of cd she used --- for example, anytime I burn on PNY cds and take them to my friends, he cannot read on his cd-rom (no idea what kind), but has no problems reading on his cd-rw (memorex)

or

2) your cd drive is dying/dead --- do you have any probems reading other cds or just burned cds?
 
Thankx for the reply Jahya - I have no problem what so ever reading any cd - other than that one - I don't recall what brand it was.

I sure hope my cd drive is not dying - it's only a year old - one would expect it to last longer than that!

Thanx again for the input!
 
perhaps her cd-rw writes faster than yours can read......

e.g. if hers writes at 24x and yours can only read 12x then you will see a blank cd.....

if this is the case tell her to copy the files at a slower speed so they work on both computers :)
 
Originally posted by New Disease
perhaps her cd-rw writes faster than yours can read......

e.g. if hers writes at 24x and yours can only read 12x then you will see a blank cd.....

if this is the case tell her to copy the files at a slower speed so they work on both computers :)

You are pulling my leg right???;)

I sure hope you are on broadband so you can read this reply that I'm sending via my cable modem!!!!:cool: :cool:
 
Originally posted by damnyank
You are pulling my leg right???;)

I sure hope you are on broadband so you can read this reply that I'm sending via my cable modem!!!!:cool: :cool:

BWHAHAHA
that was gold,
I think I'm going to turn off my computer for today as nothing can beat that remark :)
 
I read an interesting article today concerning just this issue. CD burning under XP has been fraught with problems since XP was launched. This is not the same problem as reading CD’s but I’m sure of one thing. There are still problems with either the CD drives themselves, their use when connected as IDE devices as I have never had any problems with SCSI CD players or burners over the years or reading CD’s when using SCSI drives. Why this should be probably goes back a long way and the various specifications and design criteria applied to CD drives.

The CD itself is somewhat to blame as the specifications of how they are written to and the manufacturing tolerances used in today’s modern CD’s mean that if you purchase (say) 100 blanks on a spindle, only about 80% can be read by another drive after they have been burned. I notice also that even if you purchase expensive CD you wont have a 100% burn/read success.

This is all due (according to the article I read) to dodgy clean rooms where the disks and drives are produced. The analogy given was attempting to manufacture had drive platters in a coalmine.

You get only waht you pay for.
 
I had the chance yesterday to drive the 90 miles to my daughter's and start digging around in her system to see what I could find in regards to this problem.

I finally found the answer:

She has a newer cd burner than I do (can't remember the make or model) but hers is capable of using DLA. I thought to myself what is DLA - Drive Letter Access - which everyone else besides me probably already knows about - but here it goes anyway - just in case this info may help someone like me that does not "know-it-all"!

As I understand it after about 2 hours of trying to figure out DLA - first you have to format a cd-r before you can use the cd-r or the drive will not recognize it (strange). However, once you format it, it can be used as an additional storage drive - sorta like packet writting if you are familiar with that. From my understanding, you can also overwrite it (like a cd-rw). So, I guess basically DLA permits you to use a cd-r like a cd-rw - if your drive and your burning software supports it!

Funny thing is, her "Record Now" software that came preinstalled on her computer does not support DLA - yet the default setting was DLA enabled.

Anyway to make a longer story shorter - I had to go into Properties for her burner and on the Recording Tab select "Enable CD Recoding on this device" and hit Apply!

Now the way to tell if DLA is a player (no pun intended) on your burner is that your Properties will have a DLA Tab - which mine does not since my burner does not support DLA!

Once you select "enable CD Recording on this device" it disables DLA and everything works like most of us are used to.

So the bottom line is - if you are having problems with reading a cd-r from someone else's machine - make sure it was not recorded using DLA!

BTW - a normally (non DLA) recorded cd-r will read in a system that has DLA enabled and that's the part that drove me nuts for awhile!

Sorry for the length - put I wanted to follow-up on this problem as it may save someone else some hassle!
 
It is my understanding of this process (probably out of date now) is that when the CD, if formatted, the MBR or equivalent contains an executable which is loaded into memory to enable whatever operating system you are using to load a device driver into memory that enables the system to read the rest of the drives file structure before the system actually reads he drive. However this is sometimes not done unless the formatted drive during the formatting process has enabled this feature.

Well it’s worth a try a I have been caught out by this many times.

:) :confused:
 
Dave, I relieze it is after 11 PM in jolly old London and I really hate to say this - it is only just after 4 PM here in Mississippi and what you said - at least to me makes little or no sense - but thanks for the response anyway?????:p

Only kidding - I think I understand what you are eluding to - but the part that gets me is how changing an option in the cd drive properties would change something in the MBR - you are trying to blow smoke aren't ya??

No maybe not - maybe I am dummer than I think I am!:happy:
 
It’s nothing to do with the CD or the drive but the file system and how it’s placed on the drive. A bit like the old 5.2 floppy drives with some weird security enabled (games or copy protection) with odd track numbers or every other sector missing. You need a device driver to read the drive.

It's getting colder here in London. The French need the English Archers again!
 
Originally posted by damnyank
It is even stranger that she is also using XP and the "built-in" program - Record Now - the sameone I have on my computer - althought I burn with NERO - but I do not see what difference that would make.
That would make all the difference. You can't use one program then try to read it with the other. It will show up as blank. Both computers need to be using the same program to be able to read each other.

What you could have done prior to inserting the cd is to open windows explorer, right click on the buner & turn on xp's burning program. Would nero have liked being treated that way? Who knows.
 
oh okay - Dave I see what you are getting at - got news it is now under 40 and getting colder - which is actually cold here in Mississippi.

Also, Hipster - I use NERO but also have Record Now and I have awlays found the two compatible. I can burn un Nero and she can read it no problem. It's the bloody DLA format that messed us up!:D
 

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