Can't read a burnt CD.

David,

Are you aware if the CD was finalized in the origional system in which it as burned?
If a CD is not finalized then it may be unable for another device to read it.

What is the age of your cdrom? is it also a burner? what speed is it able to read at? was the cd burned at a higher speed than the drive is able to read?

There is another possibility here and that is the dye on the blank CD is not the right colour that can be read by your CD drives as they have the wrong colour laser for that dye type.

This happened quite a lot with the older drives on the new blanks.

Also it could be the recording software not actually closing off the session and because you are running a different software package it is unable to read a disc burnt with a different software package. It's quite possible that you're friends computer has compatible software that your computers don't.

Col

There is another possibility here and that is the dye on the blank CD is not the right colour that can be read by your CD drives as they have the wrong colour laser for that dye type.

This happened quite a lot with the older drives on the new blanks.

Also it could be the recording software not actually closing off the session and because you are running a different software package it is unable to read a disc burnt with a different software package. It's quite possible that you're friends computer has compatible software that your computers don't.

Col

Thanks for your replies guys. Right here goes with the answers to your questions;
1. The CD was finalized in the origional system.
2. I have a Philips DVD/CD burner less than 12months old.
3. The burn speed was approx. x20 & my burner should cope with that ok.
4. I'm inclined to believe the dye should not be a problem as the CD was a Memorex, which I took with me & have used these with no problem on my own computer.
5. I burnt the CD using Roxio ECD & DVD Creator v6. I use this also on my computer. Strangely, another friends computer, which I tried runs Nero & the CD was fine on that too.

Any more help would be gratefully received.
Thanks again.
David (Sleepyguy)

1. SW ? Boot to Safe Mode. If there?s no problem in Safe Mode, one or more startup programs are the culprit. Disable and enable the programs from MSCONFIG to find the culprit. Once you find it, uninstall and reinstall, or upgrade it.

2. Windows Registry ? Refer to http://tinyurl.com/fb8n7 and use Method 1 if applicable. If there?s AFS2K issue, install afsinst.exe from http://tinyurl.com/bxul6

3. Uninstall DVD-RW from Device Manager. Restart the computer and let Windows find it again.

4. HW ? Make sure your IDE cable is OK and power is adequate. Remove your DVD-RW to another system. If it does not read the CD, your DVD-RW is no good. If it reads the CD, it?s got to be Windows itself or other HW (MB, RAM, and so on).

I just went to Phillips website and noticed that their burners don't support all CD formats so just maybe the CD is in an unsupported format for your pc.

"I have a Philips DVD/CD burner less than 12months old."

Dave,

I would suggest acquiring a second CD/DVD burner of a different manufacturer (such as Lite-On, etc.) and install it in one of your two home machines. Phillips, although an excellent brand, is often quirky when it comes to reading discs burnt by other vendor's drives.

Another possibility, but I kinda doubt it, was the capacity of the cd. I ran into this one several times. Larger capacity CD-Rs (800MB or more)wouldn't even read on my asus cd drive and it's not even a year old!!! Read just fine on my writer though which is why I kinda doubt the capacity problem for you. You said you have a dvd/cd writer. I was able to read it using my writer.
Finalizing it wouldn't cause the problem. Not closing the session would cause it to not work on any of the other drives as far as i know. This is why i was thinking of the capacity problem.

http://www.isobuster.com/

That tool reads pretty much everything, I've had it read failed CDR's and been able to retrieve the data from them easily.

It should be able to see the data on the CD, and then you can just extract it to your hardisk.

Hi Again Guys,
I'm sorry for not getting back too quickly but I suffer with M.E. (no, not the Windows kind!) & have been suffering badly lately. I haven't managed to try all your suggestions yet, so please bear with me.
Thanks again for all your help.
David

Hi Guys,
A friend has given me a CD Rom and it reads the discs okay. So I guess it must just be a problem with the Phillips drive being "quirky", as Jonathanx suggested. I have tried all the suggestions you have offered but they haven't unfortunately worked, which is why I can only assume the Phillips drive is the problem.

This is the first time I have ever posted a question on any site and I have been amazed at the help and goodwill you've shown me. Thank you all for your time and effort in trying to resolve my problem, you are terrific people.

I have read the FAQ's but I'm not quite sure as to whether I should now rate your answers and then close this question or not. Would someone please let me know what would be best.
Thanks again,
David