A technical query here for you geniuses of The Massive. My PC has suddenly decided to stop burning audio CDs – I’ve tried both iTunes (my usual method) and Windows Media Player, and in both cases, the burn seems to go OK for 10-15 seconds before the programme completely hangs with no error messages, and I have to shut down the programme via task manager to use the PC again.
It doesn’t seem to be a problem with the drive, as I can listen to and rip audio CDs, and also burn data CDs (and I can watch, rip and burn DVDs, no problem), it’s just burning audio CDs which is the problem…
Any easy solutions or even troubleshooting tips would be appreciated – thank you all!
Update the driver?
Also update/reinstall iTunes or WMP (or both) and reboot afterwards too.
Sometimes switching to a different brand of CD-R resolves issues like this.
It could also be a fault with the drive itself. A DVD writer will have two lasers inside – one for CDs, with the other for DVDs, and the CD laser is driven at a higher power when writing compared to reading, so being able to burn DVDs or play CDs doens’t necessarily rule out a problem with the drive. Trying to burn at a lower speed may also fix things, as the laser won’t need to be driven as such a high power.
This as well. Worth a go before you shell out for a new drive.
Is it possible that your hard drive is nearly full? Many burners needs at least 700MB free to image the CD before it gets burned. I use neither iTunes nor WMP, so I can’t comment on them.
CD-R blanks lack sector information – they’re just a continuous empty spiral – and any disks burned as a single session rely on a continuous flow of data to the ‘record head’. Any gaps in the data flow, from having to spin up source drives or interrogate memory, will result in empty sectors and end up generating a shiny coaster.
Modern CD/DVD drives usually have some internal buffering to ensure writing is continuous. If the buffer memory fails it won’t write properly even if the lasers etc. are fine. Sometimes the drive configuration in the software gets corrupted and needs resetting.
Thanks everyone – my hard drive seems to have plenty of space, but I’ll try those other options tonight and report back… cheers!
Don’t forget to switch off and switch on again, and run Norton Utilities/ AVG/ whatever maintenance programme you use. Amazing how much crud can build up.
Thanks folks, all sorted. I thought I’d updated the driver, but doing it again has seemed to do the trick, though it does appear a teeny bit “chuggier” than before… reinstalled iTunes & WMP for good measure, but no discernable difference observed so far.
However, mission accomplished, thanks again!
Is there a “CD/DVD Drive Settings” section in your software’s configuration.
Might cure that perceived “chugginess”.
Or maybe that’s something that’s always been present but you just didn’t notice it until after you’d had a problem.
Thanks Mike, I’m inclined to think I’m now paying more attention to something I used to take for granted, so it could well just be “The Observer Effect”, but I’ll take a quick look at the settings as you suggest – cheers!
Others more expert than I should fill in the gaps here but there’s a thing where you find the CD drive in devices and delete it then restart and plug and play will reinstall it afresh. Be very sure before proceding but that’s how I brought my sound card back into the land of the living post Windows 10 upgrade. @vulpes-vulpes?