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Trouble burning CDs

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by BOBBO, 2006/08/28.

  1. 2006/08/28
    BOBBO

    BOBBO Geek Member Thread Starter

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    A friend of mine has a Dell laptop less than a year old, with Win XP, and wants to back up some files to a CD. She e-mailed me asking for my help and I referred her to the Help and Support Center's index and "burning CDs." She just sent me this:

    I'm out of ideas. Any suggestions?
     
  2. 2006/08/29
    mailman Lifetime Subscription

    mailman Geek Member

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    Hi, BOBBO. :)

    I'm looking around via Google. While I'm doing so, I'm thinking of things you may or may not have thought of.

    Please forgive me if I offer ideas you may have "obviously" thought of. I'm just thinking in terms of starting from scratch and ... who knows? ... I might think of something someone forgot. :)

    Is she 100% certain the CD (or DVD) drive in her Dell laptop has CD-RW capabilities? (The W is important.)

    What Dell model (including number) laptop is it?

    Which version of Windows XP does she have?
    Which Service Pack?
    All Windows Updates?

    Has she ever opened up the laptop to get at the inside? (EDIT: Has she ever dropped the laptop?) If so, perhaps she loosened a connection or bent a pin.

    Has the laptop ever been plugged into an AC outlet during a thunder storm?

    Is she certain the CD drive is letter D?
     
    Last edited: 2006/08/29

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  4. 2006/08/29
    mailman Lifetime Subscription

    mailman Geek Member

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    What CD burning software (and version) is she using?
     
  5. 2006/08/29
    mailman Lifetime Subscription

    mailman Geek Member

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    Hi again, BOBBO. :)

    I thought of a few more ideas to investigate.

    EXACTLY what make and model number is her drive? (It may actually be different than the possibly rebranded make/model printed on the drive.)
    Has she verified she has the latest/best drivers and firmware for her exact drive model?

    This information can be determined via
    Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager
    Right-click on the drive name and select Properties.
    • Driver Version and Driver Provider will be under the Driver tab.
    • The exact drive name, model number and firmware version will be in Under the Details tab > Driver Instance Id. The firmware version will be at the far right end of that information.
    Alternatively, she can find this information with Everest (available via Major Geeks):
    Menu tab > Devices > Windows Devices > DVD/CD-ROM drives > (CD/DVD drive Name)
    • The current Driver Version and Driver Provider will be in the lower window pane for that drive.
    • The exact model name/number and firmware version will be shown in the "Hardware ID" line in the lower pane for that drive. (The firmware version is at the right end of the "Hardware ID" line.)

    Has she tried burning a CD-R without all unnecessary memory-resident applications/processes running (such as anti-virus, anti-spyware, etc.)?
    -
     
    Last edited: 2006/08/29
  6. 2006/08/29
    mailman Lifetime Subscription

    mailman Geek Member

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    Hi once again, BOBBO. I'm done searching for now. :)

    Perhaps answers to my questions above will get us going in the right direction.

    Here are a few URLs regarding CD recording that might be helpful to you and your friend.

    Good luck!
     
  7. 2006/08/29
    BOBBO

    BOBBO Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Thanks to you both for your replies.

    She and I live on opposite coasts, so there's a 3-hour difference in time zones to deal with along with the distance between her laptop and my being able to look at it. I'm pretty sure she's using Win XP (HE). I'm fairly sure she has SP2. No idea which model she has or which CD unit is in it. I believe she's trying to do the burning with what's in Win XP without any third-party software, but not sure right now.

    I copied and pasted your replies into an e-mail and sent them to her. Some of the technical details may be beyond her, but I'm hoping she'll get back to me sometime tomorrow with some answers and further information.

    If you or anyone else have any more questions or suggestions, keep 'em coming.
     
  8. 2006/08/29
    mailman Lifetime Subscription

    mailman Geek Member

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    I know her laptop is less than a year old but... while looking for information for another Windows BBS user, I ran across this...Posting it because I am almost certain I wouldn't be able to find the link again. :)

    Just in case she is using Roxio's Easy CD Creator v5.3.4.x here is a 10/21/2004 patch/upgrade from Dell to update it to v5.3.5.17:

    support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R86898&formatcnt=1&fileid=113880

     
  9. 2006/08/30
    BOBBO

    BOBBO Geek Member Thread Starter

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    mailman: I just got a reply from my friend. She confirmed a few things but not others. Part of what she said:

    She doesn't seem to have Roxio, although I do and I took advantage of your link and upgraded my own copy of it from v5.3.5.10 to 5.3.5.17. Haven't used it yet, but good to be up to the latest. I don't think she has any third-party CD-burning programs, although she got a new digital camera a month ago and a program may have come with it. I'll ask her about that.

    She's a bit unnerved by the technical stuff we're having to get into, so I'm not crowding her. It would help if we had a better idea of exactly what CD player her laptop has. I may recommend she download Belarc Advisor. It's small, downloads and installs quickly, and shows lots of info about the hardware and software she has.

    Has the information I've included here shown any roads to pursue? And other questriosn I should ask her? Thanks for staying with us on this. We appreciate it.
     
  10. 2006/08/30
    BOBBO

    BOBBO Geek Member Thread Starter

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    OK, my friend downloaded Belarc Advisor and ran it and here are the parts of the results I suspect will be most useful. (The section didn't copy and paste here right, so I'm having to rearrange things so they'll make sense and I've deleted a few lines to preserve her privacy)

    Does any of that help at all?
     
  11. 2006/08/30
    surferdude2

    surferdude2 Inactive

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  12. 2006/08/30
    BOBBO

    BOBBO Geek Member Thread Starter

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    surferdude2: Thanks for joining in. You've probably spotted the problem. I'm afraid you're right. My friend's morale is going to take a hit when she finds this out.

    I coached her through the configuring of her laptop's options before she ordered it, and she got the larger amount of RAM and several other choices I recommended, but she tried to save some money by getting a smaller HDD and different DVD/CD player than I'd proposed. Case of penny wise and pound foolish, sadly.

    I'll forward your link to her and explain the situation. Thanks again for the help.
     
  13. 2006/08/30
    mailman Lifetime Subscription

    mailman Geek Member

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    Hi, BOBBO. Belarc Advisor was a GREAT idea since she is a little "technically challenged ". It installs and runs right away to produce results in the web browser for easy sending via e-mail. Great thinking! :) I'll try to keep that in mind if/when I help other "technically challenged" people via long distance.

    I'm glad surferdude appears to have solved the problem! Great work, surferdude! :)

    What??? You're not gonna give us her Windows Product Key??? ;)
     
  14. 2006/08/31
    BOBBO

    BOBBO Geek Member Thread Starter

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    mailman: I was remiss in not thanking you also in my last post. You were suspecting that problem early on. Everyone's help is appreciated.

    Belarc struck me as a solution for the same reasons you mentioned, but my advice is to use it to get information but don't ever try to copy and paste a Belarc report into a post here. Everything gets horribly scrambled around. What a pain!

    I first got Belarc right after I'd received my new Dell desktop. I knew which CPU was in it but not which chipset. That little matter would make a big difference in performance. With Belarc I quickly saw I did have the latest Intel chipset and that my Pentium was then capable of doing its best. Nice to know that.

    Thanks again for your help, and no, I won't tell you her Windows Product Key or her Dell Service Tag Number, either one. :)
     
  15. 2006/08/31
    mailman Lifetime Subscription

    mailman Geek Member

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    Hi, BOBBO.

    That is definitely not a problem. :) I got enough thanks earlier on in the thread. :D

    I'm glad your friend's problem appears to be my very first suspicion. :cool: (mailman pats self on back)
     

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