CD Burner not working

**the hobbit** · February 11th, 2012, 04:08 AM

I have a problem. I have a Dell computer desktop with Windows XP SP2 installed on it. I have recently tried to burn files to a CD-R on my computer but it has not worked.

The first time, I tried with Nero 9 StartSmart Essentials and selected up the file I wanted to burn. I clicked on Burn and was prompted to load the CD. I put the CD in the loader and clicked on Load. Nothing happened, and instead, after a few seconds, the loader opened again and I was prompted again to Load the CD!

The second time, I used CDBurnerXP. I did the same thing, selected the file and clicked on Burn. I looked on the icon that presented itself, and it showed that the CD was not recognized as writable!

If I am not wrong, CD-Rs are supposed to be writable, right? Anyways, I started looking around for help on the Internet. I got the idea of checking my CD/DVD drives. In Device Manager, under DVD/CD-ROM drives, the following are listed:

Philips DVD +- RW DVD8701
SONY DVD-ROM DDU1615

In addition, I noticed that there are couple of yellow question marks and yellow icons with exclamation points next to the following:

Network Controller
SM Bus Controller
Video Controller
Video Controller (VGA Controller)

Do you think that the preceding issues might be affecting my CD/DVD drives?
Is there a way I can get a new driver?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

**osprey4** · February 11th, 2012, 10:09 AM

Hi The Hobbit,

Welcome to TechIMO.

Sounds like you must have recently reinstalled your operating system but forgot to install some or all of the device drivers. Let me suggest you go here for help with installing drivers.

Once that is done, try to see if Nero recognizes a blank CD-R in your Philips drive (the Sony will NOT burn any discs).

**the hobbit** · February 11th, 2012, 03:46 PM

Hi osprey4,

Thanks for your quick reply. Yes, I have recently reinstalled my Windows XP operating system. I thought I had installed all the drivers that I needed, but apparently, I guess had not. Just today, I opened Device Manager, and tried to update all the drivers with the yellow exclamation points next to them, and only one of them was updated, which was the Network Adapters driver. Under Network Adapters, I found two new drivers:

Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection
Linksys Wireless-G PCI Adapter

The other ones remain with the yellow exclamation points next to them:

SM Bus Controller
Video Controller
Video Controller (VGA Controller)

Also, I clicked on your link but I get the following response:

The chosen document is not currently available. Please try again later.

So should I try again at another time?
Thanks for the help, I appreciate.

**JLK03F150** · February 11th, 2012, 04:04 PM

Go here...
Welcome to Home User Support
and select Driver's & Downloads. Either enter your service tag or model to find your specific PC.
You need the Chipset driver and Video driver.

**osprey4** · February 11th, 2012, 05:19 PM

Your disc burning problems may or may not be resolved after you install all of the drivers. If the drive is still not burning when you're done, please post back and we can try some other things.

Nero is your best friend. It has some built in diagnostic tools.

**the hobbit** · February 11th, 2012, 11:30 PM

JLK0F3F150,

I followed your link. I entered my service tag number which is 9N5GS81. I have a DELL Dimension 5150/E510 desktop computer. I looked under the Video category but I am not sure which one is the Video driver so I downloaded both of the drivers I found there which are the ATI Driver and the Intel-Driver.

I was not able to install any of the drivers.

Apparently, I installed the ATI Driver the first time and it worked, but I am not sure if I selected the right driver. There might have been a mistake. I tried to install it a second time and I got the following message:

Failures occurred during the installation.

Here is the log of the installation process if you are interested, I don't know if you will be able to access it though:

C:\Program Files\ATI\CIM\Reports\Report.xml

For the Intel-Driver installation, I got the following message:

This computer does not meet the minimum requirements for installing the software. Setup will exit.

In addition, earlier this morning, before I did any of the previous installations, I was directed in another message board to update the firmware for my driver. Here is the link to the download:

Philips DVD8701 Firmware Downloads - Firmware HQ

This afternoon, after installing the firmware and the ATI driver (the first time), I tried burning a CD-R again with Nero 9 StartSmart Essentials. For some unknown reason, it actually worked with a Memorex CD-R and also with a blue Value Disc DVD-R. I tried other times again, with other blank Memorex CD-Rs and the process did not work. So I am actually puzzled at the moment.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

**osprey4** · February 12th, 2012, 04:19 PM

The Hobbit,

There are two things going on. First, you have not gotten your operating system and drivers installed properly. This wiki written by one of my Dell forum buddies explains how to perform a fresh installation of the operating system and the device drivers. The order of driver installation is important:
1. Dell system software,
2. chipset,
3. video,
4. network
The complete list is provided in the wiki.

Second, once all your device drivers are installed, then I would reinstall Nero and update it with any available patches. Then see if Nero can recognize your drive as a burner and if it is able to burn discs.