Hey everyone,
I have a Windows 7, Asus P6 Deluxe V2 computer (self-built) that works great most of the time. But on occasion, it refuses to read DVD-RWs created by my Toshiba RD-XS35 DVD recorder. This never happened on my previous XP PC, so I'm hoping to find out what's wrong.
The computer has four DVD drives in it. Two are Pioneer DVR-115 and DVR-116 (IDEs). One is a Pioneer DVR-215 (SATA). The last is a Sony Optiarc SATA, purchased a few months ago from New Egg.
The discs I'm using are Verbatim DVD-RW (orange packaging) and Sony DVD-RW (yellow packaging), but the problem mostly occurs with the Verbatims.
Today, for example, the following occurred, all with Verbatim discs that were formatted, recorded, and finalized by the same Toshiba RD-XS35, on the same morning.
Disc 1 - Would not read in any of the Pioneer drives, nor the Optiarc.
Disc 2 - Read in the Pioneers and the Optiarc.
Disc 3 - Wouldn't read in the Pioneers, but read in the Optiarc.
When I say "won't read," I mean that Windows will not show that the drive has a disc loaded. And
DVD Decrypter reads: "Device not ready (incompatible medium installed)." All of these discs loaded and played fine in my Macs, laptop PC, and set-top DVD player.
I am fairly certain that the drives themselves are not to blame--especially when both the Pioneer and Sony drives won't read the same disc (although until today, the Optiarc usually read the discs that the Pioneers rejected). My guess is that there is some technical issue with the motherboard or Windows--or some setting that is screwed up. But I can't figure out why this problem does not occur with every disc (although it is happening with greater frequency). It's like some discs have a digital signature that tells the Win 7 computer: "don't load me!"
Has anyone heard of anything like this before? Are there some drive settings I should check in Windows? Any help is appreciated--this issue is driving me nuts. Thanks!