No, I didn't read the CD-Rs on the offending Writer drive but on my Reader only drive, which couldn't read the 3 CD-RWs I used for testing.

I guess cuz the CD-Rs are writable ONCE and so couldn't be corruptly written to again, whereas the CD-RWs are writable MANY times.

What does Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer > System and Application say about these cd problems? Sometimes I've had a virtually uncountable number of errors when messing about with cd's, dvd's and drives which tend not to be very healthy...

There can sometimes be an issue with finalizing a disc which can stop it being read on another drive - normally I work with multisesson writes onto cd-r's and cd-rw's (also dvd-r and dvd-/+rw) using Nero and keep the disc on the one drive until it's finalized. Then if I want to use a writable again I'll eraze it completely on the same drive, if possible, with Nero. In fact sometimes I've tried to use erased re-writables on a different drive and the disc has not been recognised.

Dell always used to say that the drives fitted to their machines may not read discs written on other drives...

Maybe I didnt make myself clear. It wont read any CD incl. prerecorded CD ROM so its not a matter of finalisation or drive incompatibility. I first noticed the pattern when I realised that MS Works was on DVD not CD unlike other software like XP SP2 or MS Office.

My final test on these devices, when uncertain, is to move the drive to another PC which is uncorrupted as far as CD/DVD work - that shows whether the fault is with the hardware (which it usually is).

Not a peep in Event Viewer!

As it's OK on DVDs, I suspect it is the hardware, not drivers; probably the CD laser is faulty resulting in corrupt writable CDs. Do they have separate lasers for CD & DVD?

Just going to try re-seating it in bay before I look on eBay (it's gonna be a 2nd hand one I guess).

Sorry don't know about the lasers, but for sure that could certainly be the problem

If there is nothing showing in the event viewer then you are probably correct in believing it to be a hardware issue, i.e. nothing is being read.

Do you have auto play set on that machine? If so does it even ask you what to do with a blank cd in that drive? Sometimes I've had cd's and dvd's that are actually full of data yet Windows still sees them as blank when using some drives.

Best of luck with re-seating the drive but as it reads DVD's that may not be the problem?

Been looking on Amazon myself for a SATA DVD drive (due to current tray opening button problem) - nice and easy return policy if bought from Amazon direct

In reply to a post by 4M2:

Been looking on Amazon myself for a SATA DVD drive (due to current tray opening button problem) - nice and easy return policy if bought from Amazon direct

But harder for IDE

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

But harder for IDE


Sure - but best of luck with an ebay used item

Just thought of something, obvious question really: have you tried cleaning the drive's lens with a cleaning disc?

In reply to a post by 4M2:

Just thought of something, obvious question really: have you tried cleaning the drive's lens with a cleaning disc?

Or using cotton bud on lens, worked for me