Urgent computer help needed please!

[Wrathchild]

According to my device manager, I have an Atapi DVD Dual 4x Max drive (made by MSI) that can read and write both DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs.

I also have IDE ATA/Atapi controllers, with primary and secondary IDE channels and an SiS PCI IDE Contoller.

(I have no idea what any of that last sentence means, but I thought it might be useful to include it.)

Anyway, I'm using Imation DVD-RWs (my usual brand) to burn some video files I've downloaded and converted to DVD format with Nero 7. My first attempts have been dodgy to say the least, so I thought it would be simple enough to wipe the disc- using full erase rather than quick erase- and have another go. After I've done this, the damn thing doesn't even register that there's a disc in the drive, never mind let me burn something else on it! Is there anything I can do, apart from buying another drive, to fix this and get it to recognise discs again?

Turning rewriteable discs into coasters whenever I try to erase them defeats the whole purpose of using the bloody things. This'll get worse before it gets better, not to mention expensive...

W

 

[Wrathchild]

I've just read that it may help if I was to uninstall the drive (by clicking the relevant option in device manager), then restarting my computer and letting Windows detect it all over again, but I'm in the middle of something just now so I won't do that for the moment .

Also, Nero InfoTool informs me that my "ASPI installation is corrupted", so that might be a factor. In layman's terms, what does this mean and how do I un-corrupt it?

W

 

[MeKaChrOme]

hmm, not sure exactly what the problem is, but "installation corrupted..." etc - what you could try is to completely uninstall nero, restart the computer, then reinstall it. Same logic as uninstalling the drive, obviously not possible if you're in the middle of something

My experience with Nero has generally been OK, but I know plenty of people who have all sorts of problems with Nero and making video DVDs...

Also as silly as it sounds, make sure it's a proper "rewritable" disc, not one which just has "RW" written on it (I don't know why they write RW on discs, but they do it on the single use discs I get too)...

 

[Wrathchild]

The ASPI thing is more a hardware problem than a Nero problem, so uninstalling the drive, letting Windows pick it up again and reinstalling all the drivers (if necessary and if I can find the CD) should take care of that. Fingers crossed anyway.

I've had no major dramas using Nero so far. Well. nothing that copying files to a folder on my hard drive and then using DVD Shrink to copy them onto disc can't fix...

W

 

[phlogiston]

I've had all sorts of problems with Nero7, and don't use it at all anymore. But it shouldn't be causing your problems. It might though.

ASPI is a software thing, I think, there's no hardware bit called an ASPI. Does Windows itself let you erase DVDs? I know it does CDs. If so, try that for a bit. If not, try something else to erase them.

I can't remember what I use right at the moment. I'll look it up when I'm on the relevant computer.

 

[Southy]

I have no issue with Nero 7 so

 

[Wrathchild]

For those of you still paying attention (he said, expecting the sound of crickets and tumbleweeds), I've narrowed the problem down to this:

Wiping DVD-RWs with the full-erase function in Nero 7 Ultra Edition makes them unreadable in my drive. This is annoying and expensive (especially since I'm supposed to be able to reuse the things). If I can find one, would a new driver fix it and if not, what else can I do?

W

 

[Lord Tim]

Try downloading Nero again from the website and installing it over the top of your current installation.

Why Nero decides it's corrupt sometimes for no reason is beyond me!

If that doesn't work, try grabbing a new ASPI driver:

http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aa571/aspi.htm

 

[Wrathchild]

Thank you, good sir

W

 

[Gavin]

My advice to all my users is, Just don't use re-writable disks. Cd or DVD, they are a waste of time.
Specially since normal disks are so cheap now.