Sony manufactures DVD Burners for storing, backing up and sharing your documents and media onto DVD. They allow you to burn large files, including movies, which are space-consuming. They also allow you to play music CDs and commercially available CD and DVD content. They can be a bit tricky and are susceptible to interference from other programs. The most common problem is that the write just simply fails. There are a few factors that come into play for successful DVD recording. Errors and write failures can be reduced with some preparation and simple fixes.
Recording
If you've tried to burn a DVD and it's failed you can attempt a few things. Take a look at the programs running on your computer and close programs running in the background that you don't need at that time. Screen savers, anti-virus and task schedulers can all be problematic. Press "Ctrl + Alt + Delete" to see a list of programs that are running. Sony says that you can "end task" on everything except Explorer and Systray.
CD-ROM to CD-RW
Problems can occur if the CD-RW drive isn't the source drive. It's best to copy the disk image to the hard drive and then record back to the CD-RW. In other words don't use the CD-ROM, except to get the disk image over onto the hard drive.
Bios Problems
Visit your computer manufacturer's website to verify your computer is up to date with all its bios revisions and updates. At the very least, you should make sure the graphics card, mother board and chipset are all up to date. Dell has a good system where you enter the cryptic numbers from the computer's case and the website will advise the exact revisions you'll need.
Ghost Drives
It's possible the computer remembers previous drives that were associated with the computer. The problem is that even if they are no longer attached, they may still be inherent in the computer's brain. To do check this, boot the computer in Safe Mode by pressing F8 when re-booting. Go into the Device Manager and look at the CD-ROMS in the list. Click any pluses next to the text "CD-ROMS" and delete any that show up that you know are not connected anymore. Reboot in normal mode.
Virtual Device Driver Problems
There's a file called scsi1hlp.vxd that can cause problems. It's a virtual device driver. Search for it on your machine from the Find Files or Folders option. Go to Start and then Find. Rename the file scsi1hlp.old. The file may be in C:/Windows/System/Iosubsys.
Disable Auto Insert Notification
The Auto Insert Notification setting can cause problems. Go to the Device Manager and look for your DVD burner in the CD-ROM section. Click on the settings and uncheck Auto Insert Notification. Make sure the only option checked is "Disconnect." Do the same with any other recording CD-ROM devices on the list and re-boot.
Tags: Auto Insert, Auto Insert Notification, Insert Notification, your computer, cause problems, Device Manager
