[*T*]

I've been using drag to disc pretty reliably over the past year or so just for quick back-ups, over time gradually filling discs tiny bits at a time, rather than in one sitting ...this has in total probably amounted to around ten DVDs (so not excessive use IMO...and i'm using Maxell DVD+R & EMC 7 Retail Disc version). I hadn't had a problem with these discs (numbered sequentially so i know which i did first!) but when i started filling up my eleventh my problems began. After about halfway filled when i tried to add an additional file i got a read notification error...this then prompted scan disc. Not only did none of the data i'd previously put on register, but the dvd just locks up whenever i access it! I retried but the same problems have kept occurring after about 2 gigs filled...Read failure and data lost! Looking at the underside of the dvd's it occasionally appears that there is a clear ring of unwritten disc in the middle of the used space. Drag to disc appears to be non-functional/reliable for me now...i haven't lost anything yet but it'll happen! It's now just making coasters and i don't need any more..

I'm not running Nero or IE7, and can't think of any changes i've made to my system recently to disturb the D2D equilibrium from working to not-working (and i'd really like to get this easy drag and drop functionality back!). The only other thing i can think of related to the drive is that on one occasion on system shutdown my PC wouldn't turn off because the DVD RW drive was active and just kept flashing it's busy light continually (so in the end i just turned it off).

Is there anything that could have happened to cause my problems and please can someone suggest a method to remedy it?

This post has been edited by *T*: 04 July 2007 - 03:11 PM

[lynn98109]

The only other thing i can think of related to the drive is that on one occasion on system shutdown my PC wouldn't turn off because the DVD RW drive was active and just kept flashing it's busy light continually (so in the end i just turned it off).

Is there anything that could have happened to cause my problems and please can someone suggest a method to remedy it?

I think you have identified the cause - WinXP thinks it knows everything, and often will not even begin to write to a drive until it gets around to it. Interrupting that process appears to have damaged that disc, and possibly either the software or the drive. (Does the drive work ok otherwise?)

I am hardly the first or the only person to have learned the hard way that Packet-Writing (Drag2Disc, Nero's InCD, Sonic's DLA, etc) is an extremely unreliable method to use for something you want to KEEP (as opposed to something to be transferred when the orignal file is still safely on the originating computer).

I'd suggest you try using a Flash drive (aka Pen / Thumb / Keychain / Jump drive) for what you want to do, since you seem unwilling to use a Sessions-based program such as Classic Creator or the built-in WinXP burning.

Lynn

This post has been edited by lynn98109: 05 July 2007 - 08:02 AM

[james_hardin]

I cannot add much to Lynn's remarks… D2D is a packet writer and all packet writers have proven themselves to be the most unreliable form of burning ever devised!

Like many users, you have been bitten by the 'it always worked great, until now' which is common to all packet writers!

Interestingly, Vista includes a packet writer within the OS. It will be interesting to see how this works out???

It is a little less convenient but using Classic and not checking the Read Only box will produce a 100% rock solid data disc that you can add files to anytime you please. After the first write you have to 'Import previous data' to continue to add to it. All of this must be done through the Classic program if you are using a DVD for the media. – Check the Help Contents – Adding to a data disc, in Classic.