CD becomes "read-only"

[edgavin42]

My 2002 Gateway came with Roxio's Easy CD Creator 5 installed. Early on I learned that  putting pictures onto a CD was a fairly complicated procedure, a fact that seemed counter-intuitive. Through trial and error I discovered that CD's needed to be formatted before I could transfer any photos to them. Roxio supplied a thing called Direct CD Utility; I used CD-R disks, formatted them on this utility, and then was able to transfer my family photos to the CD. Success. If I just inserted a brand new CD-R into the tray, and clicked on the CD drive under "My Computer," I'd get a message like "incorrect function" and "inaccessible." So I kept using the Direct CD utility to format every new CD. Lately, however, certain anomalies occur. The most discouraging one is that if I'm transferring a number of folders of photos from My Pictures to the CD, at a certain point, the CD changes to a read-only CD. On the DIrect CD Utility, there's an option to "make writable," but it is never highlighted, so I cannot click on it with any success. For several years I've been saving my photos to these CD-R disks, I've been able to add to them, to delete files from them - in short, things some people have said one isn't supposed to be able to do with CD-R disks. Now the really screwy thing is that when one of these CD's has turned into a read-only CD, and I eject it, the message in the little window indicates that  the CD is readable/writable. I have uninstalled Roxio Easy CD Creator 5 and reinstalled it, but that has not made the process go back to the way I've used it for five years. I've seen a site called DriversUpdate.org, but I'm not confident about downloading anything unless I get some good advice first. I recently tried using CD-RW disks, but the same thing happens: what starts out as a writable disk becomes read only while I'm transferring photos to it.
Any possible suggestions short of voodoo would be welcomed.

[smeezekitty]

i am not clear on what you saying but are you sure you not finalizing the disk(?)

[hot dog]

You may have an option selected (somewhere) that finalizes the disk after the recording session is complete....   Some burning software, like CDburnerXP, allows you to select before hand, whether you want to finalize the disk or keep it open (meaning that you can write to it in the future).  This might be the case with your  burning software...Thus, if you select "finalize" OR, "close session", per se,  it will close the session, officially making it a "read-only" disk. 


With respect to the CD-RW discs, try doing a full erase on them, before writing to them all over again...   CDburnerXP does this job well..   If you are using a "mastered" traditional format when you first write to them, (not the drag and drop method), you won't be able to write to them until you erase them first...

You could try reinstalling the driver for your Optical drive as well...   START>right click my computer>properties>hardware tab>device manager

Next to where is says, "DVD/CD rom drives", click on the "+" sign next to it and then right-click on the item in the submenu, then click "uninstall" then restart and try burning again seeing if there's any difference...

If all else fails, you could try a firmware update, but I doubt that's the current problem.

You may find some luck here as well..

http://club.cdfreaks.com/

[Sesko]

Uninstall all that garbage you have and just insert the disk normally.

For picture disks you shouldn't have to do much other then let window detect and ask what it is you want to do with the disk.

Should look like this..

[Allan]

Uninstall all that garbage you have and just insert the disk normally.

For picture disks you shouldn't have to do much other then let window detect and ask what it is you want to do with the disk.

Roxio Easy CD Creator is anything but garbage. You need to be a little more careful with both your characterizations and your recommendations.

[Sesko]

Roxio Easy CD Creator is anything but garbage. You need to be a little more careful with both your characterizations and your recommendations.

This is a forum, people post their opinions on forums it's just how it goes.

http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=forum

[Salmon Trout]

Lately, however, certain anomalies occur.

I bet the OP has changed brands recently and/or got a bad batch of disks. Packet writing apps switch a disk to read only when it becomes full, or when a certain number of write errors occur.

[edgavin42]

Thanks for your ideas and suggestions; let me try to clarify what I may have left unsaid in the original post. I'm certain that I'm not finalizing the disk. While I've read many entries on various sites mentioning finalizing CD's I have never been presented with the option to finalize. I understand what it means; the option simply never appeared on my computer screen. On all of  the photo CD's I made, I was able to add and delete files as I saw fit; in all that time never once did the option of finalizing appear. What may have been unclear in my original post was that while I'm in the process of transferring photos from My Pictures or my camera's memory card to the CD, the CD changes its identity, if you will, from a writable to a read-only CD; this happens long before the CD has reached its capacity. Could a virus or some other glitch in the computer cause a "finalize" to occur on its own?

For several years I used Maxell CD-R's and Fujifilm CD-R's; when this problem began I tried HP-RW, and they seemed to work okay, but now they don't. I've even used Imation in the past and had no problem with them.

A couple of days ago I did go to the Device Manager and did an uninstall-reinstall of the driver, but the problem persists.

I also uninstalled and reinstalled Easy CD Creator 5, three days ago, and I just recalled that in the beginning of the reinstallation a message came up to say that the program and Microsoft Windows were incompatible; yet the installation proceeded in what seemed to be a normal fashion. That seemed odd to me insofar as Easy CD 5 was already installed when I bought the computer (with Windows XP) in 2002. Could the Windows updates, which arrive automatically, somehow make Easy CD creator 5 and Windows incompatible in some way?

Please bear with me. The following description might allow you some further insight.
I place a new CD in the tray, click "My Computer," left-click on "CD Drive(D)", receive this error message: "D:\ is not accessible. Incorrect function." No Windows panel opens to ask me what I would like to do with the CD. I right-click on CD Drive(D) and in the panel that appears I click on "Format." A panel entitled Direct CD 5.10(121)(Drive D) appears; in it is the message "Formatting CD." After a minute or two, appears the message "Verifying file system just written," and then very quickly appears a new panel entitled "Error: Read data." In that panel is "Illegal request. Drive reported an error with a command it received, please. You will not be able to read and write to the CD through drive letter access."

I know I've been long-winded here, but I'm guessing that the more details you know , the more you might be able to offer me. Thanks again for your responses and for your patience.

[Salmon Trout]

edgavin, you have made things very clear. Thank you. You confirmed one thing to me. You are using packet writing to get the data on these CDs. I mentioned this before. Maybe I'll write it in capital letters so that other posters (not you) understand this. PACKET WRITING. That is not the same as "burning" a disk. Comments about "finalizing", "sessions" etc, do not apply. Great. Now we have cleared that out of the way.

Briefly, there are two common ways to get data onto a CD or DVD disk.

(1) Using a "burning" application (software program) such as Roxio Easy CD Creator, Nero Burning ROM, etc. With this setup, the data is transferred onto the disk in blocks called "sessions". You start off with a blank disk. You start up your burning app, tell it what files and folders you want to burn. Then you write the data to the disk in a "session". This may be a whole disk's worth of data, or less. If you finalize the disk, that's it. No more. You have a "single session" disk. If the session is smaller than the disk capacity, you have the choice of leaving the disk "open" so that one or more sessions can be added. This makes a "multi-session" disk. When you try to add a session that is bigger than the remaining capacity on the disk, the burning app will refuse and you then have to finalize or "close" the disk. Note that at ALL times during this process, the files that appear on the disk are read-only. They start that way and remain so, and are never otherwise. Even with an RW disk. To make an audio CD or video DVD you have to burn it. Disadvantages: perceived as cumbersome and complex by some computer users. Advantages: robust, easier to tailor the disk how you want it.

(2) Drive letter access. You can create, delete, copy, move, drag and drop files using Windows Explorer. This uses a technique called packet writing. After formatting the optical media it is then possible to write data in small packets, hence the name “packet writing.” The optical drive unit has to support the ability to write in small units, which all modern CD and DVD recording drives do. This way it is possible to save files onto optical media, as well as change, rename or delete them, or copy files separately onto the media. It is built into some versions of Windows where it is called Drive Letter Access ("DLA"). Also there are competing apps such as Nero InCD, and Roxio Drag-to-Disc (formerly Adaptec DirectCD). Files are read/write until an error occurs, at which time the app marks all files on the disk as read-only to protect your data. This is a simplified account, so please, no flames.

A handy page of information about DLA is here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_Letter_Access

Many people have problems with DLA. These can be caused by bad disks, deteriorating drives, and software conflicts. You have been lucky for a while, it seems, but now you are having problems. I honestly think your best bet is to enrol in and post on a specialist forum such as CDFReaks. For example see here http://club.cdfreaks.com/f34/data-formatted-dvd-rw-becomes-read-only-143021/

[hot dog]

Maybe I'll write it in capital letters so that other posters (not you) understand this. PACKET WRITING.

thank you, after all, we are on a forum that supports computer learning 

I honestly think your best bet is to enrol in and post on a specialist forum such as CDFReaks.

What was I thinking.... A website dedicated to optical drive support?  How could one possibly find answers to cd/dvd drive problems on a sight like that....

[Salmon Trout]

Maybe I'll write it in capital letters so that other posters (not you) understand this. PACKET WRITING.

I meant by "not you" that edgavin is not the person who is getting burning and packet writing confused, but some of the others posting "advice".

[hot dog]

I'm aware that you were not referring to the OP

[edgavin42]

To Salmon Trout: Thank you so much for your clear differentiation of the methods of putting information onto CD's; I had never heard of or read of packet writing until you brought it up in your first response to my original post. The term "drive letter access" now has some meaning for me. This forum has helped me a great deal on several occasions, and while personalities naturally do emerge from postings here, the spirit of learning from one another is clearly paramount. My greatest respect goes to the people who share their knowledge and experience. I will take your advice and enroll on the site you mention, and will return here with what I learn. Thanks again to you and to the others who have contributed.   Ed