Sorry if this not the right thread but it looked like the less worst.

I have a problem with a CD burner just bought. ( 1 month old)
It is a BENQ CD-RW CRW5224P and the burning program is Nero Express 5.5.9.15 bundle.
O.S. W98SE, PIII 550 MHz with 128 M RAM and 16 M video board, CD burner installed as master on second IDE cable ( slave is the DVD player )
Until now I burned only normal CD and everything was fine, no problems, even with CD not marked.
Today I tried to burn a CD-R, but no way to do it.
I.E. If I burn a file 14 M long inside Nero express everything is fine, even the verify at the end is OK, if I check the CD it tells that the file is existing, session open, space used 14 M.
But if I try with from explorer or computer resources the CD looks empty, 648 M available ( on a second PC the same CD is shown as 0 bit free ).
Of course if I reboot the PC everything is the same.
I have then tried the same with different CD brands, but no way to burn !!!
Can someone explain why this happens ? And of course give some suggestions ?

Thanks in advance

Mandi

Hi anubi, and welcome to the forums at http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif.

Sounds like you may not have finalized the burn. There's a check box for that on the last tab of the burn dialog box.

Yeah, It sounds like Nero isn't closing the session. The only problem with clicking finalizing the CD is that you won't be able to burn any more data onto that disc.

Nero should close the session automatically regardless of the finalize CD option. I actually don't know how to get Nero to burn a CD without closing the session. :eek:

Yeah, I left it open to have the possibility to add some more files.
I use the same procedure on the normal CD and everything is OK, I don't understand why only in the rewritable ones exist this problem.
A rumor from a friend of mine ( but I don't belive a lot ) says that this type of burner works only with the Waitec CD's.
Could this be possible ?

Thanks

Mandi

You could format the CDRW for packet writing with InCD and then use it as if it were a large floppy disk.

Your burner should be able to burn any good name brand CD-RWs

Are you reading the CD-RWs with a different CD-ROM or the same CD-RW drive that burned them? Some older CD-ROMs have trouble reading CD-RWs.

Since you are using CD-RWs, try finalizing the CD to see if that helps at all. Then just erase it if it doesn’t work and yell at me for sending you back to square one.

The software bundle with your drive was Nero Express ? Not the full OEM program with InCD included?

The fact that CD-rs work fine but CD-rws can't be read suggests to me that you need ASPI drivers.

Try downloading and installing these drivers (http://www.nero.com/en/631940833532474.html).


Did you have a previous CD burning software installed and uninstalled it? If so, you may need to replace the WINASPI.dll file in C:\Windows\System\WNASPI32.DLL

The software bundle with your drive was Nero Express ? Not the full OEM program with InCD included?
Nero Express is commonly bundled with new CD burners; those versions include InCD. ;)

Thanks for your help and the time used for the reply.
Before I had another CD burner with Nero 4.0.91 and everything was fine, no problem at all with both type of CD'S.
Now I installed the new burner with nero express because it was sold with the burner and I cannot have any "strange " SW on the PC being Company's PC.
I didn't try to finalize it yet because just arrived home from work and seen now the reply.
But why before I had no problem ? ( the old burner was a 2X and it ended its life " burned " ).
I tried to burn different CD from different companies, but always the same problem.
The reading is made both with the same burner and with other payers, but inside nero I can see the session open and the space occupied, instead with explorer no way to see anything.
Thanks again for your help.

Mandi

Ok, that supports the theory that Nero isn't closing the session. I still don't know why it wouldn't be, though. I haven't found any options to leave the session open. I have Nero 5 (or 5.5) non-express version, and have never used the express version. Does anyone know how much different they are from eachother?

Express is pretty similar to just using the wizard in non-express (only a lot more pretty pictures...it's very red and white). not very customizable, no fancy menu options, rather limited, but gets the job done. point and click operation, and maybe 4 clicks (plus selecting files) to burning. it's good, if you're just looking to do casual burning. I couldn't stand the express that came with my pioneer a06 dvd burner though. had to go back to an old copy of Nero 5.5. honestly, I couldn't even get it to burn a DVD, only CDs. could be I just missed a drop menu in the highly graphical box...oh well, too lazy to look up the documentation, so an uninstall and reinstall for me...

Orion