[Help] Burning disc issue

[Quietus]

I don't know whether I'm posting at the right thread here. Can any of the moderators please help move this thread if it's not? Thanks in advance.

Okay, I'm having problems with disc burning. The time taken to burn one dvd disc took me a really long time. This happened lately. I didn't alter anything. Not that I remember. Last time, the whole burning process only took me about 10-13 minutes. But now, it took me almost an hour to finish the whole process. Even erasing my DVDRW disc took me an hour plus. At first, I thought my disc was the main cause. So, I bought a couple of new discs to replace them and tried to do the process again. But, the problem still persist. Is my drive failing on me? Anyone can help me out here? I'm using NTI CD/DVD Maker Gold and sometimes I use Nero. But it took the same amount of time and annoyance when I use any one of them.

I'm a total noob here but I really wish to learn. Any kind hearted souls out there willing to tell me what the real problem is and how/what I could do to overcome it? Thanks alot, friends.

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

Do you encounter errors in your burned discs? ie writing error/data error

 

[Quietus]

Nope. No errors. That is why I never thought that there's a problem with my drive. It burns perfect but it is taking so long to complete the simple burning process. You know why? I'm worried here.

 

[blueprintstudios]

your only best shot is to get another cd/dvd burner and A/B compare.
i came across such a problem before, turned out to be hardware failure. as in, the disc still burns, slow, but has verify errors no matter what.

 

[Quietus]

Oh! Erm, is there anything for me to look out for from a new cd/dvd burner? Like there are so many brands and stuff like that. What do you recommend me getting? Does it come externally(meaning it uses usb to connect to my CPU) or only internal? I'm working on a tight budget now at the moment. Any idea how much I have to spent in order to acquire one which works externally(if there's any)? Maybe you're right, blueprintstudios. Maybe the hardware is failing on me now. It has been about..1..2..erm almost 8 years since I last bought the whole system.

May I know the pros and cons to buying an external one rather than buying an internal one. Again, if there's any. Thanks.

 

[blueprintstudios]

well, now any dvd burners will be fine. I stand with LG when it comes to dvd burners.
just remember to burn at 4X to 8X speed (even now dvd can burn at 18X) + verify on Nero. because slower speed burning is more reliable. do it once do it slowly do it nicely.

internal will be more stable, but do you know how to install it into your PC? maybe can get the simlim shop guys to do it for you for small coffee fee or somethin

 

[Cheez]

DVD-RW drives are not expensive nowadays, compared to 8 years ago.

Other thing is your RAM. I believe the files to be burned are first transferred to your RAM before being burned? Are other programs running slowly. Does you system get unstable with more crashes lately?

If not, most likely cause is still your drive.

 

[blueprintstudios]

yeap if your comp crashes or restarts unexpectedly for no reason, most likely the problem will lie with your ram.

 

[Quietus]

Ah..now that you guys have mentioned it, yes, my comp sometimes restarts by itself. You guys call it 'crash' is it? Haha. I've got no idea. But yes, my comp restarts by itself sometimes. Frustratinglah but what to do?

@blueprintstudios: When you say that "internal is more stable..", what do you mean by that? Stable and unstable; care to elaborate more? Sorry, but I don't quite get you. Please don't get angry, k? Hehe.

@Cheez: I don't know whether the other programs are running slowly or not. It's hard to check really as I'm not that observant. What I know is that when I wanna switch on the comp, it takes a longer time than a few years ago when I did the same thing. But, I haven't been annoyed yetlah. Hope this helps. Hehe. So, how do I check whether my RAM is failing? And what must I change now--the RAM or the DVD Drive?

This is going to be off topic but does anyone know how to get the whole specification of my computer? Like if there's any command to put at the RUN or whatever. What I mean here is that I wanna know what processor i have..what graphics card...what sound card..etc. Thanks.

 

[hecklerkoch]

Hi, there.

First, I'd advise you to run a virus scan on your PC.

There maybe some trojan horse viruses or malware program that is running in the background invisibly.

Secondly, use the Disk Cleanup utility to clear all the temporary internet files and the files in your Temp folder. This utility is in your System Tools folder in All Programs tab.

After all that, run the Disk Defragmenter program. As advanced as hard drives have become, one item they are not very good at is housekeeping, or maybe that should be drive keeping. When files are created, deleted, or modified it's almost a certainty they will become fragmented. Fragmented simply means the file is not stored in one place in its entirety, or what computer folks like to call a contiguous location. Different parts of the file are scattered across the hard disk in noncontiguous pieces. The more fragmented files there are on a drive, the more performance and reliability suffer as the drive heads have to search for all the pieces in different locations.

The Disk Defragmenter Utility is designed to reorganize noncontiguous files into contiguous files and optimize their placement on the hard drive for increased reliability and performance.

After you have finished running that, restart your computer.

You can also try cleaning your CDROM/DVDROM drive.

It also depend on the speed of the CDs/DVDs you have bought. There are x12 or x24 or x52 etc. Also, check your burn settings and see if you are running a slower rate.

 

[hecklerkoch]

If you are running on Vista, you can find your PC specs in System Properties when you open up Control Panel.

 

[Quietus]

Hi hecklerkoch! Thanks for the reply. I didn't alter any burn settings at all. Last time it's fast, but now it has become so slow. I also don't know why. But, I'll try whatever you've stated on your previous post. Thanks for the advice. I'll report back soon. Thanks all.

 

[Cheez]

Yes, a virus is likely.

To test your RAM, Microsoft has a free utility that lets you do that. Microsoft Online Crash Analysis

The other thing is possibly after so many years, you've installed and uninstalled many programs in your PC. Each time you do that, some part of the program is left in the system registry, even after uninstall. With lots of these, your system will start to slow down and become unstable. Although this may cause system instability, I don't think it will cause your DVD writer to slow down. Cleaning registry can be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. But a program I would recommend is RegSupreme (Registry Cleaner, Optimize Windows with our System Utilities | Macecraft Software). Download their trial version (free for a limited time) and run the registry cleaner (if you're a beginner, don't run in aggressive mode, and make sure you backup your registry when prompted by the program). They have 3 versions to download - my suggestion is RegSupreme Pro or just RegSupreme. Don't get the JVpowertools as it will confuse you if you're doing it for the first time. All the versions come with free trial version. You'll be surprised how many registry errors it will pick up - and if you haven't cleaned your registry for 8 years, you should pick up thousands of errors.

And do give us your system specs.

 

[Quietus]

System:

Microsoft Windows XP
Home Edition
Version 2002

Acer Incorporated intel(R)
Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz
2.99GHz, 512 MB of RAM

Manufactured by: ACER

There you go. I've listed what I see here at my screen when I open the System icon via the Control Panel. I guess its not almost 8 years but its almost 6/7 years. Pardon my ignorance. Couldn't recall properly when my parents actually bought it. Hehe.

Well, to be frank, I've actually been using ad-aware and avg to scan viruses for quite some time already. I use CCleaner and Registry Mechanic to clean "some" stuff. Haha. I don't know what they actually clean but I know its good. For the defrag thing, I have Disktrix UltimateDefrag installed. Hmm, guess I will try them all out tonight.

Just an update, I've just run my PC using the ad-aware and avg. It detects a trojan virus. It was a crack file. You know what I mean, right. So, no problems with that ah. I'm looking to defrag my pc tonight. Heard it'll take about 6 hours or so. That is why I've never thought of defrag-ing my comp. At least not until now. Thanks alot, guys.

 

[hecklerkoch]

So, if the problem is solved - I'll meet you at Starbucks for my Mocha Frappe eh? Large one can?

Thanks!

Hahahahahaha!!!!

:mrgreen:

 

[Gr3yF0x]

sometimes is just that the burner is wearing out. cause the laser gets weaker and weaker after using it alot.

 

[Quietus]

Hi, I've just completed my burning a few of my files into a disc and here's the log. I'm using NTI CD/DVD Maker Gold. Maybe, just maybe, it is of some help.

========== BEGIN OF LOG ==========

NTI CD & DVD Maker 6.0 6.7.0.29 (SKU-22610238888)
Start Time: Tuesday, March 11, 2008, 11:03:49PM

Processor Architecture: INTEL
Processor Type: INTEL PENTIUM
Processor Level: 15
Microsoft Windows XP version 5.1 Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
Memory in use: 67%
Total physical memory: 523 MB
Total free physical memory: 172 MB
Total paging file: 1280 MB
Total free paging file: 914 MB
Total virtual memory: 2097 MB
Total free virtual memory: 1994 MB

CD Layout: Data DVD
Disc Format: DVD-ROM
File System: Romeo
Bootable CD: No
Total Data Blocks: 2083813

CD-Recorder: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4163B (D
Firmware Version: A102
Disc Media: DVD+RW
Free Disc Blocks: 2295104
Test: No
Write Speed: 4x
Write Method: Track-At-Once
Close Disc: Yes
Leave Session Open: No

Finish Time: Tuesday, March 11, 2008, 11:37:25PM

========== END OF LOG ==========

@Gr3yF0x: Yeah, what you've said might be true. After all these years..it has served me well.

@hecklerkoch: Haha! Not working equals no income, bro. Still a student ah. Hehe. Sorry! But thanks for the help though.

Okay. Will start to defrag my comp now. Oh! I almost forgot my C Drive was converted to NTFS by Uncle. I also don't know what he converted it from. Again, if this is any help. Burning took 35mins just now(check out the log above). Before this, I actually erased my DVD+RW before burning and it took me close to 20mins. Damn long heh? Hmm..

 

[blueprintstudios]

ok quietus. i'll go straight to the point here -

1) your cpu / ram is fine for dvd burning. i got lousier computers burning with no problems

2) if your comp is really 6/7 years old (still old anyway) , and the last time you reinstalled windows was when you got it, it's time to reinstall. whether or not it's the cause of the problem cos i'm assuming your windows is lagging like hell by now.

3) try downloading an updated version of nero . in case your NTI or Nero is outdated.

4) before burning dvd, close ALL running softwares like antivirus etc , no mp3 everything. see if it's any better.

5) check see if your ram is screwed @ http://hcidesign.com/memtest/ if your comp doesn't restart by itself then your ram should be fine.

6) a dvd writer is around $40 now. even if you're not working, selling a few somethings of your possession @ 2nd hand price or saving pocket money for a few weeks should cover.

7) i assume you're using LG (cos I saw the GSA model number) , try updating the firmware (you have to be careful and read carefully on how to do so.)

8) NTFS / FAT32 doesn't really matter. although I prefer NTFS. it's more stable.

9) DVDRW has slower writing/reading speeds I think, 2X only. so the 20 mins can be "normal". but if i'm not wrong, to write 4X and verify. it takes about 25-30 mins. I think la.

 

[gutturalpiss]

Firstly, this is - in NO way - VIRUS-related. There are not enough viruses that "slow down" writing speed of an optical drive. Even if there were, you'd notice few more bizzare behaviours than just this slowness alone.

Not every decrease in performance of a computer is virus-related. In fact, 95% of performance hit is related to fragmentation of the partitions in a hard disk, use of swap/virtual memory and/or decrease of available physical memory, improperly-terminated processes (they are thought to be dead, but are still requesting priority), decrease of storage space (so temp files have to wait for older ones to be cleared), multi-tasking beyond the system's capability.

Now for writing a disc, only two devices are involved - Hard Disk and Optical Disc drives. First, the data to write is cached (meaning stored in a temp location for writing; this can be overriden but is the default for most cd burners). Then, the data is transferred over to the optical drive to write to the media. All other hardware have no relation whatsoever to this process, even the CPU has insignificant participation here.

Well, it looks like your writer is failing. Send it for some inspection if there's still warranty left. But before that, we need to troubleshoot. Troubleshooting PCs involves testing scenarios in different environments, and you're going to do just that. Grab Wubi - The Easiest Way to Linux and install the OS. Reboot into that, use either K3B or GnomeBaker or whatever is available under Applications as "CD Burner" or something like that - hard to miss. Start burning.

If things go fine, then something is wrong in Windows. Not a virus, as far as I can tell, but may just be another random process that's preventing data to be transferred as they should. If things are the same, then time to get an LG-GSA-H10N. I probably got that wrong but whatever it is, it's 46 bucking bucks. Oh wait, what if things remain sad? Time to get a WD Caviar 320GB. So on so forth.