Won't Read CD I copied picture files to

[davek52]

I download and copied photos from the web and then burn them to a CD. As the CD nears capacity, my laptop, my desktop (both Gateways with Windows XP) are no longer able to read the CD. Took the CD to work (Dell Desktop with Windows XP) same results.

Could I somehow be overloading the discs?? Is there anyway to retreive the data??

[confus-ed]

Hi davek52 welcome to WD forums.

First question is what are you using to burn with & 'how' ? ('how' here means - can you describe exactly what you do ? - I want to know if you are doing a thing called 'packet writing' {where you can use a cd apparently like a HD})

Its important to realise that CDFS (the file system used by CDs) is quite different from that used elsewhere & has ideas in it about 'sessions & tracks' & it also has an idea called 'finalisation', without which all cd's can become unreadable... I think when you answer the first bit we won't be so far away from being able to make you cd's readable again, though there may be some loss of info (we need enough space left on each cd to finalise it & close any open track sessions{which would appear to be your issue}) but hopefully not completely

[Platypus]

Davek52, you don't have an option to allow overburning set in your writing software do you? Some CDs don't cope well with an overburn.

[davek52]

I just right-click or click on the icon in the pop-up that appears in the upper left portion on the picture to be copied. When it asks me where I want to copy the file to, I specify the D Drive (my CD drive). I usually wait until I have a large number of files (usually jpeg's) before I respond to the Windows Prompt "You have files to be copied ..." which appears in the lower right of my screen.
I then follow the instructions in the window that appears. I click on the line "Copy these files to a CD". And then follow the instructions that appear in the follow-up screens. When the files have been copies the CD tray usually pops open.

Is this enough info??

I appreciate the help.

[confus-ed]

Ahh I see said the blind man ! .. so you are using the built in CD burning service ? (sorry should have sussed that ! .. but I just turn it off 'automatically' & tell folks to get themselves something 'decent' ! )

So a kb for you .. How to troubleshoot issues that occur when you write data to a CD-R or CD-RW Optical Disc in Windows XP

Inconsistent Recording of Files to the Disc

You may experience intermittent problems when you copy files or folders to a CD-R or a CD-RW when you use a CD recorder. These problems may be caused by any one of the following issues:
• There is not enough disk space on the hard disk to create temporary files.
• There are issues with the type of optical disc media that you are using.
• There are issues with the recording capabilities of the CD drive.
To resolve these problems, use any of the following methods:
• Use different disc media.
• Change the write speed for the device.
• Clean the disc.
• Move the temporary file storage location

Running disk cleanup can help with this, as can mannually emptying the temporary storage area completely (which also clears out any files which might be corrupted) & that should live in:-

Drive_letter:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\CD Burning

(but its hidden ! so start explorer, tools, options, view tab, under hidden files & folders check 'show hidden files & folders' )

You must also have sufficient free space double that of what you want to record ! (why the hell M$ doesn't tell you this 'right' I dunno !) as what happens once the files go into this temporary storage area, is that it then gets written to a file called "CD burning stash file.bin" (that usually lives in your root directory, so C:\), & then that finally gets written from that image to a cd.

See how you get on with all of that & report back, if you please - if that at least gets new disk burning 'going good', we can maybe try someother burning software which can display tracks & such & see if we can make your already done disks readable (but don't hold your breath methinks )