2 of my CD-RW's have gone bad. Why? 2

[sazebac]

Over the last 3 or 4 years I've gone through 2 internal CD-RW's. The first was a Memorex which got sent back and was fixed twice only to quit burning a 3rd time once the warranty ran out. I then got an HP which is actaully a TEAC and now that one will no longer burn. They both will read a disk although the Memorex sometimes will have problems reading. What was happening was that I would burn a music cd, no errors, no problem, but the cd would not play in any cd player (including computer).

The CD-Rom in my Thinkpad often is not able to read properly. THis is the 3rd drive that I've owned that has gone bad in some way.

All I can think of is that the drives malfunction because of dust. My room is dustier than most because the vent is overhead.
I have now ordered my 3rd burner in less than 4 years and crossing my fingers that this one will function for longer than a year and a half. This one is an external and I will keep it stored in a closet that cannot get dusty and see if maybe this will make a difference. 2 of my friends have externals that have worked well for them.
Are these things just poorly made or could the dust in my room be getting inside and screwing up the laser? I've done enough troubleshooting to know the problem is in the drives themselves. Anyoe else had burners go bad on them?

 

[bcastner]

1. Try a cleaning kit. They remove the dust from the lenses.

2. On the desktop try if you can to move the drive so that it is not a drive sandwich with other hot drive devices.

3. Use permanent markers, or put labels on disks prior to burning them. Use real CD labels, and use a press-fit kit to apply them.

 

[cdogg]

In addition to a laser cleaning kit for heavy duty work, sometimes it doesn't hurt to use a can of compressed air for a quick clean. Just do a couple quick bursts into the drive.

It would also be a handy thing to have in a dusty environment.

Also, when making an audio cd, make sure you always close the session before you try to play it in another drive. Change the type of media you're using if you're still having problems, or try slower burn speeds.




~cdogg

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein

 

[sazebac]

I'll look for a cleaning kit and a can of compressed air.
I was definitly closing the sessions and using good media as I was able to burn fine with same media on someone else's burner. Thanks.

 

[cdogg]

The definition of good media doesn't necessarily mean that it has to work on some burner. The truth is that some media works better on certain burners and worse on others. Unless the other burner was the same make/model and you were using the same software, there's no guarantee that you ruled anything out about it being bad for your burner.

~cdogg

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein