Why can't I get my 'puter to install CD-based software?

570 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by deltafowler, Sep 5, 2008

Lord Vader

Discussion Starter · Sep 4, 2008

This is frustrating, to say the least!

Every time I burn an ISO image to a CD, when I then insert the CD to install the program, it never autoruns. Then when I try to do it manually, I get a response telling me the disk is blank, even though I KNOW I just burned something to it!

Even when I click on "explore" to check the contents of the disk, it shows as blank and won't install anything. However, when I try to write to the disk just to see if it can take anything, it tells me there's not enough space (that's because the ISO I just burned IS there, but it's not being recognized).

I am totally unable to install any factory-made programs. I can't even copy them because no matter which drive I use, Windows shows the disk as totally nonexistent. This is frustrating to no end, because it happens on my PC's internal CD drive as well as my external drive.

I can use both drives to burn CDs or DVDs. I can also use both drives to run DVDs and CDs that I burn. I just can't get either drive to see a disk in the drive when I want to install a program. Right now, I'm having to take my CDs to work, copy the contents to a flash drive, then take the flash drive back home and install the program files from there.

Any ideas as to what's preventing my PC from seeing a dish in any CD drive?

This happens whether I use my internal CD/DVD drive or my external CD/DVD--in both instances there just seems to be no recognizing of anything on the CD to which I just wrote something. Interesting that I can get both CD drives to play a music CD, show data I just burned, etc. I just can't get a program I want to install to actually run and install.

Any ideas as to what the hell is causing this? Dell support's pat answer is "reformat the hard drive and reinstall Windows XP." That means wiping out 40GB of data and programs--many whose original installation disks I no longer possess.

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Stewart Vernon

· #4 · Sep 5, 2008

Have you recently uninstalled any CD/DVD burning software?

I had a problem a while back where I uninstalled a version of software to prepare to install a newer version... but doing so rendered my CD/DVD burner non-existant to Windows XP. This is a known issue and I eventually found instructions on how to go into the registry and fix things again. I forget what I searched for to find the solution or I'd tell you.

IF that is not your problem... another idea comes to mind... Are you closing the session at the end of writing? Sometimes a CD that has not been closed after a burn will not read in some drives. Although if you are using at work that makes me think this is not the problem.

Another weird problem that I haven't seen in a while... There was a particular brand (Kodak I think) of CD media many years ago that I could use to burn CDs and my program would say it was a good burn BUT the disc was completely unreadable in any drive thereafter.

I finally decided to just stop using that brand.

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