[FireLily]

hello. let's see if i can get this out right.

i have a dell inspiron 8600 witha dvd+-rw/cdrw combo. i've had it i think about a year.

i was watching a vd on the player, and it accidently fell over. it immediately started skipping and not paying properly. i restarted and such, but still have problems. when i load disks, i can view the files on the disc i insert, but i cannot copy the files to my harddrives. it either freezes up totally (until i eject the disc), or gives me crc errors (after trying to copy for a couple mins).

i ended up purchasing an external harddrive for my temporary storage needs. i was hoping i could copy the discs to my mothers computer (shes has a cdrw drive), then onto my external drive and use from there.

but, from my when i enter the disk into her computer, it wont read any of the dvds. it reads any of my cds, ut non of my dvdr disks.

i'm at a loss for what to do next. return to dell is not an option right now. so if anyone has any insight, it'd be greatly appreciated.

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Well, a CD-R/RW drive won't read / write DVDs. I don't think your internal HD is problematic, given that you didn't mention if it was showing any other problems unrelated to copying files from the CD/DVD drive. If you want the easiest option, you can replace the CD/DVD drive (though if you're not knowledgeable about the innards of your laptop, it would be rather expensive to have someone do it for you).

[Seven!]

Well, a CD-R/RW drive won't read / write DVDs. I don't think your internal HD is problematic, given that you didn't mention if it was showing any other problems unrelated to copying files from the CD/DVD drive. If you want the easiest option, you can replace the CD/DVD drive (though if you're not knowledgeable about the innards of your laptop, it would be rather expensive to have someone do it for you).

[FireLily]

it wont play regular dvds either? i thought i got her a dvd player, but maybe i just got her the burner. i'll have to check that. i didnt even think about it. unfortunately, i can't afford the cost of a new drive presently, and i'm home-bound, so no other computer access. figures. *ponders*

[Seven!]

You have an external HD, so hook that up to your PC (the one that you're having issues with), and see if you can copy the files onto the external HD.

[FireLily]

i cant copy the files off the dvdrs at all. thats my whole trouble. it either freezes or gives me crc errors. hard drives are fine, just my poor injured dvdrw drive has the issues. i've done numerous home repairs on my dell laptops over the years, but i've not yet encountered this trouble

[Seven!]

Can you open the files up from the DVD drive? And can you burn?

Edited by Seven!, 01 January 2006 - 02:22 AM.

[FireLily]

i can view the files on the disc, that's it. i cant open them, can't "copy" them to paste, and cant copy to another disc. i pretty much have a "look not touch" situation there.

when i try to burn, it says it's burning, and goes through all the processes, but when i try to view the files afterwards, it says there arent any on there. so its like it's burning, but burning empty, if that makes any sense. (i've tried burning dvds and simple cds)

Edited by FireLily, 01 January 2006 - 02:27 AM.

[Saynt Cinn]

maybe reseating the drive would help or uninstalling and reinstalling the driver......idea anyway