Hi everyone. My new AnyDVD and Clone DVD 2 programs (had them 2 weeks) were working like a charm until about 5 days ago. Before that I copied many movies without any problem. Typically, I use the middle button (CloneDVD), have the default settings on AnyDVD. I'm running Windows XP. My DVD burner is Pioneer, the one that came with my Sony laptop. Since last week all the movies I have tried to copy have come out blank.

The "creating DVD files" process and the "Writing" process appear to be happening normally. The program signals me when the files are created and then again when the writing process is complete. It always says that the writing process was successful, but the DVD apparently has nothing on it. I have tried to play these recordables in both the computer player and on a freestanding player that I have watched other recordables on. Both players act like there isn't even a DVD in the tray. I'm new even for a newbie, so I'm looking for some suggestions just on how to investigate this problem. I figure that it probably can be one of many different problems or maybe a combination of problems. But I'm also hoping that this sudden breakdown of the copying process sounds familiar to somebody. Anyway, all suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.

Klatu,

Welcome to the forum.

From your description it does not appear to be a software problem since it worked before, continues to go through the motions of a successful burn, but nothing on the DVD.

Will the Pioneer play a store bought DVD?


Unless you’ve made significant changes to your computer from the time they first burned until the problem appeared, my initial thoughts would be your Pioneer burners laser may be the cause.

Inspect the disk you burned on the burn side and their should be a distinctive coloration difference on the burnt side. You should see a small darker circle on the inner hub as well as a dark circle on the outer edge.

The width of the outer one will vary depending on the movies length. The dark coloration shows the area that was not burned.

If your defective disks do not show any coloration changes then it's safe to assume the laser did not burn the files.



Some burners have two lasers, one for CD's, the other for DVD's. Try burning a CD and see if you get a successful burn.



One final thought, it is remotely possible you have a batch of defective DVD's, try a different type, either borrow one or buy a small quantity of quality media such as Tayio Yuden, Verbatim or Maxell.



Please describe the media you were using by checking in either DVDInfoPro or Nero's CD Speed. You can download the free programs here:

CDSpeed - http://www.cdspeed2000.com/

Free DVD InfoPro - http://www.dvd-recordable.org/wwwimgs/media/flash/dvdinfopro/dvdinfoadvertzip.htm



Click Disc Info tab in CDSped and look at MID for the manufacturer

Click on the media button in DVDInfoPro and look at Media Code/Manufacturers ID



These are handy tools to identify what media you actually have, and if it’s quality or not.

Will check out your suggestions and get back. Thanks for the help. -Klatu

itzbinnice, that was a great post, really I think that was so helpful and polite. Have a brownie point or 10.

Itsbinnice: Yes thanks again for the thoughtful and detailed suggestions. I have gone through them now and unfortunately am still not able to copy. Here's what I've done so far: I checked the DVD player first. It will play store-bought DVDs and it will burn CDs. I looked at the DVDs that I "burned" which will not play and they do show the inner dark ring as well as the outer dark ring of varying widths. I also downloaded DVDInfoPro which indicated: "DVD seems to be blank" on 5 recordable DVDs that do not play. I tried burning a movie onto a quality DVD (i.e. Maxell), a different lot of DVDs then what I had been using. The result was the same: the program proceeded normally and announced a successful outcome and did not play, and was measured to be "blank" by DVDInfoPro. It shows the inner and outer rings just like the others.

So, at this point, I'm back to thinking about the software again as the problem. I have tried re-installing AnyDVD and CloneDVD2 and then tried burning a movie (default settings on AnyDVD and using the "CloneDVD" button) using a quality DVD. Results were identical to those described above. I should mention here that I have had these same results consistently now with the last 10 or 15 movies I have tried to copy.

I thinking I may try a different program but hate to do so, having paid for AnyDVD and CloneDVD2 so recently. At any rate, if you or anyone else have further suggestions, I'd be very eager to hear them. If not, thanks for trying. Klatu

klatu,
I'm really sorry to hear that the suggestions I offered did not help.
I still am confident that it's not the fault of AnyDVD and CloneDVD, however, it would be wise to try alternate burning software to verify the software is not at fault.

This still does not rule out that you have a defective DVD burning laser, there are two layers to a DVD, maybe it's just burning to the outer one, thus the color discoloration.

You can also try buying a 3 pack of DVD R/W as to not lose any more disks until you sort this out.

Another point, make sure you don't have Intel Application Accelerator installed, if you do uninstall it and give that a go. The Ide drivers should be Windows native.

I don't know if there is still a warranty on your Sony laptop, but if you don't get it corrected soon I would consider getting warranty work done.

I am not familiar with the Pioneer drive or Sony Laptop you have, you can try to post in the CD Freaks Pioneer forum and perhaps somebody can offer you more suggestions.
Here is the Link
http://club.cdfreaks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=87

Maybe somebody else can jump in here and suggest something I may have overlooked.

@ klatu,

I echo Forum Member itzbinnice comment that it is highly unlikely that your current problem is caused by the AnyDVD- CloneDVD software programs.

As requested by Forum Member itzbinnice using one of the untility software programs referenced in Forum Member itzbinnice posting provide the Manufacture ID and Media Code (Example: RitekG05) of the blank DVD Media you are using.

Also could you provide the Manufacture Name, Model Number, and Firmware version of your DVD Burner? To acquire this information use one of the untility software programs referenced in Forum Member itzbinnice posting.

Also purchase did you install any software programs since the last time you were able to successfully make a backup copy of a DVD using AnyDVD-CloneDVD?

Best Regards,
bjkg

I have had a similar problem.
From one day to another it just was impossible for me to copy movies and I had not installed anything new on the computer or done anything else that could explain it.

I use XP Pro and did get a tip to use a program: Advanced System Optimizer: http://www.systweak.com/ to get rid of junk and problems in Windows registry.

After that my copying has ran as before.

Sorry for my maltreatment of the english language, but I do hope that my tip is comprehensibly.

Good luck!

Knisse

Knisse,
Please share with the forum exactly what problems you were having burning DVD's and what software you were were using since you are posting on the AnyDVD forum. Kindly provide version #'s of the copying software you had problems with.

Since by your own admission "Sorry for my maltreatment of the english language", the software tip you promote is in India, and your failure to provide specific information about the software and problem, it leads me to believe that your intentions are less then honorable.

Please prove me wrong and I'll gladly apologize.

Ok, I'm sorry if I was a bit short on information.

My problems had effect on AnyDVD and CloneDVD, DVDShrink and DVDDecrypter, no mather what I did.

It was a couple of months ago, so I'm not sure of the software's versionnumber.

Anyhow, for me it was obviously something i the registry to blame, since a "cleaning and fixing" of it helpt.

Well, I will leave this forum.

With that explanation no apology offered.

itzbinnice: I haven't had chance to post recently. But just to let you know, I'm still having no success copying. I will be taking my laptop--which is only 6 months old--in for a checkup while it's still under warranty. Need to find out once and for all whether I have defective DVD burner. Will post the results. Thanks. --Klatu

@ klatu,

From the description you have provide of your problem your problem could be cause by the use of poor quality DVD media.

Both Forum Member itzbinnice and I have asked you to provide the MID (Manufacture ID and Media Code) of the DVD media you are using to make your DVD back up copies. In Forum Member itzbinnice posting #2 in this thread he provided download links to software that will provide the MID (Manufacture ID and Media Code) of your DVD media.

Suggest when you have your laptop checked that you see about having the firmware of your DVD Burner checked to see if there is a newer up to date firmware available and if so have it installed.

Best Regards,
bjkg

Have you by chance tried to copy a dvd that you know you were able to copy before? If so, what were the results?

This sounds more like a hardware/firmware problem than a software problem to me.

Will your burner write a data dvd? Might have a bad lazer. Some burners have seperate lazers for cd and dvd, not sure if your model does or not tho. But if it is working it should write a data dvd fine, if not I would suspect the integrity of the drive itself.

bjkg: Once the burning process broke down, I tried another brand of DVD but had no success. The first brand I was using, according to DVDInfoPro shows a MID and Media Code of "Prodisc R03", and the other showed a MID and Media Code of "Maxell 002". I bought the second one on the advice of itzbinnice who suggested trying higher quality. Didn't help, though, unfortunately. Will check out the firmware of the DVD burner when it is inspected. Thanks. --Klatu

Klatu ... I echo your problem. I have a sony laptop with a toshiba sd-r6012 dvd drive. I have been burning without any problems using AnyDVD 5.4.4.1 and 1clickDVD. I upgraded to the latest version of AnyDVD and can't copy anything. Oh, my programs go through the motion of burning without any error codes ... but when the process is complete I have a disc that appears (at least to my cpu and dvd players) to be blank. My burner will burn regular CDs and it plays the DVDs when I place them into the drive. I haven't changed anything except the AnyDVD upgrade. I'm using the same media before/after upgrade. I've even tried the clonedvd2 and AnyDVD combo with the same result. I don't know what to do next ... I'll keep checking this thread and others for any answer.