Roxio DVD Burning Software = Crap

I’m posting this as a reminder to myself in case I ever come across this problem again. And who knows, it might help some of you out there, too.

This evening I attempted to burn a backup image of my new notebook computer, so I could easily restore it to a “clean” state with essential software already installed. Unfortunately, the darn thing kept refusing to burn my DVDs. Error messages chided me that “This recorder does not support this type of disc! Type of media required: DVD-R.” I was using a DVD+R disc, which is usually more universally compatible than a -R. In fact, I didn’t even have any -R discs. I was almost resigned to calling Dell support and going through that hell, but decided to exhaust all of my own troubleshooting possibilities first.

The Nero InfoTool’s analysis confirmed that the drive was indeed capable of recording on +R formats. So what the bollocks was going on? Well, to make a long story short, the Dell-installed Roxio CD/DVD burning software was to blame. Particularly, I think the DLA program — Roxio’s packet writing software which lets you treat your blank DVD as a drive letter you can simply drag files onto — somehow corrupts the drive’s ability to burn on +R media. What a bunch of garbage!

I uninstalled all of the Roxio crap (of which there were an astounding six entries in my Add/Remove Programs list), and now all is well. Stupid sods.

2 Comments

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  Chief Oddball June 22, 2006 at 6:05 pm

  Good old CDRWin. I usually use Nero myself, but that Roxio stuff…ugh. I knew I would never use it, but I thought I’d at least let it continue to exist on my hard drive. Even that, though, was asking too much.

  Reply
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  Reaper June 22, 2006 at 5:55 pm

  This is why I stick to CDRWin

  Reply