DVD Burner Acting Strange

[bosscheech]

Hey All, I'm having an issue w/ my DVD burner. I started as usual, the disc read fine. After it called for a blank disc, I inserted one. All went as normal for about 20 seconds, then I got an error message. It said to either clean the disc, add a new disc, or burn at a slower speed. I was using brand new discs, and burning @ 4X. If I burn at the minimum speed, I'm looking at almost 30 mins. per disc. Don't wanna do this.

I restarted my PC, and the first trial worked fine. Then the same thing happened on the subsequent trial.

I also tried w/ ImgBurn, got an error message there, too.

Not sure what's wrong, beacause sometimes it will work fine, and other times this. Is it possible the drive itself is dirty, is there a way to fix this, etc.? Any help is appreciated. Thanks so much.

[Five]

how old is the dvd burner? has this happened before?

maybe its getting close to the end of its life

[bosscheech]

You're probably right. I've had the PC less than a year. Never happened before.

[saltman]

Try different media. Sounds like a bad drive though.

[bosscheech]

I'll pick up a 3 pack of a different Dvd-R brand, and see what happens.

[GRC]

Use one of those CD laser cleaner gadgets, in case it is dirty...?

[bosscheech]

Use one of those CD laser cleaner gadgets, in case it is dirty...?

Where can I find one o' those?

[Five]

dollar stores, or some place like radio shack (but will cost more $$$ there). I don't know that these things actually do anything, I have one and it never solved any problems for me. doesn't hurt to try I spose