My computer is a dell 5100 inspiron. It has a cd-r/w dvd-rom combo drive (HL-DT-ST RW/DVD GCC-4241N). I can't boot from a cd-r,regular cds are fine, also I get the same thing in windows. I did firmware update and bios update. I have run out of ideas. PLEASE HELP!!

Are you closing the disks before trying to boot from them, if they are multisession and still open, this could be your problem.


For testing purposes, can you do an exact copy of a cd that works and try that?

The cd boots fine in all my other computers. Also it won't read any cd-r in windows either.

Hi,
This can happen if you have used the Roxio Easy CD Creator, but now have switched to another type of burning software.
Here is a link:
http://ww2.nero.com/nero6/en/Roxio_UDF_Reader_Control.html

Sometimes, the UDF Reader is not the correct one for the computer, and if not, will not allow the computer to read CD-R's. The link above contains a download to change the UDF Reader.
I am sure others will be along and offer some suggestions also. Since your computer does read something like an install CD, then the problem is reading cd-r's, burned by other computers, as you said.

Sounds like a problem with the hardware to me! All I can suggest is cleaning the lens with a special CD lens cleaner kit (available in most PC & hi fi shops)

If that fails you might be looking at a new drive. DVD writers are pretty cheap these days, so if you're going to replace it I'd upgrade (unless you've already got one!)

Fred, I looked at the link you gave but this refers to read-write access and says that read access is not affected. But still nice to know for the future!

Thanks for the help I'll try that. Any other help would be nice too.

My computer is a dell 5100 inspiron. It has a cd-r/w dvd-rom combo drive (HL-DT-ST RW/DVD GCC-4241N). I can't boot from a cd-r,regular cds are fine, also I get the same thing in windows. I did firmware update and bios update. I have run out of ideas. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

I'm not sure I follow this. In the Dell you are putting a CD/R disk in the drive and then powering up and hoping it will boot from that disk? Other disks are bootable and this disk works in other PCs? Is this a CD/R you burnt or a commercial disk?

Scott<>

Well I got the cd-rom from my other notbook and it worked just fine so it must be the drive. Time to buy a new one. Thanks for all the help.

There is something I never thought about either, until I just picked up on this from one of my newsletters - that manufacturers can make CD/DVDs that state one thing on label and package, but be totally different inside. There is a program which I downloaded and it works. Look for it and download it also, it's free and needs one more file, which is available too. If this does not work, it at least is good to have for the future. Good Luck.

REVIEW FROM COMPLETELYFREESOFTWARE.COM
DVD Identifier v4.2.0 -- Win9x/ME/XP (5 doves)
DVD Identifier is a utility program that identifies the
actual manufacturer and other details (size, recording speed,
type, etc) of blank DVD media. It features support for DVD+R/+RW,
DVD-R/-RW & DVD-RAM media, copies information to the
Clipboard, the program optionally checks for updated manufacturer
info on startup, and more. This is a handy tool for anyone with
a DVD burner. It accurately identifies information about
blank DVD media and, in our case, even identified an error in the
packaging of a spindle of disks we had purchased -- they
weren't -R as marked but +R. We first checked our regular DVD
blanks and found out that they were manufactured by Sony (we
don't have the original packaging but they did not had the Sony
brand on them). The only information lacking through DVD
Identifier was that they were x4 speed. The second disk we tried
was supposed to be a "no brand" x8 -R but turned out to be +R
(the speed was correct) manufactured by Infomedia Inc. One
thing we loved about DVD Identifier was that it notified us that it was
going to access the Internet, before it did so, to check that
we had the latest manufacturer's database -- and gave us an
option to prevent this from happening. We don't mind programs
using our Internet connection for valid purposes (like this)
but get annoyed when they just try to use it without
explanation or the option to stop it (we have no idea what information
they are exchanging so we use our firewall to block this type
of traffic!). Having caught the DVD distributors/importers
with an error (or a lie), we will now be checking all blank DVD
media with DVD Identifier. We suggest that you do this as
well.
http://dvd.identifier.cdfreaks.com/ (http://dvd.identifier.cdfreaks.com/)
This is for DVDs but all new hardware of this type reads/writes DVDs also and are cheap now. http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/10/10_1_23.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZN)

Regular CDR's can not be booted from unless they are formatted to be a boot disk