Can't burn CD's for some reason. Help needed.
 

As some of you probably remember, my computer crashed about two months ago more or less. I was fiddling around in some files and poof - I get an error that IE could not boot and that I had to reinstall Windows.

Well, I went through every CD I had and could not find a reinstall CD, so I just gave up after calling Gateway and getting no reply. I have used the internet on my lesser computer downstairs which has poor dial up speeds up until now.....

Today I was organizing my CD's because my mother had just bought a new stand for me to stick stuff on. I spent about an hour filtering through them, then finished up. I went to my 2nd computer ready to play around and noticed another CD I had somehow failed to catagorize lying on my Maya Unlimited package box which I so proudly display on the top of my processor. I picked it up, turned it over and low and behold - an unused, never taken out of the package Windows 2000 Professional Edition install CD ready to be crammed into my computer's D drive.

Seeing a ray of hope, I quickly turned on my computer to see what would happen. I didn't know what to expect since I have never done anything like this before, so the entire experience was something new to me. After a while, I saw the Windows 2000 start up screen and realized all was well again.

All my files were still in their last known condition and everything worked properly. I installed all of my drivers as well as a few applications such as Roxio Easy CD Creator. I noticed however, that most of my files were misplaced. All of my documents were in another folder where they shouldn't have been and all my applications did not appear in my programs list. I searched through my computer and found them all uinder a different programs menu, but unfortunately was unable to use some of them.

Since so many things were misplaced, I had two of a lot of things (since I had overwriten a previous version of Windows), and because my HD needed to be wiped clean anyway, I decided to reformat my computer. Before I did this however, I realized that I would need to back up all my precious data. I already had some of my main files such as documents, midis, and a few other random files backed up on another computer, but had a lot of mp3's and data files to take care of.

I booted up Roxio Easy CD Creator. The Project Selector appeared. I clicked "Data CD." I get an error. It doesn't do anything else. I try to close it, but it is unresponsive. I am forced to go into the Task Manager and force it to close. I try again, but the same error appears. One of those weird errors us humans can't understand.....

I download another CD burning program from download.com in hopes of burning my precious data to a CD, but it says I need to download Windows Media Player 7 and the Adeptec Plug-in which is supposed to come with it. http://www.blazeaudio.com/?url=rebcdplugin I already have Windows Media Player 9, but I reinstall it just to be sure. Still, I have no luck.

Oh woe is me..... That ray of hope is now diminishing into oblivion never to be seen again. I am at a standstill now knowing not what to do. What kind soul hath wisdom to share with me? What seeds of knowledge dost thou have that will help me through this time of dispair? In other words - HEEEEELP!!!!

First off, where were your CDs. If they were near a heat source, they are fryed. Also, GET NERO. It is the best burning proggy out there that i know of! get it

Huh? What in the world do my CD's have to do with anything? They aren't fried. They weren't near a heat source. What are you talking about?

My problem is elsewhere. I now know that it's because I don't have a "CD-burning component." I don't know if that means I'm missing a driver, missing software, or Just need to update something. This is driving me insane.

hmm...
Nero just locks up when you press "Data CD"? Weird...
Tried reinstalling it?

I mean:
uninstalling your old version of Nero (via settings > control panel > software) and then installing Nero again.

What was the error message you got? That would help a lot finding out what the problem is...

And another (offtopic) thing... Aren't your pc's in a LAN or something? That would be much easier. When you just want to backup files temporaroly, put them on the onther computer. And sharing the internet connection between the 2 pc's :)

First of all, I never said I was running Nero - Ultragames said I should get Nero.

The error said my computer was missing a cd-burning component, which I stated in my previous post.

Thirdly, I never said my PC's were in a "LAN." Both my PC's are not hooked together in any way. I have thought about purchasing an external hub and link them together, but that costs some money.

Still trying to figure out what the problem is..........

So far, I have run across ASPI several times and ActiveX. Some way or another, these have something to do with CD burning, but I don't know if my problem exists with them or not. It was recommended by a friend to update my cd burning software and maybe that would update the driver, but I have had no luck with that either.

My main objective now is to figure out what a cd-burning component is exactly.

Have you checked the status of your cdr in the bios? That can offer some clues. If you go to your manufacturers website you might also be able to find up to date firmware. You could try uninstalling the CDR and reinstalling using the latest drivers too. If you check your system log you can also find details on what exactly was failing and when.

I had a similar problem when I tried to use Adaptec Easy CD creator with win 2000 i ended up having to do a complete re-install and then never installing it again! What ultrgames said about Nero is true it is the best burning package and it will work fine with win 2000.

You can get a demo of nero 6 here: http://www.nero.com/en/631934351031098.html

Good Luck man! I would lend you my hub but.... the atlantic ocean is in the way... ;)

Alan

Well, I fixed the problem. All I had to do was reinstall Roxio from the CD. Who would have guessed? Usually, this is one of the first things I try when something doesn't work, but I had JUST installed it, so I didn't se any reason to do so.

So, I now have all my data backed up. I need to format my computer, but don't know how. When I first stuck the Windows Install CD in, I remember an option that allowed me to format the C: right before I installed windows, but it doesn't come up any more. Whenever I reinstall Windows now, it just overlaps my old stuff. I need to completely wipe out everything before I install windows again.

I tried deleting as much stuff under the C: as I could, (several gigs worth of data) but obviously can't delete some things seeing as how they have to currently stay in tact in order for my computer to run.

I'm guessing that there's some kind of option or command you type in DOS that allows you to format your C:

good to hear you've backed everything up...
and the command to type in dos is just -- format c:

IIRC you don't need the dos prompt to reformat for Win2K. If you go into your bios and set the boot disk as your cdrom, then place the Win2k disk in the drive and restart your PC it should run setup and you will see format drive and format partition options.

I'll have to try that because it won't let me format through dos for some reason. It says a volume of the C: is currently in use, so it can't be done. I tried restarting and doing it before windows loads, but no luck there either.

Something that's worrying me a lot is the type of drive I have set up. It used to be FAT32, but when I reinstalled Windows it converted it to NTFS. I really didn't want it to do that, but there was no other option. Is this bad? Can I somehow redo this?

NTFS is a better option. It's mor secure and the file system is better than fat 32. What witchy said is exactly the way you want to do it as far as the formatting goes. (You cant format a drive that is in use cause you need to use a program to format and if you are wiping that disk then the program wont exist and thus you cant do it.... :))

Make sure you set the partitions properly first time though cause it's a pain to rush thru it only to discover you've done it wrong and have to re-instal windows all over again! :)

Alan

Would it be practical to make another partition and install windows there? Like a B: Could I somehow boot into that partition then format the C: from there? Ugh. This is getting frustrating. I stayed up until 4 am last night installing windows and now I'm doing it all over again. I just wish I knew how to wipe my HD and reinstall windows clean and simple. Formatting seems to be the part where I'm lost. I can't format while I'm running windows, when I'm not running windows and am just in dos, or when I try to reinstall windows from the cd. Grrrrr. Why can't I just right-click and delete?!

just do what witchy said (change the bios to boot from the CD) and then just follow the instructions. It shouldnt be too much of a pain.

:)

Alan

Ps. Dont you just love computers!! ;)

you should do what witchy says...but the reason you cant format is because youre using the DOS thats inside windows...if you want to format you have to exit wndows and then go into DOS