Cannot Format a DVD+R

Question

I am attempting to format a new DVD+R disc and failing. (This is the 1st time I've attempted such a task on my Dell T1700 under Win 7 Pro, but it's something I've done many times on a previous computer running Win XP.) I begin the format op from a command prompt, specify the default UDF format, and after a short time a successfully-completed message is displayed. But the drive LED indicates that it is still working and this continues for a very long time. Eventually, a check of the Event Viewer reveals a long list of CD-ROM Bad Block errors. I've run a cleaning disc in the drive, and I've tried with two new blank discs, but the problem persists. If I eject the disc and re-insert it, it continues blinking and adding error messages to the event log. Am I doing something wrong? Does Win 7 perhaps require a magical step I'm omitting?

I have also, incidentally, tried initiating the operation from the My Computer window - same results. Many thanks for any help.

timotheusd · Answer

Are all of the DVD+R disks tested from the same spindle? Same brand?

I have had a couple of computers that were a bit picky about DVD write-once media. I eventually settled on only buying Verbatim DVD-R media and never had a problem with them after that.

Do you have another machine that will burn DVD+R media? (All burners nowadays are multi-format and will burn both -R and +R disks, and have been for quite some time.)

If you can, burn some data to a +R disk on another computer and see it the problem computer can read the data back. If it has trouble reading the +R disk, it may be an issue with the exact materials used in that brand of +R media.

Are you setting up the media to use as a Floppy? if the problem machine can read an ISO 9660 DVD+R but not a UDF DVD+R there could be driver issues.

csslemaker · Answer

Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, all the disks are same brand (TDK) and from the same spindle. But many disks from that spindle were successfully written on my previous Win XP computer and they are now readable on my current Win 7 computer. In the properties box under "Computer" for the optical drive, the file system for these readable disks shows as "CDFS".

No, unfortunately, I don't have another machine on which I can try burning these disks.

If I understand what you mean by "use as a floppy", yes, these are to be used for data file backups.

I did do a little research on drivers. Here's the data on my driver files:

cdrom.sys version 6.1.7600.16385 (Win7_rtm.090713-1255) by Microsoft 06/21/2006,
and
iaStorF.sys version 12.6.2.1000 by Intel, 2013

Checking a Web site for driver updates, these seem to be the latest.

The optical drive, incidentally, came with the Dell T1700 and is identified as:

Toshiba SST Corp DVD+-RW drive SH-216CB SCSI CdRom Device

If you have any further suggestions, they certainly will be welcome. Thanks again.

osprey4 · Answer

Hi Csslemaker,

Please take a look at this article for some helpful background information.

In order to write many times to a disc, you must use the Live File System (UDF) format. Your old discs are using CDFS, which is different.

Storage, Drives & Media

Cannot Format a DVD+R

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