# Solved: Cannot format DVD+RW



## Bichey (Feb 11, 2009)

I bought a new SONY DVD+RW and burned and erased 2 - 3 times on this DVD successfully. Today when i went to burn this DVD once more, there was a system error and my DVD became corrupted.

Now when i insert the DVD into the drive, the drive LED flashes and the HDD LED stays constant. The DVD is not getting detected by the drive. I tried to format using NERO, by right clicking the drive, through Disk Management in Administrative Tools but nothing worked. They are *not responding* until i eject the disc.

Is there any way to forcefully format or erase the DVD ??

thanks


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## lawson_jl (Aug 3, 2008)

If I'm reading things right your just having an issue with one disc. If that's the case then just throw it away. If the drive locks up or won't read the disc there isn't anything you can do to fix it.


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## IMiteBable2help (Nov 6, 2001)

I agree. This happens occasionally with DVD RW or CD RW. I hope you realize that a RW disk does not have to be formatted (like with nero) unless you are going to use a packet writing application. packet writing is an application so that the disk can be used like an old-school floppy. You know, where you can write files to it from time to time when you feel like it, until it gets full. The problem with disks written this way is that they cannot be read by computers that don't have the same packet writing software installed on them.

Re-Writeable disks can have problems some times. They aren't very reliable, and occasionally I get one that just won't erase, or won't be recognized by the drive. Just cut your losses and toss it. And for future reference, get -R or -RW, not +R or +RW. The minus format seems to be more reliable and can be read by more players than the plus format.


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## Bichey (Feb 11, 2009)

thanks to lawson and IMite. In the future, i will buy -RW discs.


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## IMiteBable2help (Nov 6, 2001)

You're welcome. But just because you buy DVD-RW instead of +RW doesn't mean you won't ever have the problem again. RW disks just do this sometimes, and you have to end up tossing them. No biggie.


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## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

Since the standard DVD's are so cheap, the RW's are not really worth the trouble.

But one of the best erasers you can use is cdrecord.exe (a command-line burning tool) or SuperBlank which has saved many of my RW's when they were considered useless and unerasable by other burning apps.

Before you can erase, you need to wait for the drive to stop. It may do that eventually.

Formatting is a different story altogether. Were you planning to format the disks after you got them erased, or was that a different project altogether? Formatting is only needed if you plan to use a UDF file system on the disks, or one of the packet-burning programs, like InCD or Toast.


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## Bichey (Feb 11, 2009)

IMiteBable2help said:


> You're welcome. But just because you buy DVD-RW instead of +RW doesn't mean you won't ever have the problem again. RW disks just do this sometimes, and you have to end up tossing them. No biggie.


yeah, i know that. Thanks 4 your reply


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## Bichey (Feb 11, 2009)

Elvandil said:


> Since the standard DVD's are so cheap, the RW's are not really worth the trouble.
> 
> But one of the best erasers you can use is cdrecord.exe (a command-line burning tool) or SuperBlank which has saved many of my RW's when they were considered useless and unerasable by other burning apps.
> 
> ...


Usually i erase disc. But when the DVD became corrupted, i started to try formatting it. Actually i tried everything to save my disc 

But i don't understand why it is not being detected. Is all the DVD contains some code or programs in it (which helps the drive to recognise the discs ??) which has been corrupted in my case ?? strange 

i will try the applications and will report 2morrow. Thanks 4 your reply


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## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

If it just keeps spinning, it is because it is being detected, but not read. The CD-ROM itself contains small programs that determine many aspects of its behavior, independent of the operating system. It may be seaching for a table of contents that is absent or corrupted, and many burning apps will not work at all if they don't find what they think should be on the CD. Others are more forgiving, and you can erase CD's in some drives that won't work in others.

But all of this gets to be so much extra work that it is probably better to just toss it and use a new one.


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## Bichey (Feb 11, 2009)

Nothing worked. Anyways, thanks 4 the replies.

I am marking it as solved.


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## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

Thanks, and good luck.


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## Bichey (Feb 11, 2009)

Elvandil said:


> Thanks, and good luck.


good luck 4 the new DVD ?? 

Dear Elvandil, i just want to know another thing. Actually i will buy a new Flash Drive. I want to know, is same thing can happen with the flash drive as happened with the DVD. For example, if there is a system hang during copying files into flash drive, will it become unusable ?? Have u ever heard anything similar ?? Plz let me know your opinions

and *Happy Birthday* in advance


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## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

Yes, the same thing can happen. Flash drives generally don't last as long as people expect and they have a much shorter life than hard drives. This seems strange since they are electronic and have no moving parts, but it is true, nevertheless.

The brand-name drives will be expected to last longer than the cheap ones, of course.

But you will almost certainly still want a working DVD drive. Are you having trouble with the drive itself?


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## Bichey (Feb 11, 2009)

No, no problem with DVD drive.

Thanks 4 your opinion about the Flash Drive. I have to think twice b4 buying it

*SOLVED*


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## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

They are very handy. Just don't use them for files you don't have copies of.


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