alright here is my prob. this is what i know! i have a lite on cd rw drive 24102B with firmware 5QSB if that means anything to u guys
i installed a sony dvd-rw. i didnt like it so i took it back it worked fine and all. i then reinstalled my old cd burner it reads disk and plays music BUT i cannot burn anything . when i go to burn it says there is no recordable drive. what does that mean anyway thanks for the help

Did you remove all the programs and driver(s) that came with the Sony?
Check in your Device Manager that the Sony has been uninstalled/removed.
Also go in your Control Panel/Add Remove Hardware, tick Uninstall/Unplug a device, Next, Uninstall a device, Next, tick "show hidden devices", then search for any Sony drives. They are still there but hidden. Rightclick and delete them. Repeat this until all Sony's are gone. Then reboot, and your CDRW should be there again.
If not, let us know.

With what are you burning?

For example if you installed Nero that came with the Sony writer then that copy of Nero will work only with the Sony drive.

i looked around and could not find any other sony files. i did delete the nero and other burning programs then reinstalled roxio that orignaly came with my pc. the only program that is still there is Sonic dvd which 4 some reason wont delete(noy sure why)my cd-rw is detected and says its working properly but its not . im not sure if this means anything but when i was installing the sony it told me that it was going to delete my roxio program and it did. well im still kinda at a lose -thanks- anybody got any other ideas

have you updated the roxio program that you reinstalled?

accually i have. i had roxio 5.0 or somthing and i upgraded it to 5.3

You could try going back to version 5.0

well ud think that would work but when i reinstalled roxio 5.0 and it didnt work i then upgraded hopeing that would fix it. wich it didnt.im almost at wits end with this thing. im thinking about going out and buying a new cd-rw for 50bucks or so. what do u guys think about that? although i would like to save 50 bucks and get mine working - but im thinking its my only option. if i did go and buy another one it should install and work just fine right?

Yeah if you were to get a new one it would work.

You should just as well save up a few more bucks and buy a Lite-On DVDRW.

o ya - anyone know how to get sonic dvd of my pc ive tryed deleteing it through add/remove programs and through the start-up menu but it dosnt want to go away. and im pretty sure that was the program that told me it was going to delete roxio in the begining

hey how much do u know about making dvds? this whole thing started with me getting a sony dvd-rw. i took it back because my problem was i would download a movie in avi format and then id have to "decode it" then burn it and it would take all day is that normal or was i doing somthig wrong

Have you tried uninstalling in Safe Mode?

not yet, but i will now thanks didnt even think about that

ok IVE USED SAFE MODE BEFORE. but for some reason i cant find and option to get me into it - i have XP. in the help section its says to push F8 I DID AND IT JUST STARTED UP NORMALLY. i also tried F12 for the start up utilitys and there was nothing there related to safe mode.if memory serves me right my screen should say "safe-mode" in the corners right?

Keep hitting that F8 right from the start/bootup, eventually it will get you into the menu, where you select Safe Mode.