Vaio Windows 7 - Won't read DVD-R

Hi,

I had this problem a couple months ago, fixed it, and am now facing the same problem again.
I have a Vaio, Windows 7 64. My CD/DVD player isn't reading any of my DVD-R cds. Whenever I put in a DVD-R cd, autoplay comes up and it asks to format the cd. I checked these DVDs and they work on other computers. They're all burned DVD with files on them.

Before when this happened, I tried many different things. I...

1. Deleted upper/lower filters. -- Actually, I didn't have upper or lower filters to delete.
2. System restored
3. Deleted and updated drivers
4. Finally found a post talking about creating a new key in the regedit NoCDburning. After doing this, it started working.

Fast forward three months later, my cd/dvd player won't read any of my DVD-R cds again... I did the same things all over again.

1. System restored
2. Deleted and updated/re-installed drivers
3. Ran Fixit
4. Looked for upper/lower filters -- not there
5. Tried looking at the NoCDburning thing again -- deleted and repeated the steps, and nothing is happening.

I don't want to reboot my computer because I already did a month ago and it just takes way too much time for me to reboot everything all over again.

I cleaned my CD player as well like most of you guys said before. I know my drive is still working as it worked before after I fixed it.

I checked and the last time this happened was in June. Since then the only new things I installed/updated were CC Cleaner, Itunes, and some other programs.. I have Spybot as well.

Can someone please, please, please help me?!? I've been looking for an answer everywhere and I'm running into the same answers.

Thank you!
 
Have you tried a a system file check to see if Windows can sort this issue out?
sfc /scannow (in admin mode.)
Also if you just explore the DVD do you see the list of files on it? Or is the DVD-R not 'seen' by Windows at all?
Or is the error only with the autoplay part? (Windows trying to help you choose a media player from whatever you have installed?)
 
Have you tried a a system file check to see if Windows can sort this issue out?
sfc /scannow (in admin mode.)
Also if you just explore the DVD do you see the list of files on it? Or is the DVD-R not 'seen' by Windows at all?
Or is the error only with the autoplay part? (Windows trying to help you choose a media player from whatever you have installed?)

I can't explore the DVD or open it. If I try to open it, it just says that nothing's there.
My Windows doesn't know what's wrong either…
 
This used to happen to my XP home O/S when I installed various software with CD/DVD burning options, it would change the upper/lower filters entry and the optical drive would not work again or only partly so.
I would still try SFC as it can do no harm anyway.
That's 'Start' + x, then 'a' then sfc /scannow
 
If reinstalling your DVD burning software doesn't help you could try another DVD drive from eBay. There is plenty of choice at a low price. Vaio spares don't fetch much.
 
This used to happen to my XP home O/S when I installed various software with CD/DVD burning options, it would change the upper/lower filters entry and the optical drive would not work again or only partly so.
I would still try SFC as it can do no harm anyway.
That's 'Start' + x, then 'a' then sfc /scannow

I did SFC this morning and there's nothing wrong with my computer.

And when I do Fixit, it says this:

Media in CD/DVD drive is not readable (Optiarc DVD RW AD-7590S)
 
If it was working for awhile and deleting the upper and lower filters doesn't help, IMHO, the optical drive has failed. I know it's still pretty new but even new drives can fail.
 
Fitting another drive would be one test, might be the answer.
I have found all the optical drives I have owned are good for 4 or 5 years then slowly fade in performance, I'm guessing that the laser loses power or loses tracking accuracy.
Would be really interesting to know what happens if a USB connected DVD drive is connected. Does it read DVD's then?
'Imymeomy' says the DVD's do read and explore in other PC's which doesn't prove if it's the Sony's Windows or the Sony's Drive as being the problem.
I remember several times installing different 'Burning' programs, then having to reinstall Windows XP again to get my DVD drive to work.
One way around this would be to use another PC, copy the files from the DVD's to USB flash sticks or an external HD.
 
So I ended up fixing it for a day or two by reformatting my computer. I did a clean install of Windows 7, ran into some other minor issues, solved them, and was perfectly happy. Then now a day later, my CD/DVD isn't working AGAIN. It worked a couple days ago after I did the clean install, but I guess somewhere between the clean install till today, something changed... I have no idea what it is, but I feel like it has to do with Windows 7. I usually have a VISTA, but I did the clean install of windows 7 with the upgrade CD that came with it.

I have no idea why my CD/DVD isn't working again... It isn't reading ANY of my DVD-Rs, and I know the drive isn't broken since it worked after I reformatted...

Does anyone know anything about this at all? I really feel like it has something to do with Windows 7... I deleted/uninstalled my driver and reinstalled it as well..... HELP?
 
It's unlikely to be anything to do with Windows 7. You can be fairly sure that the same drivers used for Vista will work fine. The two OSs are built on the same foundations. If you check the price of a replacement drive I think that you will find that they are pretty cheap. You could of course try a reinstall of Vista first.
 
I found Win 7 to be good at picking up all my drives, as a standard installation, I have 2 optical drives, an NEC and a LG multi disc, both were fine and needed no extra drivers over what Win 7 had.
I also have an external Seagate 500GB HD and an Iomega 320GB HD which need no extra drivers either, Windows 7 read them all.
For what it costs and to rule out the DVD drive, it's worth buying a new one, if possible.
In the UK a new USB Samsung DVD RW is currently GBP 34, which you can obviously use on any pc now or in the future. I have one and it's totally reliable, only downside is the burning speed is a max of x8 ( I think,) but that's no problem.
 
I'm worried I'm going to buy a new drive but it's not going to work still. Like I mentioned before, right after I reformatted and clean installed Windows 7 but BEFORE I installed the compatibility windows 7 DVD it still worked. It somehow stopped working after I installed the drivers that came with the windows 7 compatibility cd..
If I do a system restore to before I installed the compatibility CD, then I'm going to lose all the necessary drives then...
 
On the other hand if the problem is a bad DVD drive but you are unwilling to replace it, you will never fix your problem. Still, there are no guarantees. Is it possible to borrow a known good optical drive to test with?
 
There are so many non functioning Sony Vaios around that used parts are cheap. Have a look on eBay for something that'll fit your model..
 
If it was my laptop, I would try a Linux 'live' DVD and see if the drive works with -R and + R disks.
(Assuming your drive will read the Linux disc, if not make a USB version, there is plenty of advice on how to do this.)
You wouldn't be risking anything in Windows as it won't be using it, nothing is installed using the 'live' DVD, then you would find out if the Sony's optical drive works in Linux. If it still doesn't work then you would know it's the drive that's faulty.
As I mentioned before, I had this problem with XP years ago, in that the Windows standard install worked fine with + and - DVD's , but if I installed any other program that had a disk 'writing' option, the DVD drive would read only or fail to read any discs, so I have seen this before.
The only 'fix' was to install XP again, when the DVD drive was perfect again.

Otherwise if you don't have many -R DVD's, use another pc and transfer all the data over to +R DVD's, of course that's not the real answer, but a way around it.
 
I tried deleting a bunch of useless apps that came with the Companion DVD to see if the problem was there-- nothing happened. I did several system restores and my system crashed.
I tried a bunch of CDs/DVDs last night and I DID find out that it reads SOME dvds. It reads the EARLIER dvds, like the old ones I made years ago (using the old brands of blank dvds) compared to the newer DVDS I made (with the new/newer/usual brands of blank dvds).

Does that make a difference at all?

I'm going to look for a new driver today after I try ONE more system restore. I'm going to restore it to before I installed the companion DVD and really see if that's the problem.
If I buy a new driver, do I buy the exact one as I have right now? Or should I just type in my model number VGN-CS320J and look for similar drivers? Like I said, I'm scared I'm going to end up buying the exact same driver and it'll have the same problems haha So I should be looking for a completely different driver...?

^^
 
The fact that your older/earlier DVD's are readable in your optical drive, seems to say that the laser has gone down (in power level), which does happen.
It's fairly well known that the known branded DVD's are more reliable, and the cheaper makes tend to have more failures, I have found the same.
You might have a problem removing your DVD drive, but laptop drives tend to be fixed in by one screw which is 142 mm from the right hand edge.
Some drives have a clip which you can only see when you press the eject button and the door is open.
You will need to get the same type as fitted to your pc from new, you can get the details from your 'Device manager'.
Be sure you have the latest driver for Windows from the maker of the DVD drive.
Have you tried switching the DVD drive from DMA to PIO mode? See;
http://www.sony-optiarc.us/support/downloads/firmwareupdateprocedure.html
( This link is to Flash the firmware chip in the drive, not the same thing as the software DRIVER for Windows.)
Have you tried uninstalling the driver, rebooting the pc and let Windows find it again?
 
This kinda,sorta sounds like an issue I had a few years back on my Panasonic home DVD burner I that it used to burn and finalize the stack of " el cheapo" brand of DVD's I had, then it stopped finalizing them. The vendor suggested a firmware update which he said might be hard to locate on the Panasonic site (it was). When I found it and located it, that took care of the problem. I had audio CD's I burned on my pc that played fine in the pc and the car CD player, but they won't play or they will skip badly on my older 1990 era Kenwood changer (store bought CD's played fine in the Kenwood though. You might want to see if there is a firmware update for that particular drive, otherwise, I say try an external USB drive as it is less work, just plug it in. Good luck.
 
Back