# DVD burner question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2021, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burner-question/941482 "2021-05-05T21:28:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burner-question/941482/1 "2021-05-05T21:28:04Z")
I have a Windows 10 PC here that has an internal DVD-RW drive installed but for the past week or so, when I attempt to burn a disc, I get an error, “The write speed for the recordable disc is either too fast or too slow for your DVD or CD burner. Insert a recordable disc that has a different writing speed, then try again.” But I was able to _read_ a CD. So I’m wondering if these things use a different laser (or other hardware) to write than to read? I’ve already ordered a replacement DVD-RW drive, in case I’m correct that there is a hardware issue. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burner-question/941482/2 "2021-05-05T21:41:16Z")
I don’t know the answer to your laser question but evidently this sort of thing has been happening since at least Windows 7. [https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows\_7-hardware/the-medias-speed-is-incompatible-with-the-device/c5bd323e-f238-49b4-abc0-b4d1d83b485a](https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/the-medias-speed-is-incompatible-with-the-device/c5bd323e-f238-49b4-abc0-b4d1d83b485a) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burner-question/941482/3 "2021-05-05T21:42:21Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > So I’m wondering if these things use a different laser (or other hardware) to write than to read? There is one laser for CDs and one laser for DVDs. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burner-question/941482/4 "2021-05-05T21:45:42Z")
So the same laser both to read and write CDs and a different laser both to read and write DVDs? Looking more carefully, the thing I tried to read was a CD while I tried to write to a DVD+R disc. So perhaps it is a hardware issue? The replacement drive was under twenty bucks so I’m not too worried, although it will be annoying if replacing it doesn’t address the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burner-question/941482/5 "2021-05-05T21:56:52Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > So the same laser both to read and write CDs and a different laser both to read and write DVDs? Exactamundo. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burner-question/941482/6 "2021-05-05T21:58:31Z")
Maybe I’ll try reading a DVD with the drive. That will definitively prove whether the problem is with the DVD laser. ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burner-question/941482/7 "2021-05-06T13:26:26Z")
Maybe maybe not. Reading a disc is much less error-prone than writing. There’s also so many different speeds and types of media (4x, 8x, 12x, 16x, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW), and media that can handle a range of speeds, sometimes more elegantly than others, that it’s easy to get some that simply doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burner-question/941482/8 "2021-05-06T15:22:16Z")
Has it worked before and now it doesn’t? Are you using a different brand of writeable disc than before? Did you try changing the write speed in the software you are using to burn the disc? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burner-question/941482/9 "2021-05-06T16:47:26Z")
I think it worked previously but it’s used by others, not me, so I can’t say for sure. They’re using Staples DVD+R discs and they use the same ones on other computers of the same model with DVD burners of the same model elsewhere in the department. As for the write speed, I was just testing using the Windows 10 feature to burn discs, which only has 4x or 8x as options. The discs say they’re capable of 1x-16x speed. Really frustrating. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burner-question/941482/10 "2021-05-06T17:40:50Z")
You could try downloading free burning software like ImgBurn and setting a lower burning speed than your drive’s maximum (e.g. 8x, x4, etc) to match the speed of the burnable DVD media. Don’t let the price fool you; it’s actually great. > **[The Official ImgBurn Website](https://www.imgburn.com/)** > > ImgBurn is a lightweight CD / DVD / HD DVD / Blu-ray burning application that everyone should have in their toolkit... and it's free! ---
**Author:** ![stosh1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@stosh1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stosh1)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burner-question/941482/11 "2021-05-09T01:42:16Z")
I have a windows 10 computer too. Mine has a CD player that stopped working. I got an external CD burner. I bought it from Amazon. It’s an “Amicool” type-C interface. It works great so far, ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burner-question/941482/12 "2021-05-09T01:58:03Z")
It also wouldn’t hurt to try a CD or DVD cleaner, to see if the laser is just dirty. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burner-question/941482/13 "2021-05-09T02:49:03Z")
Thanks for the advice. I’d rather avoid suggesting they use another program like ImgBurn, as they already have a process in place. I’ve put an external drive in place as a workaround and it worked, so perhaps the replacement drive I ordered will work as well? (Still, I was able to _read_ a movie DVD so I don’t understand why it won’t write a data DVD.)