Please recommend diag s/w for failing DVDRW drives

[happycomputers]

I need a recommendation on software that will thoroughly test and diagnose DVDRW (or CDRW) drives.

I have about 20 DVDRW drives I've scavenged from various computers over the past year. All of them physically work fine, and I can boot to a a PE disc just fine off of all of them.

There are a few that I've installed in an average desktop (that normally burns to a data-DVD disc just fine) that READ just fine, but when writing, only write like one out of every 3 discs. In other words, I can attempt burning 2GB of data to it, and Nero will fail with a "Write Error" 2 times, and then on the third time, it works fine. Is this typical of just a BAD drive?

Anyway, I'd like to know if anyone can recommend to me a software solution that'll help me quickly figure these drives out. TIA,

DG

p.s.: I didn't know if I should post this in hardware of software...I figure its more of a hardware concern...

[rusty.nells]

Have you tried slower burn speeds?

Once upon a time, the only way I could get reliable burns on CDs was at a slower speed. 12-16x usually worked best. That seemed to be the case with various burners and various media for about 4 or 5 years. Now I have a habit of burning everything at slower speeds, including DVDs, without many problems.

[iptech]

Have you tried slower burn speeds?

Once upon a time, the only way I could get reliable burns on CDs was at a slower speed. 12-16x usually worked best. That seemed to be the case with various burners and various media for about 4 or 5 years. Now I have a habit of burning everything at slower speeds, including DVDs, without many problems.
That's also what I've found, I mostly use my burner for work disks so a reliable burn is more important than speed of disk creation. There's nothing more frustrating that arriving on-site all prepared with a CD you burnt just before you left office only to find it hasn't burnt correctly.

The quality of blank media used can also make a big difference.

[usacvlr]

I've had good luck with verbatim lately but memorex is uber junk.

[SOHO-NZ]

That's also what I've found, I mostly use my burner for work disks so a reliable burn is more important than speed of disk creation. There's nothing more frustrating that arriving on-site all prepared with a CD you burnt just before you left office only to find it hasn't burnt correctly.

The quality of blank media used can also make a big difference.

I'll Second that.

I recently saw a customer with some disks with a data layer that was so thin, I could actually see through it. And he wondered why his disks didn't work....

[abe]

i second what usacvlr said memorex junk verbatim is better, and always use half speed.

Abe

[atlanticjim]

I now consider cd and dvd writers for desktops to be disposable because of the prices of new ones ($20 with LightScribe at NewEgg).

Of course that doesn't pertain to the laptop CD/DVD reader/writers.

I also have not found a good program to use for testing existing drives.

[happycomputers]

I've experienced that also; that lowering the burning speed seems to make a more reliable burn, and in general that DOES seem to work more, but still not always.

It just kind of urks me that there's no definitive way to know if a cd drive is half-bad other than guessing and changing burn speeds.

Thanks for the replies.

[Methical]

Yeah I second lowering the burning speed. Wait an extra couple of minutes for reliability :)
Also found that Nero sucked as well, even if I was burning @ slower speeds it would fail. Switched to Ashampoo Burning Studio & not a problem since.

[joe3k]

pc check will help diagnose your drive for you. It's expensive enough though.

[abe]

try disc speed from www.cdspeed2000.com