CD-R/RW Rom stopped reading CD-RW's

My CD-RW-rom suddenly stoped recognizing CD-RW's. It reads and records CD-R's just fine, but will not work with CD-RW's anymore. I don't know at what point it stoped recognizing them, but when I needed to record something I couldn't. I don't know if it's hardware problem or software. My DVD-rom will read the same CD-RW's just fine! I'm running WinXP Pro SP2. Model number: SONY CD-RW CRX215E5.
If anyone has any suggestions on this, I will be grateful.

 

Did you try any lens cleaners (you know, one of those lens cleaner CDs)? They might help you.

Otherwise, You may try upgrading your firmware from the Sony site.

 

compressed air also works well.

 

I've tried to clean the lens-still no good. I have the latest driver for my cd-rom. When I put recorded/blank CD-RW in, first what happens is LED blinks (green) a few times (as like checking something), after that the light remain blinking very fast at all times when CD remains inside.

 

have u tried different brand cdrw or just one?

 

Yes, I have tried a couple of CD-RW's that I recorded by this drive before this issue: Sony and Imation. It used to read them but it stopped. I also tried to record something on a different burner and it will not read those recorded RW's either. I think the problem not in the disc, but elsewhere.

 

If the light remains blinking it means that it is encountering some sort of error every time it reads, and then it attempts again.

In case of Samsung drives, Firmware causes this sometimes. Degrading firmware to older versions has helped some people.

Dont know about Sony though.

 

so ur burner only has problems reading cdrw even if theyre burnt on a different comp? also, if its not too technical, open up ur comp and try changing the cable. also make sure that its nor sharing power with another drive.

 

I opened it up, cleaned inside from dust. Unplugged power and ribbon cables from the drive and plugged it back in. Still the problem persists.

 

After trying for awhile to figure out the solution, I decided to buy another drive. So I bought BenQ DW 1620 CD/DVD-RW internal drive. After installing everything worked! So afterall, the problem was not software related but it was my faulty Sony drive.

 

My Sony drive faulted too.....The tray simply wouldn't open or close properly after which I bought this Samsung combo.

I believe that Sony makes their drives in China under cheap labour and maybe thats why it doesn't work so well...

 

My Sony drive that I replaced was manufactured in Phillippines. Nevertheless, I heard lots of complaints about Sony drives from my friends and online users. Companies like Sony in search of revenues and cheap labor manufacture their stuff somewhere overseas in third world countries and this leads to a loss of quality and to a fall of their image as a company in the market-place. I think that's the risk they are willing to take, but I'm staying away from certain Sony products in the future.