Is it my cd-rom/rw or defective disks?

Rozmataz

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Jun 13, 2002
Posts
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Fingerlakes Region of NYS
I am trying to resolve a new installation of the Lieberman's disks.

I have been in contact with Lieberman's and they are very very helpful and will do anything to try and resolve my problem.

My problem is this: A set of four disks arrived and I tried to install.

Disk One: no problem
Disk Two: error windows; corrupt install file

They sent me a new set:

Disk One: error windows; corrupt install file

They sent me a 3rd set:

Disk One: no problem
Disk Two: error windows; corrupt install file

They test their disks before they sent the last set and we are now exploring the possibility it is my CD burner that is defective.

How can I check this? If it installs one disk and not another... I don't understand.

Maybe Mike or another computer guru can help me out before I invest in a new cd burner or upgrade to a dvd combo.... unnecessarily.

I am so frustrated by this kind of problem...

Thanks, rOz
 
It's just a guess, but I suspect it might be the reader in your machine that simply doesn't like their discs. If they've sent you 3 sets, and no one else is having problems, this is most likely the reason.

Do you know if they are preparing the discs on CDR (burned) or commercially (pressed)?

It sounds to me like they may be making them with a CD burner. If so, many readers are sensitive to discs created by other machines. Factors such as the color of the media (blue, green, gold, etc), the age of the reader(if your computer is VERY old, it may not be capable of reading burned CDs - and only pressed cds), etc.

Burners and readers are fairly inexpensive these days, and you could even upgrade to a fancier DVD/CD burner for about $60-$90. (cd burners are about $40-$80) The advantage to the DVD version is that you can get their database on a single disc.

Is there another machine where you can try the disks, to confirm this is the reason?

Mike
 
Roz - just in case, they sent me the DVD version instead of the CD verstion - that was why I couldn't read them; I didn't have a dvd drive on the store computer.

just a thought

elaine
 
Thank you Mike!!

Your input makes alot of sense... and that is probably the situation....I will probably have to bite the bullet and upgrade...my computer is 2.5 years old. I do not have another computer try it on... my home one is older yet.

I appreciate your help.

Roz
 
Hey Roz, are you running XP or 98? In 98 there's a way to throttle down the performance of the CD drive in order to get better reliability (R-click on My Computer, click "Properties", then click the last tab on top called "Performance", then click the "File System" button, then choose the "CD-ROM" tab and choose "No Read Ahead" for the "Optimize access pattern" option... easy, huh?
)

I'm still trying to find where that is, if at all, in XP. I've had some luck though on 98 boxes that had problems with the CD drive.

However, Mike's probably right that you need to shell out a few bucks for a new CD drive.
 
I unfortunately can only find the option on Win98.. still looking though..
 
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