Member Avatar for Lander

My computer freezes up whenever I try to view the contents of any DVD-R disks. They used to work fine a few months ago. Normal DVDs work. I don't know what's changed since then. I did install Alchohol 120% but removed it because I never used it, I don't know if it has anything to do with that. I'm running Windows XP. The DVD drive is a generic one which came with my PC. System information only identifies it as ATAPI DVD-ROM 16XMax.

Cheers for any help

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Dani AI

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A few clarifying points that add to the thread and help others who find this later.

The symptom reported by — freezes only when browsing DVD‑R media while other discs are fine — matches a common pattern caused by leftover low‑level drivers or virtual‑drive filters installed by burning/emulation software (as noted by and ). When those components are corrupted or partially removed, Windows Explorer can hang while querying an optical drive.

A practical, non-destructive diagnostic flow: first confirm the media itself by trying the same DVD‑R in another machine or an external USB drive. If the disc is readable elsewhere, boot the affected PC into Safe Mode and try browsing the DVD; success there points to third‑party drivers. Check Event Viewer for disk/driver errors at the freeze time and inspect Device Manager for device conflicts or disabled DMA. As a quick workaround to copy important files without Explorer, list or copy the disc contents from a command prompt (for example with dir) or a lightweight file manager.

When third‑party drivers are implicated, remove the related application with its uninstaller and any vendor cleanup tools, then reboot. Reinstalling a trusted burning package often restores the optical stack to a working state (consistent with ’s outcome). If issues persist, identify the physical drive model (label on the tray or a hardware utility), look for firmware updates from the drive maker, or attempt data rescue on another system with a recovery tool before attempting low‑level repairs.

Caution: back up the registry or create a System Restore point before manual edits. Capturing the Event Viewer error entries and the exact drive/model plus recent disc software history will make further troubleshooting faster and more reliable.

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Member Avatar for steosaur(oWn)

whats alcohol 120%, plus are you aware there are two kinds of DVDR's [DVD-R & DVD+R] that might have something to do with it

Member Avatar for Sardukar

Might be alcohol 120%, had it do similar stuff to me when I uninstalled. Look in the registry for the following:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Alcohol Soft\Alcohol 120%\Basic
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Alcohol Soft\Alcohol 120%\Devices
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Alcohol Soft\Alcohol 120%\ImageMaker
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Alcohol Soft\Alcohol 120%\Images
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Alcohol Soft\Alcohol 120%\Option
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Alcohol Soft\Alcohol 120%\RecordWizard
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Alcohol Soft\Alcohol 120%

Delete all these entries (if exist). Also look for the install folder for Alcohol, and delete it in full. Try installing Nero 6 and see if you can read. If you already have it, uninstall it, follow these steps, and reinstall. Seems that Alcohol modify's some .dll file and Nero de-modify's (word?). Hope this helps.

Alcohol is burning software that allows you to burn copy-protected CD's. Handy for making backups of $600 pieces of software that you don't want to have the original install media damaged. Newer version works rather well, I might ad.

Member Avatar for Lander

Thanks. I just reinstalled Nero and I get get my files again. :P

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