Guess what? Computer problem!

Actually, this would be a DVD burning problem to be more precise. I use Nero StartSmart/Nero Express as my program for DVD burning, and up until yesterday it worked just fine. The process would go smoothly and I didn't pay any attention to anything besides the handful of questions I needed to answer. But, to make a long story short, now Nero will not burn DVDs, instead it wants to cache the data I select away in 'My Documents'. I find that there have been a number of changes to the Nero program, and I swear I have not done anything which I hadn't done hundreds of times before. For one thing, the scale which shows how much space is still available on the DVD seems to be measured in MBs rather than GBs (one GB = 1000 MBs, right?). This is present on the very first page of the Nero program before I select anything. Also, loading a blank DVD into the burner doesn't cause the Nero program to automatically appear on screen anymore. When I'm at the 'Final Burn Settings' step (just before initiating the burn process), the option to 'verify data on disc after burning' is no longer available--it always was in the past. It's as if DVD burning is no longer an option, so the things that used to happen automatically don't happen at all. I wonder if I accidentally made a change to some command which previously was always left alone and chosen by default. But there are very few possibilities. At the top of the page there's a slot to select the 'Current Recorder' (something I always left alone). The only option is 'Image recorder (DVD)', which sounds suspicious. When I click 'Burn', instead of the burner turning on I am taken to a new page, the 'Save Image File' one, which offers 'My Documents' as the default choice and proposes to create a file named 'Image'. Needless to say, this is the last thing I want.

I remember long ago, when I used to burn just three episodes on DVDs in MPEG3 format, there was a similar option that would store data somewhere within the computer instead of burning it to a DVD--which seemed pretty redundant to me. Now it's as if that option is all there is left of the Nero program.

Since I have not done anything different (as far as I know), I'm racking my brains trying to figure out what might have happened recently to basically render my DVD burner useless. The only thing I can think of which might have had an effect is that a couple days ago my computer was unplugged and moved to a new location a few feet away. One or two cables were accidentally pulled loose from the computer's backside and reattached. But would that make any difference, since the DVD burner is mounted internally? Everything other than Nero seems to be working as usual. All I know is that every attempt prior to the move was successful and every one afterwards has been a failure.

Thanks in advance for whatever help or ideas anyone can offer.

Most of the following may sound vague but it's the best I can offer.

There are various ways of writing data onto a DVD, such as writing data and "closing" the disk (the normal way), writing and leaving it open (useful for rewritable DVDs), and writing a whole image onto it. The "image recorder" is a virtual DVD device that stores a file onto your hard disk that would keep the data which later could be written onto a disk (which is useful when you want to copy a whole disk where a complex structure of files is necessary or even the disk must be bootable, such as for certain games). With fast Internet speed as of today, some original DVDs can now be transferred as such images instead of making an archive which the receiver of the file has to unpack (and needs the archiver software for this step). Disk images do have their advantages (e. g. there are software emulations of DVD devices where you can "mount" such a DVD image even when you don't have a real DVD device in your computer).

Long story short, your Nero software (and apparently your operating system) doesn't "see" your DVD burner device any more, thus it only offers the "image" option and nothing else. This may be due to a device error, a broken cable inside the computer, a configuration problem in the operating system or whatever. (With my computers, the DVD burner always was the first device to be replaced, often after no more than 1-2 years. Fortunately these devices are reasonably cheap these days.)

I'm not really into the devices logic of operation systems any more, even more so as they claim to work with plug'n'play, i. e. without lots of brain involved. Nero is a Windows program, so the first thing to try would probably be to look into the device manager and check the status of the DVD burner device. (Perhaps there's some option for "detecting new devices"?) If the device manager finds the DVD burner this would mean that the device answered to the operating system and should be okay (in which case the next possible reason for a problem could be something with the device driver); if Windows doesn't even see the device then Nero can't find (or use) it for sure.

Normally the DVD burner (which also acts as DVD reader) is mapped into the Windows operating system as drive letter (probably "D:" or "E:", depending on the number of your hard disks). Does your file manager still show this drive? Can you still read DVDs with your computer? I'd expect "no" as answer for both questions. The reason why I'm asking this is that the automatic start of your Nero program when you insert a disk has most likely been an attribute of this Windows drive letter (which you can configure there). If your Windows doesn't map the burner device to a drive letter any more (because it doesn't "see" the device) then it won't be able to notice that some default reaction ought to be executed.

Thanks, DD, this actually makes a good deal of sense. I loaded a DVD which was already full of anime, and nothing happened--normally a list of options would automatically appear. I went to 'My Computer' and I find that other than 'shared documents' and 'my name's documents', the only options were 'Local Disc (C:)' (under 'Hard Disc Drives') and '3 1/2 Floppy (A:)' under ('Devices with Removable Storage'). If I plug it in and turn it on, 'IOMEGA HDD (E:)' also appears. So I'm guessing that I've worn out my DVD burner--I have worked it fairly hard. I had to replace an earlier one because the open/close button wasn't working half the time. But I never threw the old one away, because it wasn't completely useless, and if I reinstall it perhaps I can perform a test to see if Nero returns to normal.

Good thing I didn't try to uninstall Nero and reinstall it from the original software DVD! I seriously considered doing that.

I'll report what happens with my test. Thanks again.

If your external IOMEGA Device is being mapped to E: then apparently your Windows system still remembers there has been a device D: (your DVD burner) which just isn't ready for use (the letters are assigned sequentially, with "A:" and "B:" being exceptions because historically they were both mapped to the Floppy Drive so that you could copy a Floppy Disk image from A: to B: even if you had only one Floppy Drive). Which increases the probability that the Windows device manager (from somewhere in the start menu, I don't know the English names of the exact path as my Windows is German) could know more about the actual status of this device.

Connecting your old burner is certainly a good test but I'd try "detect new hardware" once before opening the box and doing anything with the cables.

It turns out that before reading the above post I removed the side panels of the computer case, and found that one of the two cable plugs (the larger of the two) had come loose from the rear of the burner. I reattached it and now 'My Computer' also shows 'CD Drive (D:)'. I activated Nero, and everything seems back to normal. I performed a DVD burn, including verifying data after the burn, and it was successful. So it looks like this was nothing more than a plug getting shaken loose while the computer was being moved. Figuring out the answer would have taken me infinitely longer (and maybe $$$) without your help. So, thanks again!

The key to a helpful answer is a complete and thoroughly formulated question. ;-)