Problems creating sony recovery disc, says dvd is not blank

Lady_K

This is a brand new laptop sony NW20SF there are no recovery discs with this and it advises to get at least 2 DVD R DL or DVD R DL(s) I got these from play.com http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/9602447/Verbatim-DVD-R-DL-8x-Dual-Layer-5-Pack-Jewel-Case/Product.html I hope they are correct?

I tried to start the process it asked me to choose how I want to use the dvd either as a usb type to save and delete things or for dvd recorder I didnt know which so chose the dvd as I knew it couldnt be overwritten anyway. When I try to start the recovery disc it says the dvd is not blank. I've tried to format it but it says cannot format. Have I got the right type or am I doing something else wrong?. This is also a bit more difficult because its windows 7 home premium which I've never used before.

I pressumed there would be a windows 7 disc with it but it doesnt seem so

busenbust

Forget, for a minute, the recovery disc process. When you insert the disc into the drive what does Windows do? Is it viewable in My Computer?

Lady_K

I looked there yes and tried to format it from there, it did say the size before but its not saying anything now just DVD RW drive f

busenbust

Do you have a new CDR, CDRW, DVD-RAM, DVD-R or DVD-R disc which you can test instead. Is the drive accepting any discs, for example a program disc like Office?

Lady_K

I just put a music CD in and it says its there but I didnt play it as the windows media player is not set up yet, its a christmas present I'm trying to prepare. I'm using the pc at the moment

After taking the music cd out its now saying DVD rom in the drive

busenbust

^So it had no problem reading a music CD? Good. Still, do you have a new/blank CDR, CDRW, DVD-RAM, DVD-R or DVD-R disc which you can insert?

Lady_K

I don't think I have a blank cd and these are the only dvd r dl ones I have, I ordered them for this purpose its very confusing the different types but it is saying dvd rom in the drive now so its showing up but it just says this disc is not blank wjen I try to do a recovery disc

busenbust

its very confusing the different types but it is saying dvd rom in the drive now so its showing up but it just says this disc is not blank wjen I try to do a recovery disc

Different media formats can indeed be very confusing! So, it's showing in Windows as an available blank disc? Are you able to copy a file (any file) to the disc.

This could potentially be a problem with the recovery disc process itself; that's what I'd like to rule out LK;)

...or indeed a bad batch of discs, it does happen.

enigma52

do you have a dual layer dvd writer installed? The specs on google say it burns to DVD +R disks and not DVD-R

Lady_K

Once I put a file on it though as it cant be deleted I wouldnt be able to use it as a recovery disc would I? or can I put a file in but not save it? I'll also get one of the other ones out to test that

busenbust

Lady_K wrote: »

Once I put a file on it though as it cant be deleted I wouldnt be able to use it as a recovery disc would I? or can I put a file in but not save it? I'll also get one of the other ones out to test that

I would think that's the least of one's problems Fault-finding means you may 'lose' a disc; is that seriously a problem? Down to you :cool: