CD-RW reading?

I'm curious as to why a cd burner can write on a CD-RW, but can not read it afterwards. After I had burned a few pics onto a CD-RW, i tried looking at them on that same computer and it didn't read them, but I took it to my computer, and it read them. I know most older cd players wont read CD-RW's but why would it burn onto it if it cant read it when its burned?

Did it recognize any data on the disk at all or just as a blank disk or not even recognize the disk? Are you trying to look at the pics while the CD-RW is in the same exact drive as the one that burned it?

Yes, exact same drive. Since it's a cd burner, I can open the drive with out a disk. It acts like there is a blank disk or no disk in there because it won't read it. the computer only has the one CD burrner/DVD player drive, and it wont read its own CD-RW that it had burned. It is an Emachines piece of crap. We got it just after Gateway bought them out. But if I take that CD-RW and put it into my new CD burrner /DVD player drive, it will read it no problem. My CD/DVD drive wont read it either, but thats too old. I'm just curious as to why it wouldn't read it's own cd that it burned.

I have this problem with the local college computers sometimes (all Dell desktops and pretty new). Dunno why, could be the age of the disc or disc type (audio only/data only, etc.) , but i suggest upgrading to a flash drive. I think CD/RWs suck, I invested in them and they've given me more problems than convenience for both entertainment and school purposes.

Yeah, I dont like to use them either, but they are my moms, and this was a deal for my mom, and i didnt want to run downstairs and grab one of mine since she was out of CD-R's. I wound up doing so anyway.

Sometimes this happens because the CD recording session or the CD-R is still "open". For a disk to be "complete" the session and the CD should be closed after you finish recording it. It doesn't make sense since it's the same drive that burned the CD it should be able to read even an open session.

I think if you select the "Disk at once" option when you burn the CD it will close the session and close the CD-R also. Or maybe it was the "Track at once" option - I don't remember which but you can experiment.

are you saying that the drive can't read the files on the disk or that it doesn't autorun?

Sometimes this happens because the CD recording session or the CD-R is still "open". For a disk to be "complete" the session and the CD should be closed after you finish recording it. It doesn't make sense since it's the same drive that burned the CD it should be able to read even an open session.

I think if you select the "Disk at once" option when you burn the CD it will close the session and close the CD-R also. Or maybe it was the "Track at once" option - I don't remember which but you can experiment.When you open your CD-R drive, you have an option of just pasting a file in there and then burning it, thats what I did. Never had a problem doing it that way on other computers. I don't know if it is automatically closed or not, but would guess it would be. I don't really care about the computer doing this because it's my parents computer, I'm just curious as to why.

are you saying that the drive can't read the files on the disk or that it doesn't autorun?It cant read the files that IT burned onto a CD-RW

From what I understand, the quality of the burned disk is dependant on the power of the laser as well as the speed in which it is written. For high speed media, the power of the laser has to be strong enough to burn the tracks for any given speed. For a drive whose laser is weakening, the burned disk might have trouble being read. Additionally, the optical reader of drives vary in sensitivity from one drive to the next so whether or not the disc can or cannot be read from one drive to the next depends on how sensitive the reader is. The fact that the disk cannot be read by the same drive it was burned from might be indicative of a bad burn or that the optical reader on the drive is not as sensitive as the other drives that you have tried (or it might be that it's time for a new burner).

I'm sure that there is more to it than just that but that's what/all I remember from college 10yrs ago...

From what I understand, the quality of the burned disk is dependant on the power of the laser as well as the speed in which it is written. For high speed media, the power of the laser has to be strong enough to burn the tracks for any given speed. For a drive whose laser is weakening, the burned disk might have trouble being read. Additionally, the optical reader of drives vary in sensitivity from one drive to the next so whether or not the disc can or cannot be read from one drive to the next depends on how sensitive the reader is. The fact that the disk cannot be read by the same drive it was burned from might be indicative of a bad burn or that the optical reader on the drive is not as sensitive as the other drives that you have tried (or it might be that it's time for a new burner).

I'm sure that there is more to it than just that but that's what/all I remember from college 10yrs ago...The burner is rarely used for anything, whether it be burning a cd or playing a game. So it shouldn't be wore out, but its possible. And its also and emachines - gateway's version.

Edit: I was talking with our tech dude at school today and he said he has had similar problems with a few of the schools computers. He was never able to find out why either.