You can check the "cd burning tips" page under the help menu on this web page, or just look at this list copied from that page:
- Make sure nothing else is running while the burn is taking place. Turn off background programs like virus checkers and screen savers. Disable Adaptec's
DirectCD if that is running. Some power saving options may also kick in and cause problems.
- Increase the priority of the burning process to "High" (in CD Writer Settings).
- For the cache size (in CD Writer Settings), try "Auto" and then try "2 MB". Using too large a cache size may cause performance problems.
- Uncheck the "decode mp3 files directly to CD" option in CD Writer Settings. Some systems aren't fast enough to handle decoding the mp3 data and burning at the same time.
- In Windows device manager, turn off DMA mode and "auto-insert" notification. See the question "What are the optimum device settings for burning?" for details.
- Run "defag" on your hard drive. Sometimes a severely fragmented drive can slow data transfer considerably. Defrag is a Windows tool usually found in "Accessories/System tools". If the defrag process keeps restarting every few seconds, this could be the cause of the CD burning failures: something is writing to the disk periodically. Possible culprits are virus checkers, backup programs, virtual memory settings that cause swapping, network activity, background downloads of data or faxes.
- A utility included with Microsoft Office, called "FindFast", will occasionally start up and scan your hard drives. Disabling this by deleting the shortcut in the Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp folder may be necessary. Also disable "Goback" if you have that running.
- If you have an IDE burner (most burners are IDE), it's best to have it as the "master" device on it's own IDE channel. Especially avoid having it share a channel with the hard drive you are burning data from! If you have a SCSI burner, you may have to put it on a separate controller for optimum results.
- Try a different disk or a different brand of media. The disk may be scratched or of poor quality.