Problem with asus DRW 1608P

[Mikas]

Hello to all,
this is my first post here, and hope you'll be able to help me.
I have computer that is nearly 3 years old. Everything was working fine and I did usual maintenance job in order to keep it fully functional all the time.
Two days ago, very strange problem appeared. When tried to make virtual drive in Nero, my computer freezed and I was forced to perform reset (manually restart button). After that, it was very slow. Windows starting up procedure was OK, but then after desktop is shown, something like new process started which terribly slow down a computer.
I went to safe mode and deleted Nero since I wasn't able to uninstall it (because windows installer service is not started in safe mode). That helped, and my computer in normal mode was working again without problems. I used TuneUp to clean registry.
Then, I noticed that none of my DVDs cannot be read from Asus DRW 1608-P drive. Since I didn't use it for a couple of days before this, I'm not sure if this is directly caused by this particular incident.

Again, I installed Nero application, and again, it was terribly slow. I deleted Nero and installed trial Acohol burning software but problem was exactly the same. It is something like problem occures when software try to communicate with drive.
I deleted Alcohol and everything is back to normal. Since I used two different software, I think problem is in my DRW drive, but it reads Cds without problems.

I searched Internet and found people comments in similar situations. I have read that most likely lens that read DVD is faulty and that drive should be replaced. I opened DRW and saw there is only one lense (maybe they're integrated).
Can someone give me any advice?
I know that easiest way is to go and bu new drive, but if there are things I could try myself?
I have opened drive and saw there are no two different (in quantity) lenses, so maybe it is not faulty.


Has anyone had similar experience?

Thank you

P.S. In installed burner in my friend's computer and noticed the following:
Computer works OK.
Some DVDs can be read others cannot. Few DVDs which was recorded by same bruner cannot be read.
This indicates that my computer has software problem, but also that drive has a problem.
Should I open it and clean it?
Which liquid to use for cleaning (is it Ok to use same as for monitor)?

[Ian]

I've found that cleaning usually doesn't help very much. It may improve things a bit, but you're probably better off buying a new drive. If you do try cleaning it, DO NOT use monitor cleaning solution. There are special cleaners that can be used with DVD players and optical drives that won't cloud or leave a film on the lense.

It sounds like the slowness may be caused by something else anyway. Check to make sure DMA is enabled for all ATAPI drives. Otherwise, you may be having a driver conflict caused by Nero's virtual drive. You could try uninstalling Nero and then using the Nero cleaner to totally remove it to see if that helps.

[Mikas]

Hello, I reformat my drive and now there is no slow start of windows. I have tested my drive and I discover the following:
all CDs Read/Write OK
some DVD can be read
No DVD can be written.
it's time to buy new drive.
However, I can buy (have access) to only these:
DVD RW LG H58N Double Layer +/- 20X
DVD RW LG H55/58N Double Layer +/- 20X, BLACK
DVD RW LG SATA Double Layer +/- 18X, BLACK, H20NS
DVD RW LG USB2.0 externi E60N retail, MULTI, 8.5GB
DVD RW LG USB2.0 externi E50N SLIM retail, MULTI, 8.5GB
DVD RW NEC AD-7200 Bulk
DVD RW NEC AD-7200 Bulk BLACK
DVD RW NEC AD-7200S All Format, SATA, Bulk BLACK
DVD RW NEC SlimLine for notebook, bulk
DVD RW ASUS BLACK RETAIL 20xDVD+-R/8xDL/14xDVD-RAM
DVD RW ASUS DRW-2014L1 20x Lightsc.black RET
DVD RW Pioneer DVR-115D-BK 20X bulk black
DVD RW Pioneer DVR-112D-BK 18X SATA bulk black

These are what I can go tomorrow and buy, so I want to chose among them.

Right now, I'm very close to buy DVD RW 115D or 112D from Pioneer, because it is famous company, and I have their DVD ROM which is old 7 years and still working (in my old computer).
Which would you recommend?

[Ian]

I would stay away from the ASUS drives and the Pioneer DVR-112D. The DVR-112D isn't a bad drive though, its just a bit outdated.

[Mikas]

So, you would recommend to buy Pioneer 115D from this list?
Is it true thhat is generally better to buy Pioneer over LG. Difference in price is about 5 $, so probably I won't make mistake to buy any of them. Just want to know one thing. Is there any mean life time of these components? I know that this depends on use, but I'm average user and perhaps reconrd one DVd and one CD a week.