PhotoStory does not recognize external DVD RW Drive

Michael-Nicoletti wrote on 10/8/2019, 8:06 AM

My new laptop is running Windows 10 and does not have an internal DVD drive. I have installed an external DVD RW drive which shows up in "Devices and drives" and is working fine except when I go to Burn a Slideshow to DVD using: MAGIX PhotoStory on CD & DVD 10 PhotoStory cannot find the external DVD drive. The "Burner" section is blank at the "DVD Burning" screen. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

johnebaker wrote on 10/8/2019, 8:25 AM

@Michael-Nicoletti

Hi and welcome to the forum.

This could be one of several issues

. . . . MAGIX PhotoStory on CD & DVD 10 . . . .

  1. The program is relatively old and may be a compatibility issue with Windows 10 - the last certified version for it was Windows 7
     
  2. Windows 10 is powering down the drive due to inactivity before you actually use it or are running on battery only. Power saving for the appropriate USB port can be turned off, however with this being a laptop. if you are running only on battery the usable time on battery will be reduced dramatically when burning - turning off power saving and burning should only be done if you use the laptop powerpack.
     
  3. . . . . The "Burner" section is blank at the "DVD Burning" screen . . . .

    The burner section should have at least one entry - Image recorder - if this is missing then I suspect the program is not installed properly due to item 1.

If there is Image recorder - you can use this to create a disc image, note where you save the image, and then try Imgburn, see if it recognises the DVD drive, to burn the image created.

HTH

John EB

 

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 24H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

Michael-Nicoletti wrote on 10/8/2019, 8:51 AM

Thanks for your reply John. The laptop is plugged in so it is not a power issue and everything works fine with creating slideshows, I just cannot burn them to a disk because the external DVD drive is not recognized by PhotoStory. I loaded PhotoStory from a friend's external DVD drive before I purchased my external drive. I am thinking maybe I should uninstall PhotoStory and then reinstall it and maybe it will recognize my external DVD drive then.

That being said, I did reconnect my friend's external DVD drive and PhotoStory does not recognize that one either.

The Burner section is blank. No Image recorder or anything else although I am selecting DVD as the "Dick selection". Mike

johnebaker wrote on 10/8/2019, 3:35 PM

@Michael-Nicoletti

Hi Mike

. . . . I am thinking maybe I should uninstall PhotoStory and then reinstall it . . . .

I do not think this would make any difference - I suspect this is a compatibility issue, Windows 10 presents the drive to Photostory however Photostory does not understand. If so then you would need to upgrade to the current version Photostory Deluxe.

Another possibility - are the external drives DVD writers or a CD writer/DVD ROM drives?

John EB

 

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 24H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

Michael-Nicoletti wrote on 10/8/2019, 6:59 PM

For what it's worth the little documentation the external drive came with, it says it supports " CD format: DVD -ROM/-R/-RW/+R/_R DLCDA CD ROM/-RW, VCD. I uninstalled and reinstalled PhotoStory and it still does not recognize the external drive. PhotoStory is the only problem I have with the external DVD drive.

I think plan B is to just keep the old laptop (windows 7) and use it for off-line applications and to make my PhotoStory projects with it. The new laptop is so fast and plays videos without being 'choppy' but I am afraid I will buy a new version of PhotoStory and have the same problem so for now it is what it is. Thanks for your help. Mike

johnebaker wrote on 10/9/2019, 3:59 AM

@Michael-Nicoletti

Hi

. . . . CD format: DVD -ROM/-R/-RW/+R/_R DLCDA CD ROM/-RW, VCD . . .

What make/model is the drive?

John EB

Last changed by johnebaker on 10/9/2019, 3:59 AM, changed a total of 1 times.

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 24H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

Michael-Nicoletti wrote on 10/9/2019, 6:56 AM

While the drive does not seem to have a maker's name on it, looking at it's 'Properties' at DVD CDRW/DVD DRIVE {D:} it says: PHILIPS CDRW/DVD CDD 5263 USB... My friend's that also did now work was a Samsung.

johnebaker wrote on 10/9/2019, 12:26 PM

@Michael-Nicoletti

Hi

Thanks for the info - the specification for the drive indicates it can read/write CD's and only read DVD's ie it is not a DVD writer - this may be why it does not appear in the burner list .

Was the Samsung recognised by Photostory?

John EB

 

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 24H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

Michael-Nicoletti wrote on 10/9/2019, 4:35 PM

Interesting! Thanks for the info. I think I will return the external DVD drive and buy a new one that I am sure writes. Mike