Imgburn Disc Not Empty

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Reggie Lamborn

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Aug 3, 2024, 3:22:02 PM8/3/24

to chicquetohou

Now, don't quote me on this, but when you erase discs in Windows, Windows writes a desktop.ini or some kind of .ini file to the root directory. Or a System Volume folder. Especially if it erased it as a giant floppy. That's probably the reason why ImgBurn says it's not empty. Because Windows erased it. And if Windows did "format" the disc as a giant floppy, ImgBurn will see it's "not empty." It's been formatted and thus "written" to to enable using the disc as a giant floppy.

You should be able to drag and drop files in Windows/File Explorer to the disc and write to it. Or if you're going to write an image to the disc with ImgBurn, it will ask you if you want to erase the disc or not. If you're sure you don't need anything on the disc, just tell ImgBurn to go ahead with the write.

But, did you drag and drop a movie file to the RW disc in Windows/File Explorer? Or did you create an ISO and burn the ISO to the RW with Windows internal burning engine? If you dragged and dropped it, Windows automatically formatted it as a giant floppy. If the ISO was burned, then it is seen as not being empty because contents were burned to it. So, either way, the disc contains contents and that's why ImgBurn says it's not empty. Because it has that movie burned to it, in one way or another.

In this case, as long as you don't mind the contents on the RW being erased when you choose to start a Write operation in ImgBurn, you can just tell ImgBurn it's all right to erase the disc before burning. So, yeah, you can ignore it if you don't mind losing the current contents on the RW disc. And you'll be prompted by ImgBurn if it's okay to erase the contents on the disc before the image write begins.

In case it is important, this disc was originally written on in a DVD recorder, not in my PC. Does that make a difference? Do I need to reformat it on my PC? If so, how do I format it? It doesn't seem that's the issue since IMG apparently recognizes the disc, it just doesn't like the fact that it's empty.

Yes, I tried that, but it would not erase the disc. Well, actually I tried to do it through IMG. When I go into Windows Explorer and view the properties of the DVD, it shows as full. 1.80 GB used, 0 GB available. Aren't these DVDs supposed to hold 4.7 GB?

Windows Explorer will not allow me to erase or delete any files. I get a message that the files are read-only, and I cannot move or copy them. However, I know my DVD recorder will let me delete them. I deleted a program from the DVD yesterday that was using half of the space on the DVD, so it has at least half of the space full.

I never had any interest in doing this task on the PC, but it seemed to be emerging as a viable alternative. However, after doing almost nonstop research over the weekend and a ton after work last week, I'm going with the only easy and reliable route I can find. The task is converting all my miniDV camcorder tapes to DVD. No editing, no titles, nothing fancy, just a straight, reliable copy. My camcorder died and there are very few miniDV camcorders available with an S-video port, and of the two HDD DVD recorders I'm interested in (Pioneer 640 and Panasonic EH55), the Pioneer does not have a DV in, and the Panasonic has a DV in, but stops recording whenever there is even a slight gap in the recording. Alas, modern technology is one step forward, ten steps backward. I'm getting the cheapest miniDV camcorder I can find to function as a playback unit only, and using good, old fashioned composite cables to transfer to a DVD recorder.

When I insert my CD-Disc> I Click Imgburn> I Click Write Image file to disc, I can't click ready. It tells me. "Disc Not Empty" and My CD-Disc is Empty. I have no files in my empty CD-Disc when I insert it in my DVD drive. How can I fix this ? I'm new to Imgburn.

It appears you got a laptop DVD burner. those tend to be worse/more picky than desktop burners (so if you have trouble burning certain kinds of CD's etc, that's probably why). what CD's are you trying to use?

What's more worrying is the screenshot is showing Unknown for key elements like Sectors, Size, and Time. An image file needs that data or it can't be burnt to a disc. Are you sure you actually opened an image file for burning to CD-R?

Here the other one that works. But what's interesting it's saying unknown. The only works is Create Image file from disc, Create image file from files/folder and Verify Disc. But what's interesting is Unknown in my screen.

If you are just trying to 'burn files' (assuming these are just data files you want to backup) to a CD or DVD use 'Mode > Build' in ImgBurn. then on 'Output' select 'Device' (then you can simply drag-and-drop files into the ImgBurn window, adjust whatever settings/burn speed you prefer etc, then burn it is the basic idea here). NOT 'Mode > Write' which is for burning image files like .iso/.cue+.bin etc.

Okay, that means your discs aren't blank or your drive thinks they're not blank. Most likely the latter. Try opening one of these discs in File/Windows Explorer. See if there are any contents on these discs already. In which case, I'd just invest in a 2nd USB burner drive and connect that. Then, try again. Preferably, don't use the same model drive.

(Sorry for the late reply) So, I bought a DVD-R. It's Brand new, and it still doesn't work and when I click "DVD RW Drive (D:) DVD-R" it says, "Drag files to this folder to add them to disc" So I have nothing. It's my brand New. My disc looks blank since I bought a new Disc Blank DVD-R.

I did, which I bought, a new blank disc. A DVD-R blank disc and it still says the same thing. I check my disc on File Explorer> I clicked "This PC"> I double clicked my Disc that inserted, and my file Explorer tells me "Drag Files to this folder to add them on a Disc" which I don't have nothing in my disc. Just a new Disc that I bought.

Yeah, but I didn't add nothing. I didn't add any files in my new blank Disc. I have no Idea why the blue rectangle bar tells me that I have something, and I don't have nothing in my New DVD-R blank disc.

Unless some files were added for writing to the disc in File Explorer and were never written to. Windows allows you to write files to a recordable DVD even after you've added some to them. If those files never were written, they're "queued" for future writing. This might explain why every time you insert a new blank DVD-R it's showing files are to be written to them.

I forget precisely how to fix this, but I think it's somewhat along these lines. First, insert a blank DVD. I'd take a disc from the very bottom of the package, which has the highest likelihood of really being blank. Then, open the disc in File/Windows Explorer. There should be something on the screen about files waiting to be written to the disc and the option to open the folder where they're stored. When you open this folder, delete everything in it. Particularly desktop.ini or any .ini files. I think this will return to File/Windows Explorer that the disc should be treated as a blank disc.

It would be highly unlikely if you received an entire cake stack from the factory that has been partially written to. So, the most likely culprit at this point is your drive. I would, at this point, invest in trying a new drive. A USB one would be easiest to set up, but most USB drives are slim models, which tend to be trash. I'd be sure to get a different make and manufacturer than the drive you currently have.