Is Media Software Required to Read Mini-CDs?

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  1. Posts : 373
    Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit
       #1

    Is Media Software Required to Read Mini-CDs?


    Hey folks,

    So many devices these days come with a driver on a mini-CD. My laptops (Acer and Toshiba) take forever to access them, then think they're blank and ask to format them.

    In Googling this I found a guy who said he fixed this problem by reinstalling Roxio. Said his computer came with it but he'd uninstalled it cause he never used it. That it must "turn on" a feature in W7 or something, cause after he reinstalled it, his computer could read mini's.

    When I got both my laptops I wiped all partitions (including the hidden "recovery" one), re-partitioned the way I wanted, and reloaded all drivers and W7 (64 Ultimate). The DVD players in both laptops have a central spindle, so they are designed to read mini-CDs. They DO detect them, but again, think they are blank.

    Anyone heard of Roxio or other software being required to read mini's? Thanks much.

    PS I have a lot of media software installed but not Roxio. (Nero, ImageBurn, Handbrake, Ashampoo, etc.)
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  2. Posts : 6,830
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32-Bit & Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit
       #2

    Windows should be able to read your mini-CDs . You might want to eject the CD and place it in the middle . It will take a few seconds to read the disc due to it size. I never had an issue with mini-CDs being read.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 1,660
    Windows 8 Pro (32-bit)
       #3

    Are you sure you can't download the drivers? I avoid installing drivers by CD because they are almost always out of date.
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  4. Posts : 373
    Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       #4

    VistaKing said:
    Windows should be able to read your mini-CDs . You might want to eject the CD and place it in the middle . It will take a few seconds to read the disc due to it size. I never had an issue with mini-CDs being read.
    The drive has a central spindle the CD snaps on to, so it is inserted correctly. And again, happens with both my laptops, which are both about 2 yrs old.

    I'm wondering if when I installed W7 I skipped some program needed to read these... I don't remember what I chose to install and chose to skip, but I didn't install stuff I wasn't going to use, though I did install Media Center (which I never use, turns out), so... you'd think if the driver was anywhere, it'd be there!
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  5. Posts : 373
    Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       #5

    FuturDreamz said:
    Are you sure you can't download the drivers? I avoid installing drivers by CD because they are almost always out of date.
    It took all night but I eventually found the drivers on a Czech site. But this happens over and over, of ordering some little device, and getting a mini-CD, and I'd like to be able to read them on principle alone and because it's faster to install from the provided CD then update the driver later when/if I want to.

    But the most important reason is there is no reason the drive shouldn't be reading these... IOW, I'd like to fix it so it's working properly. :)
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  6. Posts : 6,830
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32-Bit & Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit
       #6

    Windows 7 only comes with Windows Media Player. Mini-CDs are just the size of the disc not the type . It doesn't matter if they're CD-Rs or CD-RWs .
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 4,466
    Windows 10 Education 64 bit
       #7

    I'll chime in with the others and say I have never had any problems reading mini CD's. The ones I've encountered used the same format as the normal sized CD and can be accessed without having to install any third party program or utility. They just hold less data and are easier to package.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 373
    Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       #8

    ::whimper:: Oddly, there are many results in Google with this problem, but no answers. I just took this mini-CD to my third laptop, which is a replica of the Toshiba but has Ubuntu on it instead of W7, and it read in the Ubuntu machine fine. So it ain't the CD. But W7 is missing something and I'd like both my machines fixed so I don't have to go boot a third machine to read a mini-CD that should work fine on my main machines. I will hopefully find the problem and post back with the answer for others who might benefit.

    Thanks for trying to help.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 373
    Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       #9

    When I found this I thought I had something. I'll post it in case it helps others. It's a registry fix that involves deleting the Upper and LowerFilters in a reg key, but I did not have any U/L filters in that key. my computer thinks a data cd is blank, sort of - Microsoft Community

    The key in question is: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

    Just curious if my reg key here looks different that someone's who is able to read miniCDs:
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 373
    Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       #10

    ... could it be the formatting of miniCDs?
      My Computer


 
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