ERROR: CD-RW disc is an imcompatible format or write-protected

From GEAR Software Knowledgebase

Applies to Products: All

Applies to Operating Systems: All

Symptoms When attempting to record to a CD-RW disc, the operation may fail with one of the following errors: - "Cannot initialize the recorder for writing. The type or format of the medium currently loaded is not recognized by the drive" -or- - "Cannot initialize the recorder for writing. The medium is write protected"

Cause 1) The user is attempting to record to High Speed media in a non High Speed drive. 2) The user is attempting to record to Ultra Speed media in a non Ultra Speed drive. 3) The media being used is incorrectly reporting its disc type to the drive.

Resolution Determine the capabilities of your drive and make sure your CD-RW media is supported.

Drive Type	Drive Type Logo	CD-RW Speed Range	Media Type Supported
Multi Speed Drive	File:Cdrwms.jpg	1x ~ 4x	Multi Speed CD-RW media
High Speed Drive	File:Cdrwhs.jpg	4x ~ 16x	Multi Speed CD-RW media High Speed CD-RW media
Ultra Speed Drive	File:Cdrwus.jpg	16x ~ 24x	Multi Speed CD-RW media High Speed CD-RW media Ultra Speed CD-RW media

If the user finds that the media type is supported and still receives the error message then the media may be incorrectly reporting its media type to the drive. In this case we advise users to return the media to your retailer.