DVD, as a useful way to back up files from your hard disk on the computer or to transfer data, has been widely used by the public. In order to burn the digital files to the DVD discs, apart from blank DVD discs with enough capacity to store those files, you also need to obtain a powerful DVD writer on your computer as well as a DVD burning program. Since a DVD writer has played such an important role, it is quite necessary to keep the DVD writer in good condition so that it can be used for a longer time. Do you know how to clean a DVD writer and how to maintain the DVD writer in good conditions in PC? Many solutions will be given in the following article.

Part 1: What is DVD Writer

DVD writer is used to burn DVD and VCD discs. In many cases, a DVD burner is the same with the DVD writer. Specifically speaking, a DVD writer can burn videos from your video camera and your mobile phone to CDs or DVDs, and you can also burn MP3 to CDs. At the same time, the DVD writer can be used as a computer data storage disk which can make CD-ROM copies.

Current DVD writer has the following mainstream specifications: DVD-RAM which has adopted the technology of Phased-changed Dual and part of MO, by at least 2.58 GB capacity, to up to 4.7 GB. The early DVD-RAM was all protected by a shell, and the user had to put the shell and DVD-RAM into the DVD-RAM reader to write data. Another DVD-RAM with a removable shell has been developed, but the shell is still needed to write data. The current two-sided DVD-RAM also has the option of removing the shell. The first DVD-RAM was introduced in June 1998, and the capacity was upgraded to 4.7GB. Panasonic and Hitachi launched DVD-RAM with DVD-RAM support in 1999.

Using the DVD writer can burn audio and video CD, data CD, starting discs, etc., which can be convenient to store different kinds of data. The use of DVD writer is very popular and the price is getting cheaper and cheaper nowadays. However, do you know what the difference between DVD writer and DVD drive is? Actually, DVD writer can read discs and burn disc and it is one of the various kind of DVD drives. To see if the DVD drive is DVD writer or not, you only need to simply view "My Computer". If you can find the DVD-RW icon below, you can regard that it is a DVD writer. If there is only a DVD-ROM icon, your computer only has a DVD drive which is only a reading tool without data writing capability.

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Part 2: How to Clean DVD Writer

Since DVD writer has been adopted to burn digital files to DVD discs as well as transferring data to an empty disc which then can be able to save the DVD to Mac and Windows PC for further sharing, it is quite important to purchase an excellent DVD writer with superior quality. With time passing by, the DVD writer may have some damage due to the gathering of dust and frequent use. In order to obtain the best quality of the DVD writer and make sure you can get a perfect DVD disc, you need to obtain more knowledge about how to clean DVD writer and maintain DVD writer.

1. Clean with Soft Cloth and Alcohol

This is the easiest part for you, to some extent. Keep the outer case of the DVD Writer clean. Some DVD writer's outer design are not totally enclosed, instead, there may be some holes on the surface. To prevent the dust and dirt from being caught in the player, you had better wipe out the dust and dirt frequently. This is quite easy for you to handle, you can use a dry towel or soft cloth with alcohol to clean the surface even every day. This method can also be applied to clean a scratched DVD disc.

2. Clean with a Disc Cleaner

To fully clean a DVD writer, using the cloth with alcohol is not enough to some extent. In the market, you can find a special cleaning disc which is called disc cleaner or cleaning kits. Usually, the kits consist of a disc which can be inserted into the DVD writer and just put some cleaning fluids on the cleaning disc. Then start loading the disc on your computer. Wait in minutes and you will get a splashing DVD writer.

3. Clean via Disassembling the Writer

If all the steps above can't meet your needs, you can turn to disassemble the writer to pieces and use the soft cloth with alcohol to remove the dust inside the writer. But please make sure you are not applying too much pressure while cleaning the lens to avoid scratching or damaging it.

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Part 3: How to Maintain DVD Writer in Good Conditions

Instead of spending a lot of time in cleaning the DVD writer, you can turn your focus on how to maintain DVD writer during the daily use. From the following points, you can get some general ideas.

1. Pay Attention to the Dustproof and Moisture-proof of the DVD Writer

Dust and moisture are the enemies of optical storage equipment. Dust falling on the first-class parts of the laser will affect the performance of the optical drive. The damp environment will make the internal circuit of optical drive malfunction. In addition, the humid environment will lead to the optical drive internal connector oxidation and cause bad contact with the fault, so try to keep indoor humidity is not too high.

2. Don't Overlook the Heat Dissipation of the Writer

The power of DVD writer is relatively large. It takes about 5 minutes to burn a single 4.7G disc at 16X speed. Therefore, it is inevitable that there will be a large amount of heat. Poor heat dissipation in the burning process, not only will lead to disk failure but also indirectly shorten the service life of the recorder, especially in the hot summer. Therefore, you should try to avoid continuous long time burning.

3. Choose Good Quality Discs

If the quality of DVD disc is not good, such as physical scratches, pits or bubbles on the disc defects, the risks of failure error for the DVD writer are very high. The laser tube power will become very large, optical drive frequently focuses on error correction which will not be conducive to the service life of the laser head. It also makes it difficult for the DVD writer to recognize the discs.

4. Use a Virtual DVD-ROM Drive to Play Games

To save hard disk space, many games can be run directly on DVD drive. When the optical drive reads the game, the speed is full for a long time which is very unfavorable for many mechanical parts and laser head components in the optical drive. So it is recommended to use virtual optical drive software to play games

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Part 4: Best Tool You Shouldn't Miss for DVD Writer - Leawo DVD Creator

After knowing the general information on how to clean DVD writer, now you should take some time learning how to burn a DVD disc on your computer. Asides from the DVD writer and an empty DVD disc, what you also need is a powerful DVD writer program for your computer. Among various DVD rewritable drive software, I will strongly recommend you to take a try on Leawo DVD Creator.
As one of the best tool you shouldn't miss for DVD writer software, Leawo DVD Creator can easily allow you to burn more than 180 types of digital files to DVD, CD disc as well as ISO images, like RMVB, MKV, MP4, WMV, Xvid, MOV, and FLV to DVD-9 and DVD-5 discs with 6X faster speed than others. With the support for Intel Quick Sync acceleration technology, Leawo DVD Creator ensures the fast burning speed while you are burning the digital videos to DVD. Furthermore, Leawo DVD Creator can preserve the quality of the original video while burning the video to DVD and ensures that the DVD playback would look just as good as the original video. If you prefer a personalized DVD disc, you can set the DVD menu templates from the local library or DIY based on your own needs.
You can easily burn the videos to DVD by referring to the following steps.

Step 1: Download Leawo DVD Creator and install it on your computer.

Step 2: Insert an empty DVD disc to the computer's drive.

Step 3: Open the program and import the reluctant video files to the main panel of the program by clicking "Add Video", or you can simply drag the video file to the program directly.

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Step 4: Set the disc menu templates. You can choose from the templates library in the right-hand column or you can DIY your own disc menu.

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Step 5: Start burning DVD. Once all the templates have been selected, click the green "Burn" icon on the top right-hand corner to start the DVD burning process. And you will be required to confirm "Burn to", "Disc Label" and "Save to" options.

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By the way, if you have the need to play and enjoy the DVD discs on your computer, I will recommend Leawo Blu-ray Player – one of the best region free 4K Blu-ray Players to you.