LIGHTNING UK!

Are you looking at the media usage bar and thinking it's a progress bar? It isn't.

If the size of the file changes, that can happen. You'd need to post the log for us to help properly.

Original / standard machines aren't designed for playing backups.

If it's still showing up as being totally empty after being formatted, your drive must have an issue with the disc. Check the drives firmware is up to date and perhaps give it a clean with a cleaning disc.

I see no problem there so it's either a problem with the file you're burning or with the playback device.

Your log doesn't show anything to do with verification.

Does it burn and verify ok? Post the log please.

Yes, so just use Explorer.

Those error rates are crazy high. Try making a new image of the disc and burn it again. Don't rely on that one working for much longer - if it works at all now.

I see the verbatim discs you're burning there are the cheaper LTH ones. Stick to HTL if possible. If the drive is having trouble burning to several different (MID) discs, maybe it's faulty?

I've no idea, you'd have to ask Microsoft

It looks like you've picked the wrong disc type. It's a DVD-RW yeah, not a DVD-RAM? Normally the selection would be automatic, but as your drive can't initialise the disc, it can't tell ImgBurn what's in it and therefore ImgBurn has to prompt you. Do you have access to any other burners? One of those might be able to erase it.

Technically it's 6.3 but Windows lies about it unless you add things to the exe's manifest or boot into safe mode. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/windows/desktop/ms724832(v=vs.85).aspx

Can you post the log from the failed erases you've attempted since the power cut please?

You can't. If all you want is a folder on your drive, just drag and drop it using Explorer.

If the drive can read it ok, I don't see why not. Check it installs ok.

Scan at 4x, not max. Your burns may get better as you burn more of those discs. The drive is supposed to learn as it goes.

Well all of the test I did with the drives were done with it off. The only setting that needed to be changed from its default value in order to get good burns was the force hypertuning one.

If your drive keeps saying that after multiple eject / insert attempts.... Possibly not. You can just try erasing it again anyway via any of the methods that make ImgBurn do just that.

You aren't getting a zip file, the program can't make such things. You've just associated ISO files with your compression program, making it look like a compressed file.

It might work with BDRE DL in general, but they're then made to work with specific MID discs. They're all different and so firmware needs tweaking accordingly.

Yes, clear opc history and try again with online hypertuning turned off. If it still fails, you'll have to try another spindle of discs and/or another drive.

All you'd need to do is run that file. The flasher is built in.

Your drive is producing a bad burn on those discs. It's not even failing at the layer break position, it's failing long before that. Does that drive support clearing its OPC history in the drive/advanced settings? If so, do it. Take a look at the packaging of your discs. Where were they made?

If you go into the 'ImgBurn Support' forum and read the pink box at the top of the page, you should see a link to a guide talking about log files. Failing that, check the Guides forum.