A few days ago we did a post on error reporting in response to a serious error I had incurred.  The error, according to Microsoft was caused by:

 Sonic Solutions CD/DVD Recording Software Component DRVMCDBS.SYS

I am still trying to get that error figured out. Sonic’s RecordNow CD Recording software that came installed on my Toshiba Laptop, continues to cause serious errors on my Windows XP, SP2 installation.

I was able to track down a thread in the support forums at Roxio that was “dealing” with this issue during the months of January to May 2007. The “solution” Roxio started with was:

Unfortunately this is a known issue that requires a new installer. I have sent you a private message with a new download.

Sorry for the inconvenience, no one likes blue screens.

Of course the following threads were pages of people trying to get the company to make the file available for download. The reply from Roxio continued to get complicated further. On February 26 there is an updated post from Roxio:

UPDATE (2/26) - Due to the popularity of this thread, I will now have to require a registered email address to ensure your ownership of the software. You register the software the first time you open it so you may be registered and not even know it. Otherwise, in any Sonic application go to Help -> Register. If you do not want to post your email address on this public forum, please send me a PM with your email address and I’ll respond with the link, assuming everything checks out.

As you can imagine everyone felt they had received such amazing technical support here that one user responds sadly (but humorously):

HEY EXCUSE ME FOR BUYING A COMPUTER WITH ROXIO’S PRODUCT IN IT, BUT WHY ALL THE SECRECY AND VERIFY, ETC. IT’S NOT LIKE ANYONE IS ASKING YOU TO PERSONALLY FIX THEIR SYSTEM.

BEC[AU]SE OF THIS PIECE OF ^#!& DRIVER FILE, MY SYSTEM HAS BEEN DOWN FOR 3 WEEKS AND I’VE PROBABLY LOST ENOUGH WORK TO BUY 5 OR 6 NEW LAPTOPS. ROXIO’S MAKING PLENTY OF CASH ON THE SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTION, SO PLEASE POST, OR HAVE ROXIO POST, THE FIX IN A PROMINENT PLACE. THEN INSTEAD OF ALL THIS BS, YOU CAN JUST PUBLISH ONE MESSAGE, WITH A LINK, AND THAT’S IT.

Wow, there’s a novel idea: make the fix easily available to those who have licensed copies of the Roxio software that’s causing the problem! You’re going to love the response Roxio gives. It is the last post, May 21, 2007, on the thread and effectively ends the discussion and support to Roxio customers.

Everyone who has sent me a PM will get a response today with the fix.

For people who are reading this seeking a resolution, please contact Technical Support. I am leaving Sonic and will no longer be responding to posts on the forum or to private messages so don’t bother.

Good luck

Good luck? What sort of business model does Roxio have?! Good luck! So what was I going to do? My computer was still getting errors. I uninstalled the Sonic DLA application and restarted my machine. So far this seems to have corrected the issue (I’ll provide updates here if this does not completely resolve the matter). I intend to just use the CD writing ability that Windows XP provides and be done with Roxio forever.