TechTips - How to Enable CD\DVD Burning in Windows Server 2003

Windows Server 2003 doesn't inherently allow you to burn a CD/DVD the service is turned off by default. So if you install a program and try to burn using the software and your burner you might encounter and error saying that there is no drive capable of burning the disk. This has happened to me and I found that there is a relatively easy fix, just turn on the CD burning service. In this guide I will explain how to turn on this service with step-by-step instructions.

First the reason that I ran into this problem, I was sitting at a server working on it and didn't want to go all the way back to my desk to burn an ISO to a disk (I would mount it but it's against policy to mount an ISO file, dumb but policy is policy). So I wanted to burn this ISO file and after installing Roxio I couldn't burn the disk it kept saying that my CD drive wasn't capable.

Now what I figured was that there was a compatibility issue with Roxio and Windows Server 2003, but I checked their website and it is compatible. So I started digging into this issue more and found that the CD burning service was set to disabled. I am surprised that when installing Roxio it doesn't at least attempt to start this service and set it to automatic, but for whatever reason it doesn't. So I simply set the service to manual, started it, and went about my burning. Roxio worked great after I turned on the burning service.

So to enable the burning service just do the following:

Click Start

Click Run

Type Services.msc

Hit Enter

Right Click the service (IMAPI CD-Burning Service)

Choose Properties

Click Startup type (choose manual)

Click Start

You should get a window that comes up saying starting the service, once it closes you should check the services again and make sure that the (IMAPI CD-Burning Service) says started. Once this is done you can install the burning software of your choice and then burn you CD/DVD. Keep in mind you can also install the software first and then start the service, it doesn't matter which order, it should work either way. I didn't have to reboot my system for this to work so you shouldn't have to but if it doesn't work you might want to try a reboot just to make sure.

Hope this guide helps you burn CD\DVD's on your Windows Server 2003 box.