This is a problem I've had for almost two years. Every now and then I get frustrated with it, and post it on a site like this to see if anyone can help. To date no one has.
I had a Sony DVD burner that used Roxio burning software. It worked fine for several years then, all of a sudden, it would no longer burn DVD-R/W's. It would still burn Cd's and DVD-R's, and it would function as a packet writer on all types of disks. Whenever I tried to burn a video to a DVD-RW, it would go through all the motions, right down to indicating burning progress. But, when it finally indicated it was through burning, the disk was blank.
I presumed the burner had malfunctioned, and replaced it with a Samsung device that came with Nero software. The problem persisted, however, even with the new burner, exactly as it had with the Sony burner.
At the suggestion of posters on other forums, I have run a program designed to remove all traces of Roxio--no help. Then I used a program to completely remove Nero and reloaded everything but the packet writing software. Still no help.
I have tried other DVD burning software.
I presume it's some kind of a conflict with software but, short of removing every lick of software on the machine, I don't know where to turn.
Anybody got any ideas?

Just an idea or two, don't know if they will help.

1) Have you updated your drivers??

2) Just out of curiousity are you by chance using Norton anti-virus or any other Symantic security products?
About a year ago, I use to have all kinds of frustrating problems then I removed Norton, and like magic my problems disappeared.

I downloaded the latest updates to the Nero program, and I presume that's what you mean by updating drivers. Also keep in mind that the problem began while I was running Roxio on the Sony drive.
I'm not using any Norton products except Ghost, which shouldn't interfere if it's not running.
I use Avast for antivirus, and I use Zone Alarm for a firewall. If Norton causes a problem, one of these may also. You're leading me in a whole new direction here. Maybe I'll try disconnecting the internet then eliminating these programs and see if it clears things up. Problem is I've been running these for years, and the problem appeared out of the blue. I will give it a try, however.