I'm using a simple script to check the status of CD/DVD drives on a machine. I want to be able to tell if a certain drive is writable. I have the following test code:
$script_obj = new-object -comobject wscript.shell
$drives = @(Get-WmiObject win32_logicaldisk -filter 'DriveType=5')
$script_obj.popup($drives[0].DeviceID + " " + $drives[0].Access)
This will show the drive letter of the CD/DVD drive on my machine, but the Access parameter always comes back as 0 (Unknown) even though I have a writable CD inserted into the drive. I have tried formatting the CD to be used the same as a USB device (as opposed to a music CD) so that I can open it to browse the file structure (there are no files), but this doesn't change anything.
Isn't the Access property supposed to give me 2 or 3 or 4 instead of 0?
EDIT:
I tried inserting a playable DVD and CD. DVD doesn't read, the CD works though. I was also able to burn a CD and play it on a normal CD player. Throughout this process I ran the command given by Jan below and got the same output every time:
PS C:\Users\ian> Get-WmiObject Win32_CDROMDrive | Select Caption, Drive, MediaType, Access
Caption Drive MediaType Access
------- ----- --------- ------
hp CDDVDW SH-216AL D: DVD Writer
It doesn't matter whether or not anything is inserted into drive D, or what type of disk it is, this is the output. I'm suspicious that my drive is busted since it wouldn't read a video DVD, but I dunno. This was a refurbished desktop. Are there any more reliable ways to check for a writeable CD using PS?
I eventually found that my CD/DVD drive was on its way out. It wouldn't burn DVD's and eventually stopped reading or burning anything. I figure this has something to do with my troubles.