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Saving Files To DVD's

TARPSBird

TARPSBird

Moderator
Staff member
In preparation for installing Windows XP I downloaded several different freeware DVD burning programs to save my files and I'm not having success with any of them. Just now I was able to copy three .jpg files from My Pictures to one of my DVD-RW's but it's showing only 217KB of files on the disk with no empty space. These DVD's are supposed to have 4.7GB of space. I have no idea WTF I'm doing wrong. :banghead: If anybody's copied files to DVD successfully pls give me a few pointers here.
 
you shouldn't need any software to just copy files. Windows XP's file system knows when you insert a blank DVD. Then simply start copying files onto it. When you are done, right click and select "write to CD" (or something like that).

You only need 3rd party software if you want to make movies or music DVDs (NERO is good for that).

Check your CD/DVD rom. Maybe it doesn't support DVD writing? Also check the DVDs. Are they - or + or both..etc..

-feng
 
Currently I am running Windows ME, soon to install XP after I save the files I don't want to lose. Something's not right because I just put a brand new DVD-RW into my CD/DVD drive and when I click on My Computer it shows up as having 648MB of space like a CD, not 4.7GB. This is a Sony Optiarc drive that I bought new this summer but I had not attempted to copy files to DVD until now. You'd think it would recognize the disk as a DVD.
 
If it is an "RW" disc try finding a command "format disc", probably need to format it first. Just be very sure you select the correct drive first.
 
As you are running ME (Misserable Edition) then the drivers for DVDs are probably not included ..

Google drivers for the brand drive you installed and run them..Then your OS should recognize it for what it is,..

Now it only knows its a CD drive/burner...



Most generic drivers should work.....


http://driverzone.com/category.php?cat=16
 
IF I remember right, even ME should have DVD drivers included. It's been a while since I've messed around with those old OSes though...

What burner programs have you tried and do they see the blank media as a DVD or just a CD too?
DeepBurner is my favorite freebie.


Just another thought...
Have you considered using just an external USB hard drive for your data transfer? That would probably be an easier route than messing around with getting your drive set up in ME just to blow the setup away when you do the XP install.
 
TARPSBird

Dont know too much about it but if it says that you have only 648MB it thinks that you have a CD inserted rather than a DVD. Is there something in the program you are trying to use that lets you indicate the media that you are using?

voyager
 
Nero CD/DVD burning software came with my Plextor DVD drive, and I have no problems putting files, photos and such on a DVD. With Nero you must choose a catagory to start. One is "Make a Data DVD", which is what I use. I've never had to format a DVD but it should be "finalised" when you finish. There's also "Make a Data CD" and the same goes for that.

I alsdo had Nero for ME and it worked grreat. I do think you might need to look into getting something like this so you'll have fewer problems Tarps. I don't think you can drag/drop files to CD or DVDs without software.
 
Is your drive a CD burner/DVD READER?? Maybe your unit is only being seen as such. I have one of those rather old drives, which came out when DVD drives were first introduced for computers.
 
sounds like drivers to me also. when i installed my dvd writer, drivers were the issue. i used the disc that came with the burner and voila! it became all good.
 
Thanks everybody for your comments so far. Here's the info on my CD/DVD drive, Sony Optiarc model AD-7200A:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118011
As you can see from the specs it should play just about anything. When I ordered this I got just the drive and the install instructions, no supplemental disk. It's worked fine (as a CD player) until I started messing with the DVD's yesterday, it apparently fails to recognize the presence of a DVD in the tray and defaults to CD. I will follow up on your driver comments, that may be the problem.
For DVD burning software I have tried out Amok and ImgBurn (both freeware). Amok has too many settings I don't understand and no proper instructions (at least not in English). ImgBurn seems pretty easy to use and I did copy some files to a DVD with it (see my previous post) and it did recognize the DVD. Some of you suggested that I shouldn't have to use it to just save files. Pls take a look at the specs for my drive and if you have comments post again. Thanks! :)
 
After reading a couple of website items I get the impression that it is normal for a CD/DVD drive to read a blank DVD±RW as a CD. That is, you just pop the disk in the tray, go to My Computer, click on the drive and it shows as a CD with 648MB of space. That still seems kinda strange. :confused:
My CD burning software recognizes the DVD so I guess I can copy files OK and make use of all/most of the 4.7GB on each disk. Sure wish my external HD hadn't died, I can't afford to get a new one and Windows XP too. :frown:
 
TARPSBird said:
After reading a couple of website items I get the impression that it is normal for a CD/DVD drive to read a blank DVD±RW as a CD. That is, you just pop the disk in the tray, go to My Computer, click on the drive and it shows as a CD with 648MB of space. That still seems kinda strange. :confused:
My CD burning software recognizes the DVD so I guess I can copy files OK and make use of all/most of the 4.7GB on each disk. Sure wish my external HD hadn't died, I can't afford to get a new one and Windows XP too. :frown:
Click to expand...

You are correct...the older Winders OSes didn't really know what to do with your blank DVD media so they just went with the "generic" 650Mb blank CD-R size when displaying the disk in My Computer or Windows Explorer.

You'll need to check the size of the media using your burner program (It sounds like you already have). If the burner software recognizes the media as a 4.7Gb DVD-? then you're good to go.

For 98/ME, you will need another burner program since the built-in "burn to disk" features that Windows had back then was anything from basic to all-but-useless. Heck I never got the built-in one working until SP2 for XP and it still made more than it's share of "coasters" (failed burn session disks).
Imgburn should be a useable one for ya, but I'll still stick with recommending DeepBurner as easier to use (for me anyway). Might want to at least check it out. The pro version has just as many features as Nero or Roxio without all the bloat and the free version has all you need to burn up data disks for backup/transfer or other tasks too.
http://www.deepburner.com/?r=products&pr=deepburner&prr=provsfree and click on the DL link for the free version.
 
Mike, thanks for your response. It's great to have so many folks here for "tech support" when you have to mess around with the pooter. :)
 
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