I'm trying to set up a friend's new Dell XPS 410 with Core 2 Duo E6300 processor and Win XP MCE. I could not get MyDVD 9 to process anything. I added a video, but the transcoding process ran for over a day, so I killed it.

So, just for fun, I wiped the drive and loaded Win Vista RC1 Ultimate and then EMC9. In this version, as soon as I click "Burn" it freezes the system.

Does this software actually work? I'm stuck--my understanding is that MyDVD 6.1 won't run on a dual core processor at all and apparently MyDVD 9 won't either.

I don't have a Core Duo system but I see no reason why it would not work. On the Vista system, EMC9 won't be fully ready for Vista until it's released as it's still a beta now. You can read the sticky at the top of the 9 forum for info.
There is a partial work around you can try posted here but I'm not sure if the MyDVD/Videowave side is ready yet.
Did your friends Dell come with any software installed, such as Sonic or Roxio? Just curious if you tried it as well.

I have an HP P4D 930 Dual Core CPU with MCE and EMC 9 runs just fine. Make sure you have ALL of the Windows updates. Update your video card drivers and the latest DirectX (aug2006).

Which video card or chipset do you have? Just because it's a new computer doesn't gaurantee a video chip that fully supports DirectX 9. The integrated chips are fine for surfing the web or using office apps, but they have very little, if any, support for 3D functions which can be used by Videowave and MyDVD during rendering.

There is absolutely no reason why the older MyDVD 6 should not work on a Dual Core machine. My HP came with Sonic's Digital Media Suite which included MyDVD 6. I removed it because I much perferred EMC 8 that I had at the time.

See All XPS 410 Tech Specs
256MB PCI ExpressTM NVIDIA® GeForceTM 7300LE TurboCache
ATI X1300 Pro 256MB
256MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GS
512MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX

Thank God for the edit button!

cdanteek

Stupid question here that I know I can look up myself.....what's the difference between Dual Core, Duo Core and Core 2 Duo? I know the speeds listed are lower and a 1.8 Core 2 Duo is faster than a P3.4 but not sure of the basic differences in the chip
Excuse the partial hijacking of this thread.

Duo Core and Core 2 are the same CPUs. Duo is the mobile version. Dual Core is the previous version which is what I have and use the Pentium D monicker with 3 digit number.

From Tom's hardware:
Intel does not talk about changes to the processor architecture; it talks about a complete redesign. The engineers took elements from the current Pentium D NetBurst architecture and added ingredients that made the Pentium M and Core Duo mobile processors successful, and voilá: The Core2 micro-architecture was born.

I think they spend too much of their time just thinking up names.

Intel Core 2
From Wikipedia,

Core 2 Duo brand logo
Core 2 Extreme brand logoCore 2 is a ninth-generation x86 architecture microprocessor produced by Intel based on an all-new CPU architecture called the Intel Core Microarchitecture, which is the successor of NetBurst microarchitecture that has powered most Intel processors since 2000. Core 2 also marks the retirement of Intel's Pentium brand name that has been used from 1993 and the reunion of Intel's notebook and desktop product lines since Pentium M was released apart from Pentium 4 in 2003.

The first wave of Core 2 processors was officially released on July 27, 2006. Like the Intel Core processors that they supersede, the Core 2 brand is subdivided into Duo (dual-core) and Extreme (high-end) models, with a possible Solo (single-core) model on the way. The first generation of Core 2 products all have been dual core, with future plans for single and quad core varieties.

Unlike NetBurst-based processors, such as the Pentium 4 and Pentium D, Core 2 does not stress designs based on extremely high clock speeds but rather improvements on other CPU features, including cache efficiency and number of cores. The power consumption of these processors is much lower than the Pentium desktop line of products. With a TDP of only 65 W, Core 2 has the lowest power consumption of any desktop chip this generation, including both Prescott's TDP of 130 W and San Diego's TDP of 89 W.

Intel Core 2 processors feature EM64T (an implementation of AMD64), Virtualization Technology, Execute Disable Bit, and SSSE3. The release also introduced LaGrande Technology, Enhanced SpeedStep Technology, and Active Management Technology (iAMT2).

More info

cdanteek

nVidia 7300. I will try updating all the drivers to see what happens. Thanks for posting.

FWIW, here is the complete build description from Dell:
1 DK315 CARD (CIRCUIT), GRAPHICS, 128, 7300, LOW ENCRYPTION, MRMGA10
2 X8388 DUAL IN-LINE MEMORY MODULE, 512, 667M, 64X64, 8, 240, 1RX8
1 GR343 KIT, SOFTWARE, OVERPACK, WINDOWS XP, MCE05U, DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE, ENGLAND/ENGLISH
1 JX144 PROCESSOR, 6300, 1.86, 2M, CORE DUO-CONROE, BURN 2
1 NJ131 INSTRUCTION, DEVIATE CHAS L6 TO L5.5
1 T1613 KIT, SOFTWARE, OFCBSC-2K3, ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MFGR., ENGLAND/ENGLISH
1 YH257 ASSEMBLY, FLOPPY DRIVE, 1.44MEGB, NEC CORPORATION, CHASSIS 2005, BLK
1 T9112 ASSEMBLY, CABLE, ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY ATTACHMENT PACKET INTERFACE, TANK
1 JF495 MODEM, V.92, DATA FAX, INTERNAL, SON2, LEAD FREE, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION
1 RG894 KIT, SOFTWARE, APPLICATION, SONIC SOLUTIONS, CINEPLAYER, PRE-ACTIVATED
1 MH200 HARD DRIVE, 250GB, S2, 7.2K, 8MG, LEAD FREE, SAMSUNG
1 UF650 KIT, SOFTWARE, TREND MICRO, 12, ENGLAND/ENGLISH, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION
0 149DF INFORMATION, PREPARATION MATERIAL, DEVIATION, PRECISION WORKSTATION, INCREASE, #2
1 GH483 ASSEMBLY, CABLE, FLEX-BAY, TANK/MSMT
1 TH661 ASSEMBLY, Flash Storage Device, UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS, READER, HALF HEIGHT, TEAC, BLACK
1 DJ331 KEYBOARD, 104, UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS, UNITED STATES, ENTRY, LITEON, BLACK
1 UH837 KIT, SPEAKER, 12V, AS501, NMB, BLACK
1 JH300 ASSEMBLY, DVD+/-RW, 16, TOSHIBA SAMSUNG STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, Serial ATA, BLACK




It came with some basic Roxio stuff--like the lite version of Creator Classic--but nothing to turn my Tivo files into DVDs.

Thanks.

My HP came with the nVidia 7300LE with turbocache. That card should be fine. However, I found out that 'turbocache' means that it uses part of your system memory, too. According to the nVidia tech support, there is no way to turn turbocache off. That feature is built into the 7300 chip.

I had no problem using the drivers from nVidia's website with the OEM card.

Well, I loaded the latest nVidia drivers for Vista and MyDVD still won't transcode anything. The progress bar comes up and it stays at 0% forever. This is pretty disappointing.

I think the problem in the second case is really the advanced beta version of Vista. Until Vista is finalized, the program may not work properly. There are a couple of posts that describe a work around; search for them. Did you have IE7 on that computer with either MCE or Vista RC? What are you trying to burn?

I did not touch IE 7 when it was XP MCE. My Vista RC1 load was a clean install, so whatever IE comes with Vista is what it is. I did try the .reg file work-around under Vista but it did not help.

I am trying to take shows from Tivo and transcode them to DVD. I do this frequently on my 5 year-old P4 1.5 GHz machine using MyDVD 6.1 and it works fine. (Other than taking about 4 hours, during which time the computer is essentially unusable for other tasks.)

I'm going to wipe Vista away and use Dell Restore to put XP MCE back on. I was really just trying to see if I would benefit from buying a new PC, but it appears the answer for now is NO since I have been unable to successfully complete the one task that made me want a new computer in the first place!

Thanks.

Vista RC1 does include IE7 in it's latest glory.
Did you actually overwrite your system with a beta of Vista? I would never suggest that since it's only good for a short time and you can always set up a second partition or hard drive and dual boot to either OS as you want to.

Yes, I wiped it clean, but Dell includes a hidden "Restore Partition" that restores the computer to its pristince out-of-box state. It's pretty cool. Once I'm done playing with Vista, I will wipe the machine and start from scratch. Actually, I always rebuild my Dells from scratch as I use an unattended install floppy to move the entire profile structure (usually C:\Documents and Settings to D: drive instead). I then use Ghost to separately capture C: (Windows and Apps) and D: (ALL user data). The user data then easily fits onto a single CD or at most DVD. It is also easy to roll back Windows to an earlier time without worrying at all about losing any user data. I've done this for years with great success. (Note that relocating "My Documents" only moves PART of a user's data!!)

My preferred build style is the final nail in the "Why I won't buy HP" coffin. They explicitly told me that if I reformat and reload Windows I immediately void my warranty. What hogwash that reloading Windows could somehow cause the hard drive or video card to fail early.

I like what you suggest as I too wipe my Dell's clean to start but I immediately image my partitioned drive so I can start from 'my' scratch.
I don't think HP is the only one to find excuses for a voided warranty but I can say that I have a friend who has nothing but HP's and he does just what you and I do and when his hard drive crashed before warranty, they gave him no trouble. He has been an HP user for years if that makes any difference.

I would say that was a very ill-informed tech support person.

Possibly, but I got it in writing, as opposed to just being told on the phone.

Perhaps there was some misunderstanding in your case. I wrote HP tech support and here is their reply:

Dear Gary,

Thank you for contacting HP Total Care.

I would like to inform that the warranty of the PC will not be
void by performing the System Recovery. System Recovery is a program
which is used to reinstall the operating system incase of Hard drive
crash.

Further information, please visit the below given web site:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/documen...ocname=bph07145

If you have further questions, please reply to this message and we will
be happy to help you.

Sincerely,

Jeny
HP Total Care

Gary,

Thank you for trying to help, but I never said that using System Restore would void the HP warranty. HP told me that if I rebuild their system from a clean INSTALL of XP (using an XP CD, NOT System Restore), I would void my warranty. This means that I must accept the system as they build it and I cannot repartition and do other things. I completely understand their not wanting to provide support for software issues once I scratch-load XP. (Well, not completely, but I'm willing to go along!) My issue is their not wanting to offer HARDWARE warranty/support. Could anybody at HP explain how a clean install of XP would suddenly cause the hardware to fail? Why should a clean install of XP void my hardware warranty? DELL ALLOWS THIS!

Thanks again!

I had 1 drive fail about 3 years ago and my drive was 3 months away from warranty. Dell made me run a bunch of hard drive tests (that I had already done but they make you do these things anyway) and agreed that my drive was bad. I told them that I had originally wiped my drive clean and installed XP Pro and my own stuff and they didn't care. Of course, they sent me a refurbished drive which I refused ot use as my primary so I ended up buying another and using it as a second drive.
But, as far as it causing other hardware to fail, I guess they have you there since, technically, it can happen but I still think it's a crock of #)$(. Why not tell you that you can't install any other software as it might conflict with what's pre-installed? They make it so that the techs can follow a 1-2-3 chart when you call.

I agree 100% that they want their techs to have an idea of what's on your system; however, in practice they never really do. Once you install a few programs, it won't be exactly the same. Then upgrade Media Player and add a few hotfixes, and they will be forever lost. Frankly, I've NEVER been able to get Dell or any other major manufacturer to deal with any software issues. In fact, they often try to convince me that hardware failures are actually software misconfigurations. I usually keep a Bart PE disc and a Linux Live CD handy so that if something could be either HW or SW I can quickly rule out software.

Regardless, HP wants to claim that if you scratch-load XP you void your warranty. I have that in writing. Subsequently, they have, in writing, the fact that I will NEVER buy or recommend an HP computer.

Good for you! Unfortunately, they don't seem to care much. Common sense doesn't seem to count for much anymore these days.

I think my e-mail may have been the REAL reason for the HP board shakeup!

I had no problem using VCom's Partition Commander. I happen to agree with HP. They can't be responsible for anything that is not factory installed. If they could prove that ANY software not factory installed damaged your hardware, then they would not be responsible. Personally, you couldn't give me a DELL. Poor quality, poor tech support, poor customer service -- personal experience with several family members. So each to their own.