5 replies to this topic

[gfcatlanta]

Hello,

I'm about to purchase Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 and wondered if others might comment/advise on following.  Thanks for patience with these admittedly newbie questions:

1) UNINSTALL BOTH FIRST?  This PC is 3 years old, came with "Easy CD Creator Basic 5" and also Sonic MyDVD ver 4.5, both very old.  Should I un-install either or both BEFORE installing EMC8?  Should uninstall be done in add/remove programs, or using the software's menu 'uninstall' option? (Sonic has uninstaller, but EMC5 does not).

2) EMC8 AS ONE SOLUTION?  Would the new EMC8 in effect replace both of these prior products, since both now owned by same company, and both were sort of old with less functionality anyway?

3) DRAG AND DROP, UNIVERSAL READABILITY?  I know it's elementary, but with EMC8 will I still have ability to drag a file to a blank CD, after which time Windows (?) prompts me to finalize, then it's playable in almost any CD reader without the UDF stuff?

4) PROBLEMS, WAIT FOR NEWER?  There seem to be a lot of posts about installation problems, users wanting to revert back to prior versions, and lack of updates.  Is this pervasive, or just reflective of those who do have problems happen to all come here and be concentrated here.  Has EMC8 been out long enough that boxed versions are relatively up to date?  Is this such an early release that I should wait a few months for bugs to get worked out?

Thanks,
George

Edited by gfcatlanta, 23 May 2006 - 06:35 AM.

[grandpabruce]

gfcatlanta, on May 23 2006, 08:34 AM, said:

Hello,

I'm about to purchase Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 and wondered if others might comment/advise on following.  Thanks for patience with these admittedly newbie questions:

1) UNINSTALL BOTH FIRST?  This PC is 3 years old, came with "Easy CD Creator Basic 5" and also Sonic MyDVD ver 4.5, both very old.  Should I un-install either or both BEFORE installing EMC8?  Should uninstall be done in add/remove programs, or using the software's menu 'uninstall' option? (Sonic has uninstaller, but EMC5 does not).

2) EMC8 AS ONE SOLUTION?  Would the new EMC8 in effect replace both of these prior products, since both now owned by same company, and both were sort of old with less functionality anyway?

3) DRAG AND DROP, UNIVERSAL READABILITY?  I know it's elementary, but with EMC8 will I still have ability to drag a file to a blank CD, after which time Windows (?) prompts me to finalize, then it's playable in almost any CD reader without the UDF stuff?

4) PROBLEMS, WAIT FOR NEWER?  There seem to be a lot of posts about installation problems, users wanting to revert back to prior versions, and lack of updates.  Is this pervasive, or just reflective of those who do have problems happen to all come here and be concentrated here.  Has EMC8 been out long enough that boxed versions are relatively up to date?  Is this such an early release that I should wait a few months for bugs to get worked out?

Thanks,
George

The first thing that you need to do is find out if your computer exceeds (by a bunch) the minimum specifications.  List your system specs here, similar to how I have mine listed in my signature.

[gfcatlanta]

grandpabruce, on May 23 2006, 09:34 AM, said:

The first thing that you need to do is find out if your computer exceeds (by a bunch) the minimum specifications.  List your system specs here, similar to how I have mine listed in my signature.

George's system:
Dell Dimension 8250 desktop, 2.53 GHz Pentium 4
(Unknown) Motherboard
512 MB RAM
Teac DV-W58E.  DVD+R/W 8X.  CD-RW  __x__x__ Combo, or based on a Web search, it's a...
Teac DV-W58E DVD Rewritable Drive. DVD+R, DVD+RW, CD-RW 32x16x40, and 12x DVD-ROM
ATI Radeon All-in-wonder 9000 Pro tv tuner card, ___MB, Multimedia Center
Soundblaster Live! with 5.1 support sound card
Windows XP Professional Version 2002 SP-2, with nearly all known patches
Generic "inland", u-Connect, IEEE 1394 Firewire capture card, VIA OHCI compliant
Windows Movie Maker, Ver 5.1, SP-2
Windows Media Player, Ver 10

[grandpabruce]

gfcatlanta, on May 23 2006, 12:09 PM, said:

George's system:
Dell Dimension 8250 desktop, 2.53 GHz Pentium 4
(Unknown) Motherboard
512 MB RAM
Teac DV-W58E.  DVD+R/W 8X.  CD-RW  __x__x__ Combo, or based on a Web search, it's a...
Teac DV-W58E DVD Rewritable Drive. DVD+R, DVD+RW, CD-RW 32x16x40, and 12x DVD-ROM
ATI Radeon All-in-wonder 9000 Pro tv tuner card, ___MB, Multimedia Center
Soundblaster Live! with 5.1 support sound card
Windows XP Professional Version 2002 SP-2, with nearly all known patches
Generic "inland", u-Connect, IEEE 1394 Firewire capture card, VIA OHCI compliant
Windows Movie Maker, Ver 5.1, SP-2
Windows Media Player, Ver 10

Your computer should run the program, but update your video drivers to the latest drivers available.  For ATI cards, uninstall the previous drivers prior to installing the newest drivers.

Update the drivers for your sound card, if there are any available.  I have that same card in my backup computer, and it works fine.

I can't imagine that Roxio version 5 runs on your computer with SP2 installed.  I suspect not.  Uninstall it and the Record Now.

A new version of Record Now is included in EMC 8, but I never use it.  Other programs in EMC 8 are much better.

You will get Drag to Disc in EMC 8, which is packet writing software that allows you to drag files to a CD or DVD.  Using programs like that are playing Russian Roulette.  If you really value the files your are backing up, you should use Creator Classic instead.  It is a much better method of protecting your important doucment files.

What version of EMC 8 did you get?  If you didn't get the Deluxe version, then you will find some features not available.  If you have not purchased it yet, get the Deluxe version.

Edited by grandpabruce, 23 May 2006 - 12:18 PM.

[gfcatlanta]

Thanks,

A)  The only three things in Add/Remove on my PC that I see are below.  Do I need to use add/remove and "uninstall" all three?
-Easy CD Creator Basic
-MyDVD
-Roxio Videowave Movie Creator

B)  On my PC, there is 'no' "Record Now" that I can see in Add/Remove.  Would it be under a different name or would it be mixed in with any of the above three?  What's it do anyway?

C)  I already got EMC8, unopened, could take it back.  I was wondering... what are the 2-3 "big" things that EMC8-Deluxe can do that regular cannot do?  (Being an amateur, I might not need them, but then again...)

D)  When I go to install EMC8, do I just choose "typical" or "full"... or do I need to make multiple passes through to each time install a bunch of extras.

Thanks again,
George

Edited by gfcatlanta, 23 May 2006 - 04:10 PM.

[grandpabruce]

gfcatlanta, on May 23 2006, 06:10 PM, said:

Thanks,

A)  The only three things in Add/Remove on my PC that I see are below.  Do I need to use add/remove and "uninstall" all three?
-Easy CD Creator Basic
-MyDVD
-Roxio Videowave Movie Creator

  On my PC, there is 'no' "Record Now" that I can see in Add/Remove.  Would it be under a different name or would it be mixed in with any of the above three?  What's it do anyway?

C)  I already got EMC8, unopened, could take it back.  I was wondering... what are the 2-3 "big" things that EMC8-Deluxe can do that regular cannot do?  (Being an amateur, I might not need them, but then again...)

D)  When I go to install EMC8, do I just choose "typical" or "full"... or do I need to make multiple passes through to each time install a bunch of extras.

Thanks again,
George

Sorry, I thought I read Record Now.  I would keep the MyDVD on there for now.  Version 8 has my DVD, but it was built around the DVD Builder in previous versions, and the only thing that it has with the MyDVD from Sonic, is the name.

I would unistall the other two.

As far as the differences between the two versions of EMC 8, you can judge for yourself from the following URL.  Personally, I would get the Deluxe version.

http://www.roxio.com...mc/family.jhtml