Please help a newbie burn a DVD!

[terrapinstation]

Okay, I have an E Machine computer, Windows XP. I know i have a CD burner, but I'm not sure about DVD? And worse, not sure how to tell really. I assumed that I did. Anyway, i have Creator 9XE, and cannot figure out how to copy my DVD to another disc.

 

When i copy a CD, I put the original in the E drive, and the blank in the F drive. When I put my DVD in the E drive, there is not F drive destination. Are these backwards or something for DVDs? I simply have no idea what the hell i'm doing.

 

And for that matter, I'm too stupid to even save it to my computer.

[sknis]

LOL. I can't figure out how to save it to my hard drive either! I actually thought I did, but when i tried browsing my 'DVD folder' to copy it, it wouldn't let me open it.

 

My friend, i have no idea how to format a disc!

 

I have no idea how the guy (not really a friend, more like relative of a friend) did them. He's a professional photographer and videographer though

 

It is possible that he put write protection on the DVD so no one would/could copy it. Put the disc in the DVD drive. Click on Windows, My Computer. Look for that drive, right click on it and then select explore. What do you see in the Window that opens? You should see two folders, Copy them to a new folder on your hard drive. Use Video Copy and Convert to burn them to a new disc.

 

Please post your computer specs and operating system. With the drives you have, it is probably pretty old and may need a lot of updates.

 

 

 

[Brendon]

You're not stupid, you're just inexperienced and that's something we have all been.

 

You need to take things one step at a time. You have two drives, and don't know what they are, so that's the first step.

Try this:

 

[1] Right-click on 'My Computer' and select 'Properties'

[2] Select the 'Hardware' tab in the box which appeared

[3] Click on 'Device Manager' in the new box

A display will appear called the 'Device Manager' This has a tree full of items with little crosses [+] alongside them

[4] Click on the cross alongside the item DVD/CD-Rom drives, it will expand to show you your drive identifiers like this

 

 

You won't be able to show us yours on this board, but can you tell us what the two Drive IDs are, please?

I suspect that the one which won't show as a destination is a Reader or ROM rather than a writer, but we'll know when we see the model numbers for the drives.

[terrapinstation]

It is possible that he put write protection on the DVD so no one would/could copy it. Put the disc in the DVD drive. Click on Windows, My Computer. Look for that drive, right click on it and then select explore. What do you see in the Window that opens? You should see two folders, Copy them to a new folder on your hard drive. Use Video Copy and Convert to burn them to a new disc.

 

Please post your computer specs and operating system. With the drives you have, it is probably pretty old and may need a lot of updates.

 

Thanks for the reply. I did as you said, and the two folders came up. I right clicked on them and clicked 'copy', and absolutely nothing happened. it gave me no options or anything. like i said, it just does nothing! Now i'm totally clueless.

 

as far as the computer specs, i'll do my best! It's an E Machine (probably 5 years old?), 512 MB, 3200+160GB. It also says: DVD+/-RW, CD-ROM.

[bimicher]

Thanks for the reply. I did as you said, and the two folders came up. I right clicked on them and clicked 'copy', and absolutely nothing happened. it gave me no options or anything. like i said, it just does nothing! Now i'm totally clueless.

 

as far as the computer specs, i'll do my best! It's an E Machine (probably 5 years old?), 512 MB, 3200+160GB. It also says: DVD+/-RW, CD-ROM.

 

I think you should learn how to do some of the basic computer operations, such as how to copy a file or a folder from one location to another.

 

Nothing is supposed to happen (that you can see) when you click "copy" . You now have to naviagte to the location where you want to "copy to" and then right click and select paste.

 

Read up on how to do "copy & paste" or "drag & drop"

[terrapinstation]

I think you should learn how to do some of the basic computer operations, such as how to copy a file or a folder from one location to another.

 

Nothing is supposed to happen (that you can see) when you click "copy" . You now have to naviagte to the location where you want to "copy to" and then right click and select paste.

 

Read up on how to do "copy & paste" or "drag & drop"

 

You're right. Okay though Mr. Gates, I copied it into a file on my C drive. When I browse the DVD-video folder for my 'source', my folder appears. However, I click on it, but I have no option to select it. The 'ok' button isn't available. This was in the 'disc copier' function. When I try to 'burn image', I'm also able to locate the folder. But I'm not able to 'add' it.

[sknis]

Also, if the DVD is a commercial disc, it is copy protected and you will not be able to make a copy of it. The program should waren you.

[terrapinstation]

You're not stupid, you're just inexperienced and that's something we have all been.

 

You need to take things one step at a time. You have two drives, and don't know what they are, so that's the first step.

Try this:

 

[1] Right-click on 'My Computer' and select 'Properties'

[2] Select the 'Hardware' tab in the box which appeared

[3] Click on 'Device Manager' in the new box

A display will appear called the 'Device Manager' This has a tree full of items with little crosses [+] alongside them

[4] Click on the cross alongside the item DVD/CD-Rom drives, it will expand to show you your drive identifiers like this

 

 

You won't be able to show us yours on this board, but can you tell us what the two Drive IDs are, please?

I suspect that the one which won't show as a destination is a Reader or ROM rather than a writer, but we'll know when we see the model numbers for the drives.

 

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I did as you said, and here is what the two drives are:

 

HL-DT-ST CD-ROM G CR-8483B

LITE-ON DVDRW SOHW-16335

 

I certainly have no idea what these mean. I don't understand why I wouldn't be able to copy a CD, but not a DVD. If so though, would I be able to save (copy, burn, not sure the term?) the DVD onto my computer, then burn it from a file onto a disk?

 

The DVD isn't a commerical product. A friend recorded my band playing, and made a very nice DVD out of it. It's only about 15 minutes long, so I don't think space should be a problem saving it to my computer. Thanks again guys!

 

[Jim_Hardin]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I did as you said, and here is what the two drives are:

 

HL-DT-ST CD-ROM G CR-8483B

LITE-ON DVDRW SOHW-16335

 

I certainly have no idea what these mean. I don't understand why I wouldn't be able to copy a CD, but not a DVD. If so though, would I be able to save (copy, burn, not sure the term?) the DVD onto my computer, then burn it from a file onto a disk?

 

The DVD isn't a commerical product. A friend recorded my band playing, and made a very nice DVD out of it. It's only about 15 minutes long, so I don't think space should be a problem saving it to my computer. Thanks again guys!

You only have one DVD Burner – the Lite-On (F:/? Drive)

 

Actually that is the ONLY Burner you have. If you put a DVD in the HL-DT drive, it cannot even read it!

 

So what you need to do is put the DVD into the Lite-On and also select the Lite-On as the Destination, click OK and follow the instructions.

 

It will prompt when to put in a blank DVD. It may have you swap the discs several times during the copy process.

 

Let us know how that works out for you.

 

[terrapinstation]

You only have one DVD Burner – the Lite-On (F:/? Drive)

 

Actually that is the ONLY Burner you have. If you put a DVD in the HL-DT drive, it cannot even read it!

 

So what you need to do is put the DVD into the Lite-On and also select the Lite-On as the Destination, click OK and follow the instructions.

 

It will prompt when to put in a blank DVD. It may have you swap the discs several times during the copy process.

 

Let us know how that works out for you.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately it didn't work. I hit the 'copy now', and things seemed good until i was prompted to insert a blank DVD. I kept getting a message "an error occurred while writing disk. Do you want to retry?" It also said "error accessing file". when i hit 'retry', my disk drive would open, and i'd be asked to insert a blank again. If it matters, the blank DVDs i have are called Gigaware, DVD-R, 4.7gb. I"m about ready to give up

[sknis]

Thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately it didn't work. I hit the 'copy now', and things seemed good until i was prompted to insert a blank DVD. I kept getting a message "an error occurred while writing disk. Do you want to retry?" It also said "error accessing file". when i hit 'retry', my disk drive would open, and i'd be asked to insert a blank again. If it matters, the blank DVDs i have are called Gigaware, DVD-R, 4.7gb. I"m about ready to give up

 

Gigaware are considered store brand and they rank right down there with Memorex. Go out and buy some Verbatim. Get a couple of RW so you can play with them.

 

If you have the space, you may want to just copy the disc to your hard drive and then burn to disc from there. How did your friend create the disc?

 

I hope you are not formatting the discs.

 

[terrapinstation]

Gigaware are considered store brand and they rank right down there with Memorex. Go out and buy some Verbatim. Get a couple of RW so you can play with them.

 

If you have the space, you may want to just copy the disc to your hard drive and then burn to disc from there. How did your friend create the disc?

 

I hope you are not formatting the discs.

 

LOL. I can't figure out how to save it to my hard drive either! I actually thought I did, but when i tried browsing my 'DVD folder' to copy it, it wouldn't let me open it.

 

My friend, i have no idea how to format a disc!

 

Gigaware are considered store brand and they rank right down there with Memorex. Go out and buy some Verbatim. Get a couple of RW so you can play with them.

 

If you have the space, you may want to just copy the disc to your hard drive and then burn to disc from there. How did your friend create the disc?

 

I hope you are not formatting the discs.

 

I have no idea how the guy (not really a friend, more like relative of a friend) did them. He's a professional photographer and videographer though