THE ANNOYANCE: The music CDs I burn sound awful. Sometimes, a firmware bug will prevent otherwise good discs, written with a good burner, from playing on a perfectly good DVD playerand that's not good. (The format that seems to be the most widely supported is DVD+R, although your mileage may vary.)įinally, visit your DVD burner manufacturer's web site and see if there's a firmware update. Some older players can't read movies burned to DVD+R/RW or DVD-R/RW discs, so you may need to buy a new player, or settle for playing movies through your PC. Next, make sure your standalone DVD player supports your disc format. Avoid the el-cheapo blank DVDs in the bargain bin at your local computer store, and instead spend the extra nickel on some brand-name discs (I've found Verbatim discs consistently reliable). THE FIX: First, try a different brand of disc.
THE ANNOYANCE: I've burned a DVD movie with dedicated authoring software, but it still won't play in my DVD player.
However, if your video file isn't compatible with the software package you're using, you'll have to convert your video to a different format consult the documentation for your product for the specific requirements.
(If you have Windows XP Media Center Edition, see "Burn Recorded Programs to DVD" for a built-in solution.)īoth Roxio Easy Media Creator ($99.95, ) and Nero Ultra Edition ($79.99, ) can create movie DVDs, and many other programs (such as Ulead's VideoStudio $99.99, ) offer more advanced authoring tools. To create a DVD that will play in a set-top DVD player, you need to author a DVD-Video disca process that typically requires third-party software. THE FIX: That's because you created a data disc (a DVD-ROM). I burned the file to a DVD, but it won't play in my DVD player.
THE ANNOYANCE: I have a video I shot and stored on my PC in a. Note: To burn movies to DVD using Windows XP Media Center Edition, see "Burn Recorded Programs to DVD," earlier in this chapter. In addition to their snazzier and easier-to-use interfaces, both programs can burn many more disc formats, support disc images, and come with advanced tools to help make better audio CDs and video DVDs. If you want more flexibility, or just a more streamlined interface, spend the bucks for a third-party application such as Roxio Easy Media Creator ($99.95, ) or Nero Ultra Edition ($79.99, ). When you're done, click the Start Burn button at the bottom right (and confirm that you want to save the new playlist, if you haven't done so already).
Drag and drop any music files (or tracks from the All Music folder in your library) into this window, and rearrange them in the desired order. In the tree on the left, right-click the My Playlists folder, and select New. Likewise, you can create audio CDs (as well as data CDs containing music files, such as MP3s) using the latest Windows Media Player. Use Windows Explorer to create basic data discs. When you're done adding data, right-click the drive icon (or the "Files Ready to be Written to the CD" note above the file listing, if it's there), and select "Write these files to CD" (Figure 3-24).įigure 3-24. You can create folders, rearrange or rename the files, and even delete things from the disc nothing is permanent until you burn the disc. To make a data disc, open Windows Explorer and drag the files onto your burner's drive icon.
Choose one of the options here, or click Cancel to banish XP's cumbersome wizard. Insert a blank disc in your burner, and a dialog box should pop up and ask you what you want to do with the disc.
To get started, in Windows Explorer, right-click your burner's drive icon, select Properties, choose the Recording tab, check the "Enable CD recording on this drive" box, and click OK. THE FIX: Windows XP does indeed include rudimentary support for CD and DVD burners. How do I make CDs without purchasing expensive add-on software? THE ANNOYANCE: I've heard that Windows XP comes with built-in support for CD burning, but I can't make heads or tails of it.