Burning on to a dvd-rw

vbimport
#1

hey everyone,

I’m pretty new to this stuff and have no idea what to do.
For starters, I have 18.21 GB worth of movies I want to delete from the computer. As far as I know dvd-rw’s can hold up to 4.7GB’s on one disc.
I’ve seen my brother [he’s not here to help] burn movies onto disc’s before but it always used to show that it would be full and not even a GB was burned. Does that mean its burning according to the minutes and not size?

Since the files I want to delete are really big, I would like to use the lowest number of discs possible. I did the math and I would need about 4 dics if it is burned by the size, and I would need about 16 discs if it is burned by the minutes. I would also like to view the files [TV] after burning.

I’m not sure if I’m even on the right track. Please help, and thanks for reading. :slight_smile:

#2

Welcome to the forum :slight_smile:

Some more details about files you want to burn are needed, and also about your standalone player.

Rewritable media (i.e. the RW discs) are not reliable in the long term, so if these data you want to burn on discs are important for you it is better to use write once discs, and not RW media. It is very important, moreover, that you buy quality discs, because all “el cheapo” discs will become unreadable in a short time. Remember that the quality of the disc is one of the most important factors to avoid data loss.

Regarding the movies, are these AVI or DVD or other? Is your standalone player able to read avi movies or these must be converted first into DVD format?

These are important questions, because a 700MB AVI movie, for example, will become a 2 GB file once converted into DVD format (dimensions are only an example, it is related on parameters you’ll select for the conversion, but the principle is that an avi movie converted into DVD format will ALWAYS have files with larger size than the original AVI.) Consequently, if you must convert AVI into DVD first, you’ll need a higher number of discs to burn all these data.

The conversion part can be done with many software (some are also free), but it requires a high computer power because these conversions needs a lot of calculations. If your CPU is not powerful enough, it could be necessary to wait for many hours (even 24 or more) to complete a single conversion.

If you have many conversions to do, maybe the easiest solution is to buy a standalone player already able to read AVI files, so you can burn files directly on a DVD and watch them in your television. These players can be easily found also at low prices in these days :slight_smile:

Actually, there is an easier alternative: buying a standalone player able to read avi movies and provided with an USB port. In this way you can connect to the USB port an hard disk and you don’t need to burn files on a disc at all :wink:

#3

Either way you cannot just fill the disc with files.
If they are movies, you have to copy them as whole. If they are AVI, than about 6 will fill one disc.
If your DVD player will play DivX, than you may be OK, but if they are in XVid format it may not work.
If converted to DVD, than you will be able to burn about 2movies/disc
If you get GSpot (free tool) and post result about your file, it will really help.
At the end, it is always possible to get external HD and copy it there, if you want to free space on your computer.

#4

@geno888

The movies are avi video format. The discs I use are from ‘imation’. I checked a DVD my brother had burned and the files are now played using VLC media file and yes the file size is bigger than the original. He used Nero to burn the disc.
So, I guess it needs to be converted first. If thats the case, it would be about double the size it already is right? Thats not good :sad:

Buying a standalone player with those specifications isn’t the best idea since parents are saving up for education and all. Besides, this year expenses have been really high and are going to get higher.

@CDuncle

Actually, I’m trying to convince my parents to get an external HD. So, thats probably going to happen after I give my board exams. I don’t want to rush getting one either because I heard that Seagate is launching one with storage capacity of 1.5TB somewhere around spring. If thats true it would be great, making movies would be alot easier then:)

#5

My standalone is able to read AVI files, so I don’t need to run these conversions, but a lot of people here suggest convertx2dvd as software, because (even if it is not free) is one of the best available.

Maybe you can give it a try :slight_smile:

BTW, a standalone able to read avi movies can be found also at a very cheap price in these days. I paid mine €30 (about 38 USD) :slight_smile:

Try to take a look in stores (looking around costs nothing :))

#6

There is one thing though.

I burned music onto a dvd-rw a while back. The files are still in AVI Video Format however the disc says its full after again, hardly a GB. Would this be related to my problem, or am I over thinking?

Thanks for all the information so far :slight_smile:

#7

If it is music only it cannot be AVI. AVI= audio-video interleave, it is a file with audio and video mixed together.
If the music you burned is “Music video”, than AVI is OK.
Disc will always show full if looking at it from Explorer.

#8

Come to think of it, that actually makes sense :slight_smile:

Ok, so if I am able to purchase a standalone that is able to read AVI files, what medium should I use? as in, since I can’t get an external HD for now and then would it be necessary to burn the files or just regular copy and paste is fine?

Thanks a lot, its been a real help :slight_smile:

#9

If you find a standalone able to play also avi movies, then you need to burn only a simple data DVD.

Inserting the disc in the standalone, you’ll see the list of files burned in the disc, and with the remote it’s sufficient to select the one you want to play :slight_smile:

Because of long file names can “confuse” the standalone, I suggest to insert at the start of the file name a number before the burning. For example, if you have the following movies:

Movie.avi
Another movie.avi
A different movie.avi

you can rename files as follow:

01 - Movie.avi
02 - Another movie.avi
03 - A different movie.avi

In this way, even if the file name will be not shown completely in the screen, with the numbers you’ll be able to select the correct movie with the remote :slight_smile:

I suggest to burn only quality discs, like Verbatim, or it can happen that you’ll have playback issues like a stuttering playing or random freezing during the movie playback.

#10

Awsome. :smiley:

What do you think of BluRay discs? They can store larger amounts, but I have heard that those discs are pretty unreliable. Is it true? Would that work on a standalone too?

Also, is Imation a good, reliable brand? Because I’m not sure if I can get Verbatim here [I can always ask a reletive to buy it from another country, but I’d prefer to avoid the hassle to them]. Its ok if theres no choice though.

Thanks alot :slight_smile:

#11

Verbatim discs can be found almost everywhere in online stores, and often at a lower price than regular stores, so you can consider to buy online your discs. To save some money, you can ask some friends if are interested in purchasing something, so you can divide shipping costs.

Imation is not exactly fully reliable, so I suggest to avoid it if possible.

At the moment I don’t have any Blu-ray disc (burners are still too costly for my wallet :(), and moreover also discs are not exactly cheap. Currently, DVD are the best alternative if your wallet is tight like mine :frowning:

About standalone I don’t have a HD television, and my wallet said that it is not yet the right time to buy these devices :doh:

I don’t know if these media are reliable or not, but until now I never heard about these discs failing quick like some cheap DVDs (like it happen with Princo for example).

If you need to store large amount of data, an external hard disk is the cheaper alternative, but if the disc fails, you’ll loose all the data, so the most reliable alternative is again to buy some quality DVDs and store them properly.

#12

I am actually getting it lol.

Alright, if I burn a data DVD, how much would I be able to store on one?

#13

The amount of movies you can store on a single disc is related on the file size of each movie of course :slight_smile:

If your AVI files are 700 MB each, then you can store up to 6 movies on a single layer DVD :slight_smile:

If you have a lot of files and you want optimize the disc filling, maybe you can use this free software :slight_smile:

#14

When burning data discs (as you will be doing), the limitations are disc size. SL DVD’s hold approx. 4.4gb and DL discs will hold about 8.3gb. For cost, stick with SL. And as noted above, with the average 700mb file size, they will hold 6 each.

#15

When I downloaded the software you suggested, it fails to start saying that ‘wnaspi32.dll’ was not found. It said that re-installing the application might fix the problem, but it didn’t work. Any ideas?:confused:

#17

What software?

#18

The software geno888 suggested. Burn to Brim.
Still facing problems with opening the program after installation

#19

http://bttb.sourceforge.net/Help/bttb_faq.html

#20

Using the link to the Faq’s I got information and a link to download the wnaspi32.dll, however, the link takes me to a page and then it says there is an error and it doesnt exist.

Isit possible to download it from elsewhere or is it necessary to get this exact one from this website link?

I clicked on the link for Windows NT4, 2000 and XP.

#21

You can find ASPI drivers here (see at the bottom of the page). Most people suggest to use version 4.60 :slight_smile: