Since upgrade DVDs play on PC but not on DVD players

[sobersides]

I had been backing up movie DVDs successfully for quite some time on an XP system using DVDFab and DVD Shrink with Nero's burning engine. The burner in my old computer was an I/O Magic IDVD168DL internal DVD RW drive. I was using the version of Nero (v3) that came packaged with the DVD drive.

I just upgraded to an HP TouchSmart with integrated DVD burner. The burner is a TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-T633A. I'm running Vista x64. The old version of Nero won't run on Vista x64, so I downloaded a trial version of Nero 9.

When I try to make backups now (tried several different DVD's), the copies play on the PC (and will also play on my laptop), but won't play on any other DVD player (I've tried a Samsung, a Philips, and the DVD player in my minivan).

Here's some more info:
Decrypted DVD using DVDFab 5 Platinum Full Disk to HD.
Using Playo 1-16X DVD+R media
Opened DVD Shrink 3.2.0.15, Opened decrypted folder from HD
Set compression settings to Automatic
Started Full Disc Backup
Backup Target: E: TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-T633A
DVD Region: Region Free
Quality Settings: Perform deep analysis checked, compress video with high quality adaptive error compensation checked with maximum smoothness selected
Burn Settings:
- Burn speed 8.0x
- Book type DVD-ROM checked
- Burn at least 30mm checked (using Nero 9 burn engine)
I can't find any of the DVD Shrink log files, otherwise I'd post them. Would appreciate any info on where to find a log file.

Hope someone can help me out. Thanks!

[geno888]

Welcome to the forum

The culprit is the disc. Playo discs are among the ugliest media in the market

I suggest to get better discs.

If with the previous drive you were able to make playable discs means only that the previous drive had a better writing strategy for these discs in the firmware, but the discs are anyway low quality media.

You can try to upgrade the firmware in your new drive, to see if this improve things, but the real solution is to buy only quality discs

[sobersides]

Thanks for the quick reply! I was hoping there was a setting somewhere I was missing. Oh well.

I guess since I have a small stack of coasters anyway, I’ll give ImgBurn a try to see if maybe that makes a difference. Any other suggestions? I don’t mind tilting at windmills. Makes me feel better than just throwing them out.

[bean55]

Imgburn might help you get thru the media you have now .

Should buy better disc if you plan on keeping them and using them.

[geno888]

No burning software (and actually no burner) can transform a low quality disc into good media.

Some firmwares have better writing strategies for these discs, but the quality issue remains. Even if a disc is burned decently (thanks to a good writing strategy), there is anyway the fast degradation in time (the main drawback of low quality discs).

I suggest to check all your old media, because there is a high probability that many already become coasters

[sobersides]

Understood. I have preschoolers and like to use backups on cheap media for their DVD’s because they end up getting scratched and ruined anyway, and keep the originals safe. I was never looking for archival quality, but I guess I’ll have to start going a little less cheap if I want them to play at all now.

Thanks for all the help. I’m about to try Img Burn, so I’ll post if it made a difference or not.

[sobersides]

After reading some of the other posts throughout the forum about DVD Shrink, I changed strategy and decided to avoid DVD Shrink. I just used DVDFab Platinum 5.0 with ImgBurn selected as the burning engine. Plays fine now (although it took a little while for the player to load the disc).

I will definitely keep media quality in mind for any DVD’s (home movies, etc.) that I plan on keeping for a long time.

Thanks again!

[geno888]

There is nothing wrong in DVD Shrink actually, so you can still use it if you like.

Also the burning software makes no difference because it is the drive firmware that actually write the disc. The burning software is only a graphical interface between the firmware and the user.

The media is the only thing making difference. Some cheap discs have certainly a better quality than other, but the difficult thing is to find these discs, and too bad there is only a way: try the discs and see results