are some CD Write Drives unable to burn VCDs??

[patpat]

I have Win98, my drive is the HP CD Writerplus 8290 model. It burns data CDs fine, but I can't run any VCD burning programs - including Ha! CD/DVD writer, and BurnVCD(this one is freeware).

I keep getting the invalid parameter error message. Tech support says it's my CDWriter.

Could HP 8290 be too old to write VCDs?

I don't know much about computers, as evident by my question.

Please advise!

[sacajaweeda]

On a positive note, at least CD writers are cheaper than dirt these days, hey?

[sterno]

I think the 8200-series HP drives couldn't reliably burn DAO mode, which is required for VCDs.

[patpat]

Argh, so I guess the only solution is to buy a new PC. I'll been using PC's given to me by a friend so I will have to spend some $$$ for a change for my computer!

[sacajaweeda]

Argh, so I guess the only solution is to buy a new PC.

Well that's certainly ONE solution, but not the ONLY solution. You could just get a different burner.

[patpat]

Will it be compatible with my old Pentium MMX 200 MHZ PC though? This HP8290 was supposedly the most updated drive that'll work with my PC. I think I'm better off buying a new PC since most now come with a write-capable drive anyway...

But then I don't really need a new PC except for this dumb VCD thing. Maybe I'll just have a friend burn them for me.

[sacajaweeda]

I once put an Acer CD-RW drive in an old HP Pavilion 8140 that had the 200 MMX processor.

[sacajaweeda]

I'm actually still using the case from that old HP. It's got all new guts in it now though. I put an ECS K7S5A board with an Athlon T-Bird chip in it, along with a DVD burner. Too nice a case to just toss on the scrap heap. Unfortunately that was the only thing nice about that PC. That and the keyboard with the volume knob and all the cool shortcut buttons that are standard on most of today's PCs. The rest of it though, was crap. Majorly outdated crap that I wouldn't wish on anybody. It even had ISA slots.

[patpat]

I'm trying to call HP to get a confirmation on whether the drive can burn VCD or not, and I"m getting the runaround. Lousy tech support.

Problem is the drive is so old. I don't think HP produces it anymore. I bought the drive online last yr.

[jimmalenko]

Argh, so I guess the only solution is to buy a new PC.

Well that's certainly ONE solution, but not the ONLY solution. You could just get a different burner.

It's probably not a bad solution, though.

[patpat]

Oddly enough, I just got the vcd burning to work with Nero 6.

I had been reluctant to try Nero because the download is 25+ megs with my 56 k moden, but lo and behold, the burning worked! So the problem must be with the previous burner software...

[dbecker]

i have the 8210 and that does a great job with vcd's..i use prassi primo and that worked great...i use nero for svcd's...the reason i use prassi is that the vcd it makes allows you to fast forward on my dvd player.. actually the writer you have is better than most that you see out there now..

[indolikaa]

I'm trying to call HP to get a confirmation on whether the drive can burn VCD or not, and I"m getting the runaround. Lousy tech support.

I had, until this thread, never heard of a drive that couldn't burn to White Book standard, which is what VideoCD is known as. Good to see it's now working for you.

You could also tinker with VCDEasy, a program I've been making VCDs with since Richard Nixon was in office. At least, it feels like it's been that long.

[patpat]

I think the VCDeasy trial program only allows 200megs of burning for VCD so I didn't try it.

What is the cheapest I can get Nero for? From Nero's site, I only seem to be able to find the Nero 6 Ultra Edition. I don't need the entire package. I would only need it to make VCDs.

I tried so many programs until the VCD burning finally worked. I gotta say all these vendor's tech support are no help at all. I'm glad Nero seems to be working great so I'll definitely consider buying it.