I can't deal with ".dat" kind of stuff!

[JoeMamma]

OK I downloaded a movie in two parts. Part 1 is a mpg and burns to VCD great. Part two was a .dat, or so I thought. Right click-Properties tells me nothing, but can "open with" media player and it plays.

How can I tell what kind of file it is? and how do I burn as VCD?

Thinking it was a dat file, I tried to convert it using the VCDGear Guide (using the how to from this site), but it said that type of file is unsupported.

I am confused.

Thank you for any thoughts,

Joe

[e-z-e]

Try renaming the file. At the end of the name you choose for it put .mpg (whatever.mpg). If this works, you may be able to burn it as you did the first disc.

[agzz]

if not, turn to VCDGear

[JoeMamma]

Thanks a lot e z e,

Worked like a charm and was pretty damn easy. I thought it might be a lost cause. Meanwhile it was as simple as a rename.

joe

[MarcoEsc]

When Nero burns a VCD, it creates a .DAT file from each MPG source file in the MPEGAV folder. I produce and distribute a TV show on VCD, and I find that this confuses more people...they can't figure out how to play it on their computer.

Is it possible to make a compliant VCD while having this file named with a .MPG extension?

Where can I find the VCD spec regarding the filenames/directory format on the disc?

Marco

[rayjr13]

you should try including the VCD or CDI program on the disc so that everyone who has the disc has a VCD player that plays the disc automatically without browsing. This idea makes the most sense. Messing with directory structure format causes nothing but problems. Then all you would need to do is give instruction on a cd jacket about installing the prog. You could also put a readme file on the disc too.

[MarcoEsc]

I do include an autostart instruction on the disc that automatically loads the file in Media Player on some Windows PCs. This helps a bit. But it doesn't work for Macs and on PCs with autostart disabled.

What I'm going to end up doing is make a README.TXT file and put it in the root directory, with instructions to play the file.

I don't want to put any additional software on the disc, as VCD files should play just fine using Media Player, RealPlayer, or Quicktime. (Meaning if they don't have something to play it, it probably won't work on their computer.)
M

[abularkin]

Go to http://webs.ono.com/usr016/de_xt/mcf.html and download the registry patch dat_assoc.reg. If you're able to view MPEGs and MPG2s, you should be able to watch your movie.

[beefcake]

Someone mentioned changing the file extension from .dat to .mpg format. How do you do that ? If i right click on it and go to change name, it only allows a change on name and not the extension. thx

[wildcatfan]

you must have windows setup to not hide file extensions......

[MOVIEGEEK]

Someone mentioned changing the file extension from .dat to .mpg format. How do you do that ? If i right click on it and go to change name, it only allows a change on name and not the extension. thx

Control Panel>Folder Options>"View" Tab>uncheck"Hide file extensions
for known types"