HP External Writer very slow

[dogmom623]

I have a Dell Inspiron 6000 with 1.5 GHz Pentium 4, 1 GB RAM, 60 GB HD. I just purchased an HP dvd 940e external writer which connects by USB. I have loaded the software that came with it (Nero) as well as downloaded Roxio MyDVD. Although the install seemed to go OK, I cannot seem to burn a DVD, and when I try to do it, the computer seems to process for hours (literally, overnight). At the end of the process, there is nothing on the disc.

I am burning from Tivo downloads, saved on Tivo Desktop, and using Roxio which specifically states it has capability to convert Tivo recordings for use on DVD. I have searched the support sites for the HP writer (which is very minimal and does not address this issue), Roxio (only minimally better, and still doesn't resolve the issue), and now I'm here, hoping that someone can tell me if I'm just doing something wrong that is really basic, or if recording Tivo programs to DVD requires some additional process or software/hardware that I'm not aware of. When I tried to burn a DVD last night, my available RAM decreased slowly to about 1% (of 1GB), and I kept having to manually "free" RAM space to keep the computer from locking up. No other programs were running.

I am new to DVD burning, but otherwise I'm fairly proficient with PCs, and I've tried everything I can think of to resolve this myself. I'd appreciate any help members can offer!

Linda

[redwudz]

There seems to be a lot of problems here. First I would resolve the problems with the TIVO to DVD (MPEG-2) conversion. No real suggestions here, I don't do that type of conversion. A Google search finds this: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=lang_en&q=TIVO+to+DVD&btnG=Search

Once you have DVD compliant MPEG-2 video and audio, it should be a fairly simple process to author the files to the DVD format and burn it all to a DVD. You can see what a DVD compliant specification is in: 'WHAT IS' DVD to the upper left on this page. <<<<<

If you are having problems during the DVD burn, then your burning program may be messing up. I'm not that familiar with MyDVD. I never use Nero for authoring. They both should do fine with just the burning part, though. If your burning program does 'process for hours', it is likely re-encoding. This will cause quality loss and lots of wasted time and hard drive space.

Make sure your files are DVD compliant and then there is no reason for them to be reprocessed or re-encoded.

You might try using DVD Shrink with a DVD you own and see if it can process it trough and burn it correctly to DVD. If that works, then your problem may be with your encoding or authoring program. If Shrink can't read the DVD, try RipIt4Me or DVD Fab Decrypter first.

Someone with more TIVO to DVD experience may be able to give you some better advice.

And welcome to our forums.

[Krispy Kritter]

Tivo provides software for the conversion and burning...check their webiste.