Having trouble burning DVDs

[bryankendall]

I have a new external Sony DVD burner and it burns DVD nicely. But the DVDs have sections near the middle tracks (track 5 of 10 tracks) where the movie freezes. This happens on every 5th disk or so. I am making one copy at a time of only one DVD disk. (Which is pristine and clean.)

I have done a deep virus scan (scan in the safe mode), a defrag, hard disk cleanup, and eliminated all the games from my computer before I begin to burn a DVD. Yet, this problem still exists. The software I use to burn is Clone DVD / Any DVD and sometimes Nero version 6.

Why do some of the DVDs still fail? Is something interfering with the DVD writing process?

bryan kendall

[redwudz]

This sounds like a software problem. Especially if it happens only occasionally. I would try a different program. DVD Shrink for one. It may also be your media, though that's not as likely. But, it's easier to change this. Try some different brands. Your DVD burner may have a media it likes better than others. Worth a try. Our page, 'DVD Writers', may have some good suggestions from our members.

This doesn't sound like a virus or trojan. If so, it would usually cause other problems.

For burning, try ImgBurn. It's one of the newer burner programs. If you use Shrink, try this: http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=59242 It will automatically burn the Shrink file.

You still might have to use a program like DVD Fab Decrypter to rip the DVD to your hard drive. Some of the newer encryptions are tough. But DVD Fab is updated often.

This is all freeware, so you have little to lose.

[CrayonEater]

Could also be a media quality problem, though I have heard that CD2 specifically doesn't like some kinds of Sony media for some reason. Try Verbatim or some other Made-in-Japan media and see what happens.

[bryankendall]

Thank you for the great advice.
I have read 'DVD Writers'. Lots of truely excellent advice that I will use. I also downlaoded the three software programs you recommend.......DVD Shrink, ImgBurn and DVD Fab Decrypter. I have not tried these softwares, yet, but will. Thank you for your kind counsel.

I have burned Memorex DVD+R DVDs perfectly using both my Sony 810 internal DVD burner and my Sony 720UL external DVD burner with my desktop Pentium 4 PC. GREAT! The desktop PC makes perfect copies. OK!

An alarming development !! But, when I connect the same Sony 720UL external DVD burner using the same Memorex DVD+R DVDs with my Dell 5150 Pentium 4 laptop PC (with high end video & sound cards, 528 RAM) the burnt DVDs won't play. I get an error message "The disk is dirty" on my SONY home DVD player. Clearly the Dell laptop has the problem. But, why? How is the laptop PC causing the DVD burner to make bad disks yet the desktop PC works perfectly. I am puzzled.

[bryankendall]

By the way, I am using exactly the same cables, disk cleaners and DVD burning software (Nero 6 and AnyDVD) on both the desktop and the laptop Pentium 4 PCs.

[Wile_E]

Memorex media is one of the worst out there in terms of compatibility and longevity. They are usually manufactured by CMC, which is known for making poor quality blanks. I've had nothing but problems with Memorex and CMC media, and will never use them again. Some of my discs became unreadable after a year in storage. Try Taiyo Yuden(TY) or Maxell(MXL) single layer media or Verbatim Dual Layer. Look for Made In Japan. Use DVD Identifier to check the media code.

Check out LordSmurf's website
http://www.nomorecoasters.com

[oldandinthe way]

Your Sony (Lite-on) drive is picky about media. The combination of SONY and many brands of media is poor. Your hardware choices have limited your media choices.

Check the media lists or the DVD writer list for the media which have best results with your drive>