storeing my downloaded movies as data

[dgavob]

i have a lot of movies i downloaded .(avi files). now i play these movies on my computer and i have pc to video componet so i just play them in mediaplayer and watch on my tv.. my computer is full and i want to save some of these avi files. i want to save them so i can later put the disc into my computer and play them or convert them to dvd format for burning. if i convert them into dvd's and burn them and save them that way i need 1 dvd per movie at a min. is there a way to store them as an avi file that i will be able to save a couple of movies onto 1 disc?if i convert them into another format then save them will the quality dominish and will be able to convert the back and forth? please help my heads spinning with all this.

[DB83]

Just burn them to a dvd as a 'data disk'.

Simple

[dgavob]

how may will fit ?approx? and can i use nero?

[DB83]

Depends on the size of your avi's. You would get 5 or maybe 6 700meg avi's on to a single-sided disk.

And,yes, Nero can do it. Select the Data Menu from Smart Start and 'Make a Data DVD'

[dgavob]

i have win rar but dont really know how to use it . i f i archive them then can i save them to a disc? will this save space?

[DB83]

Not really.

The avi is already a highly compressed format and putting the file into an rar archive will only yield a very small gain.

Certainly not enough to put more files onto the disk.

[aedipuss]

not enough to make it worthwhile. avi's and video in general are already compressed.

[dgavob]

i tried to write an avi movie i have using nero express i used data cd option and its too large it says. i guess there is no other way hugh? just shrink it using dvd santa and burn the dvd? i was hopin to save time and money by putting multiple files on one cd/dvd.

[redwudz]

Try using DVD blanks with ImgBurn and 'Build' mode, then add your AVIs till the disc is full. You don't need Nero just to make a DVD data disc. Nero will likely want to re-encode them anyway, whether you want to or not.

Or optionally, pick up a external hard drive with a USB 2.0 interface. They are fairly inexpensive at present, even in 500GB sizes. It's a lot faster than getting up to change DVDs and you can arrange them by genre, etc.

And welcome to our forums.

[dgavob]

i have 165gb of movies that i need to get off my computer. thats alot right?

[redwudz]

If you have that much, you would be doing a lot of DVD burning, probably more than 40. A single 200 - 300GB drive would handle that easily enough.

Or if you find a bargain in bare hard drives, pick up a external enclosure or two. All you need is a Phillips screwdriver to put them together. And you can still burn them to DVD data discs at any point.

[dgavob]

ok thanks how much is an external hd with2.0 interface goin for? if i get one i will be able to plug it in grab the file i need and burn it to dvd?

[DB83]

The problem could be Nero Express which defaults to burning a CD (700 mb) and not a DVD.

Use Nero Burning Rom and select a data disk from the DVD menu or the data menu from the Smart Start screen.

Nero is NOT my burner of choice. i use Sonic Record Now and have no problems creating data disks holding up to 4.7 gig of my hard drive contents.

[redwudz]

Looking at Newegg, looks like ~$80US for a 300GB external drive with a USB interface. Depending on how well your USB works for you, you should be able to burn directly from the drive to a DVD data disc with no problems.

A faster option that I use is a external eSATA hard drive that plugs into the computer and uses one of the internal SATA ports. It runs the same speed as the internal hard drives.

I will warn you up front that no hard drive is completely safe for archival storage, internal or external. They can fail at any time. Archiving your video onto DVD discs is still more reliable, though slow.

[dgavob]

thanks for the info iv gotta step out for a min. ill be back to bother ya later . thanks agin u r very helpful

[dgavob]

is sonic freeware? whats the latest version ill try that

[dgavob]

you guys still around?

[Squash]

@dgavob,

Sonic/Roxio has changed RecordNow into some sort of "music lab" software for ripping/converting/ringtone making, etc. I don't think it burns discs anymore, but I could be wrong.

The old RecordNow Max burning software was dropped a couple of years ago. I think the classic version I used to use was 4.5. Might be able to find it on Ebay or somewhere. It wasn't free.

Like Redwudz says, Imgburn is free and does a very good job making data DVDs. It's what I use now. On my old computer, though, I burned many, many data DVDs using Nero Express with no problems. Typically I would put six 700MB AVI files per disc for playback on a divx-capable DVD standalone player.

[dgavob]

hmm i just downloaded imgburn and did like he says went to build and added the avi file of choice theres a box on the right that im assusmeing its the space on the dvd and its says full? let me read their faqs to try to figure it........... its usually easier to understand from the avg joe though

[dgavob]

ps i have alot of movies that are 2 parts (cd1 and cd2) i tried downloading an avi joiner but after you join them theyre not recognized by winamp,mediaplayer or vlc. i change the name but i keep the .avi do you know of an easy to use 1?

[guns1inger]

Imgburn is about as simple as it gets (although so is Nero's Burning ROM component as well).

No avi joiners work well. Don't waste your time. Just buy a big HDD and copy everything to that. It is way cheaper than buying a tonne of blanks.