Bad Mpeg header info?

[Novacaine Fix]

I have saved some mpegs do a CD-R, some are downloaded and some are ones I have made myself.
After viewing the files a few times (onced burnt to CD) the duration of the movies (Mpegs) seems to be incorrect now. The file size is the same, most are about 80 to 120 MB in size and about 30 minutes in duration(normally).
Seems that some, not all, only say that they are 2 or 3 minutes long now video plays fine for a couple of minutes then stops, while sometimes audio continues (wierd huh?)
The ones I have made where made with Pinnacle Studio 7 and not heavily formated (as close to raw footage as can be), the ones downloaded I haven't messed with the encoding before saving??
I have tried to re-encode (if that is even possible) using TMPGEnc, but vid is unchanged, also tried VCDgear with no luck, sad.
I'm only ASSUMing it may be a bad header, but any helpful insight would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry for making this post soo long, but did need the detail though.
Thanks again

[BJ_M]

are you playing these in media player ? and are they VBR ?

if so - media player is non to good on reporting correct lenth

[Novacaine Fix]

I probably should of stated that before, but yes, using Windows Media Player (both series 8 & 9) on notebook (series 9) & desktop (series 8).
I also tried opening the Mpegs in Quictime Pro 6, same deal. 100 MB or larger, file that plays for anly a couple of minutes then stops while the audio sometimes cntinues.
The really odd thing, is that while playing the Mpeg in Media Player, when it stops, I can manually use the slider and see other parts of the Mpeg that are not playing normally. It plays for a little bit from that point then stops again. This leads me to believe that the entire miovie is there, but is somehow corrupted, either by the player or by the CD-R that it is burnt to.

I want to be able to use these files later for use in a compiled VCD, to make a family video or something to that nature. But now I am wondering how reliable the CD-R media is to store MPEG's. I must admit, I didn't post this before, but 2 of the CD-R's were scratched a bit, not too bad, but I was able to buff out the scratches. It did help when it came to Meida Player looking for the files.

Please help! and thank you very much!

[Novacaine Fix]

Forgot something, Sorry. I guess I should have looked at the preview 1st.

No VBR. To answer that. The Mpegs downloaded are the bigger problem, the personal ones I can replace if need be.

When I download the Mpegs I view them first then burn them to CD-R mostly using Nero, if not Nero I use the Burn program that comes with Windows XP (by Roxio). Then I view them again, not right away, from the CD and I try to use a different computer (my desktop mainly checking for codecs)

Tried to reinstall Windows Media Player, no change with vids, not sure at this point, thats why I call upon the experts.