Getting a lot of blanks...

[SyrunX]

I recently got a 300 GB external hard drive for my laptop, and ever since then, whenver I try to burn a dvd, more than 50% of the time it will fail and I will have a ruined disk. Before I got the harddrive hardly any ever failed. I use nero express for my burning purposes. Anyone think they can help me out?

[redwudz]

First, what DVD media are you using? Media problems cause the vast majority of DVD playback problems. Before much of anything else, try different media. Some media has problems with particular burners, or occasionally a burning program, and may also have playback problems with certain players.

We have some resources for that. To the left, you will see: DVD Writers, DVD Players and DVD Media. Take a look at all of them, comparing what others use with each device and how your media rates. Next, don't use Nero for anything other than burning. It works OK for that, but not well with converting, encoding, editing or authoring.

Also, you are using an external drive. Over USB? Are you sure it is working properly? Any problems with transfer rate? USB can be affected by the OS or other programs or devices using the USB bus.

And if you are using most any version of Nero, it should generate a burning log file. Take a look at that for errors or post it here. Most problems should show up on it.

You should have zero burn failures.

[jmkeuning]

When I burn from the USB drive I slow the burner down to 2x or 4x. Try that?

[cyflyer]

Its got to be a transfer rate problem from the external HDD via the USB. It can't cope. Also, the USB connection, is it a USB 1.0 or a USB 2.0 ? They are slow and fast lane transfers. Maybe you should consider and internal Hard drive to do dvd transfers.

[Bjs]

What model / brand of laptop ?

http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php

Use it to discover all the hardware factor's inside your pc ... it'll tell you if you have usb2 .
Usb2 , may for higher function's , require sp2 .

[MysticE]

You could also try this app it will show what your transfer rates are.

http://www.hdtune.com/

A USB2 external should be at about 25MB/s.

[SyrunX]

Ok, to try and answer everyone in a single reply...

I use DVD-R, they have always worked the best for me in the past. My hard drive is connected by 2.0 USB. I cannot get an internal one because I have a laptop, and I do not believe you can stick something meant for a desktop into this =)! I have an HP laptop...it's about a year and a half old. When I burn I use an 8x burn speed, the disks can go up to 16x. So can I just put what it is that I'm burning onto my reg. hard drive, then delete it? I think that may solve all of my problems...

[jmkeuning]

That should work, but you should also try burning at a slower speed. I used an external HDD with my laptop for years and did not make coasters. But - slow is slow. It might be faster to put the files on the laptop and then burn and delete.

[olyteddy]

I have a USB burner and an external (USB) hard drive and I can burn at 18X from my laptop's internal drive but only 8X from the external. I'm pretty sure that's a USB bandwidth limitation.

[MysticE]

My hard drive is connected by 2.0 USB.

That doesn't mean it's transfer rate speed is correct. When troubleshooting a problem one needs actual tests, not assumptions. HD Tune will tell you if it's operating correctly. I just burned a disc off my USB2 external at 16X with no problems. By the 50% mark it reached 12X, at 70% 14X and at the end it was at 15.7X. That is cutting it close though as 16X transfers at about 22MB/s, my drive clocks in at 24MB/s, so 8X (11MB/s) burning would be a safer bet. Next time around I'll go with a firewire external as those clock in at about 35MB/s which should easily handle the new 18X burners.

[Trident5]

Although everyone has made some good suggestions i dont believe this is an issue with your blanks or your burner itself.

I think the problem you are having has to do with data transfer and caching on your usb drive. I too recently ran into a simular issue through some web surfing i found this wonderful little free program Cacheman 5.50 it well help you set your setting on your comp for your usb hd. I believe this well resolve your issue.

Before using Cacheman also check your setting on your hd itself.. Goto control panel/System/DeviceManager/DiskDrives/(then your usb drive).

Right Click the drive and select Properties.
Now left click the tab that says Policies.
If its set to.. Optimize for quick removal...Change to ...Optimize for performance
Click ok you may need to reboot...
After that your ready to use Cacheman.

Below is a link to the program best of all its a freebee, there is a pro version but from what ive read doesnt realy do anymore than the free one. It worked for me hope it well for you too.

http://www.download.com/Cacheman/3000-2248_4-10216523.html

Ive included the settings for you to use this should fix your usb troubles. I hope it resolves your issues good luck. The best way to change settings in Cacheman is to go to the Show Wizard menu and select All.

Disk Cache: Balance
Icon Cache: Set large maximum Icon Cache size
Unload DLLs from Memory: Enable
Disable Paging Executive: Enable
IO Page Lock Limit: Large IO page lock limit value
Disable NTFS last access update: Enable
Disable creation of short filenames: Enable
Reserve more space for the Master File Table: Do not enable
Defragment hard disk when idle: Enable
Hung App Timeout: Optimize
Wait to Kill App / Service Timeout: Optimize
Menu Show Delay: Optimize
Filename Completion: Do not enable