Best way to copy a DVD-R to another DVD-R for backup

[jay1028]

In 2003 I began to convert my old VHS tapes to DVD. Recently I have been reading about using Nero CD-DVD Speed to check the integrity of the data on the discs. Back then, I used a lot of Philips DVD-R and later learned that they are made by CMC Mag and that soon the data may not be usable long term. I used Nero CD-DVD Speed V4 to test some recorded discs. The discs still play and I get 100% on the SCAN test, but get a lot of C1 and C2 errors. I ordered a lot of Taio Yuden TYG02 to copy these DVDs to. I have an NEC 3550 burner.

What is the best way to duplicate the DVDs? I have Nero 6 and it has a disc copy function, would this be the thing to use? Will it copy all the errors to the new DVD media?

Any help is appreciated.

[budz]

I believe NEC dvd drives aren't used for doing quality scan tests. Only LITEON, BENQ 1620, 1640.1650,1655, & SAMSUNG drives are used for quality scans.

If you wanna burn those CMC Mag dvds to TY dvd media just rip it again to your hard drive then burn to TY dvd media. On the fly copying isn't recommended.

[hech54]

In 2003 I began to convert my old VHS tapes to DVD. Recently I have been reading about using Nero CD-DVD Speed to check the integrity of the data on the discs.

Delete that stupid program and smack the person who told you about it right in the fÜ^^^ng face.

The discs still play and I get 100% on the SCAN test, but get a lot of C1 and C2 errors.

Delete that stupid program and smack the person who told you about it right in the fÜ^^^ng face.

I ordered a lot of Taio Yuden TYG02 to copy these DVDs to.

Great. Now just create images of the discs you wish to convert over to Taiyo Yuden discs
with ImgBurn.....then burn those images back to the Taiyo Yuden discs with ImgBurn.

And don't forget.....
Delete that stupid program and smack the person who told you about it right in the fÜ^^^ng face.

[lordsmurf]

Hech, Nero CD-DVD Speed (then DiscSpeed, now some other POS payware) is used for TRT and surface scanning. It's not a stupid program.

Just don't waste time with "quality" scans, measuring the various numbers like C1, C2, PIE, PIF, PO, PI, etc. Very often those numbers are more a reflection of the hardware in use, or even the environment you're in (temp, humidity, etc). It doesn't say a hell of a lot about a disc outside a controlled clean room environment.

It's only a "stupid program" when used wrong.

Read more at http://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/media/dvd-tests.htm (see tests #3 and #4)

If the CMC burns test fine (using the methods found in the above link, not the stupid tests), then you really don't need to worry about transferring content. At most, think about making an ADDITIONAL copy of the disc, if they're important. Do it to TY media. Consider even a THIRD set of ADDITIONAL copies, to Verbatim/Mitsubishi media. TY isn't perfect either, just FYI.

Disc-to-disc or disc-to-drive-to-disc is really dependent on what your computer is good at. I have a few systems optimized for on-the-fly duplication, and burns come out fine. Other systems, however, do poorly disc-to-disc. Most people have poor setups for duplication, so keep that in mind.

[hech54]

Hech, Nero CD-DVD Speed (then DiscSpeed, now some other POS payware) is used for TRT and surface scanning. It's not a stupid program.

Your talking to the guy who cleans the surface of his DVDs and CDs on his Levis and has never had any type of adverse effect whatsoever....

[lordsmurf]

Levi's are too abrasive, I generally use my t-shirt.
Nice soft cotton or cotton blend.

My biggest problem is dropping discs.

[disturbed1]

Once the data is there, it's there. Usually a simple verification test is enough to validate this. No matter which program you use, if it can read back the blocks, the blocks can be read. All of the speed and probe tools are for bragging rights. Try running KProbe or that Nero tool on a pressed DVD and compare the results. I used to think those numbers represented something important. After seeing enough of them, it all really doesn't matter that much.

The main culprits of failing optical discs after they have been burnt are humans, animals, and the enviroment. Proper storage and handling is far more important than the brand name of media you chose. Of course choosing a good name brand to begin with will lead to fewer write and verification errors.

Every now and then I perform re-verification on my important data discs. And rotate the stock/consolidate/clean up yearly. Keeping 2 discs for the important stuff. 1 handy near the desks, 1 stored in a fire proof safe. Was thinking about including an off site storage location, but it's not like I have any secret documents ............. or do I

[hech54]

Levi's are......

100% Cotton....except the zipper and rivets of course.

[Reelman472]

Hech54,

Here's a list of all the software I use. Could you please point out all the other "stupid" software so I can immediately remove it.

Nero 9 (stupid, stupid me. Gone!!)
Premiere Pro CS3
After Effects CS3
Photoshop CS3
Office 2007
Encore CS3
Total Media Extreme
Power DVD
Womble Mpeg Wizard
Sony Movie Studio Platinum

From now on I'll check with you before I even buy any software. To become such and expert you must have studied every computer configuration in the world. Kudos man.
Reelman472

[jay1028]

Thanks for all your responses. I am downloading ImgBurn and will report back on my results. I used a DRU500 up until two years ago. Now I have both the DRU500 and NEC3550 in the machine. Some of the discs will only play on the DRU500. Back then, there were only 1x to 4x media. I burned at 2x and very rarely had a coaster out of hundreds of discs. I have a second HD that I use just for video. I read a long time ago that it is best not to do capture and editing on your system disk. I always used TMPGEnc for encoding and Nero for burning DVDs. Now it looks like ImgBurn is the preferred application for burning.

[hech54]

Hech54,

Here's a list of all the software I use. Could you please point out all the other "stupid" software so I can immediately remove it.

Nero 9 (stupid, stupid me. Gone!!)
Premiere Pro CS3
After Effects CS3
Photoshop CS3
Office 2007
Encore CS3
Total Media Extreme
Power DVD
Womble Mpeg Wizard
Sony Movie Studio Platinum

From now on I'll check with you before I even buy any software. To become such and expert you must have studied every computer configuration in the world. Kudos man.
Reelman472

Well I don't see Nero CD-DVD Speed on that list so.....
See there. You had your chance. You should have included Nero CD-DVD Speed
in your list if you wanted to prove a point or make me look silly but....
Too Bad.

[jay1028]

Have some results for your guys to look at and tell me what is going on. Both copies of the DVD play. Nero 6.jpg used Nero 6 'Copy Entire Disc' and made an .nrg file to the HD. Then burned in NEC 3550 at 4x using TY02 8x DVD. Imgburn 1.jpg used ImgBurn to create an iso on the HD and burn a TY02 at 4x.

Don't like the looks of the red spike at around 4.2gb with ImgBurn but doesn't affect playing.

[jay1028]

Here is imgburn jpg

[jay1028]

Here is Nero 6 jpg

[MOVIEGEEK]

As was mentioned NEC writers aren't good for reading errors, get yourself a LITE-ON to test with KProbe.
I was once obsessed with errors but I realized that as long as the disc plays that's all that matters, if you want to go down that path then I suggest hanging out at http://club.myce.com

[jay1028]

What do you think of a iHAP 322 or 422? or what other Lite-on drive?

[budz]

Why even bothering scanning when I said NEC drives aren't used for quality scans! Any newer LITEON model is fine unless you want one that has NEC chipset. Do some reading at the LITEON forum at http://club.myce.com.

EDIT: The LITEON model I posted before doesn't have the NEC chipset...the model number wasn't entirely the same as the link I had provided from myce.com.

Any LITEON model will be fine for quality scans but IMHO it's only necessary to do them if the discs you've burned are not playing back correctly.

To OP: Read my next post down there.

[jay1028]

I have been to the myce site and can't access any reviews. I can't even get to the help area. I have pm'd someone to get assistance. I am registered. I appreiciate the newegg link and I don't have any opinion on what chipset is inside.

I have one issue now. I don't have an sata bus. If I get a PCI sata card, is it as good as a sata that is resident on the newer mb? I have a Dell 4550 at 2.4ghz and am not looking to change my motherboard.

[budz]

Yuh, there site is having issues because I couldn't log in as well but it finally went through.

If you get a PCI SATA CONTROLLER card it has to be one that has the SILICON IMAGE 3114 chipset controller or the SATA DVD burner will not work correctly.

IMHO Get a PATA DVD Burner which would be easier for you. Unfortunately NEWEGG is out of stock with the LITE PATA DVD burners at the moment. You could get a SONY/OPTIARC or SAMSUNG drive. IMHO Quality scans really are not necessary unless you're having issues with the disc not playing back correctly.

Sony Optiarc, SATA dvd burner, $31.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

According to myce members that SONY OPTIARC model is very good especially for DUAL LAYER media. I haven't bought it yet but hopefully will when I get extra

Samsung PATA 22x dvd burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151175

SILICON IMAGE CHIPSET 3114 PCI CONTROLLER CARD, $14.99
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=CL-SL3114&cat=CCD

^^^I use that card with no problems when using a SATA DVD burners. When using it make sure you have RAID disabled in your mobo bios and set IDE to SATA. Otherwise the SATA DVD burner will not work correctly.

[jay1028]

I understand what everyone is saying about the scans and my NEC drive. I will try and get a LITE-ON ide. It's just that I get nervous when I read about DVDs becoming unreadable years later. My old family vhs tapes are degrading a lot after 25 years and all I have is the CMC DVDs that I made from them. I want to get a reliable burner. It was relatively easy finding that TY media was top notch, but not so with the burners.

[budz]

To be honest with you I only use LITEON drives to rip my dvd discs. I use the older models of BENQ, PIONEER, SAMSUNG & LG drives for burning my dvd media. LG is another good brand to buy if you're looking for a IDE burner but it can't do quality scans.

LG 22x PATA, $29.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136144
I used that LG drive for a relatives pc a few months ago and it works well.

[MOVIEGEEK]

jay1028,
When transferring old movies use three mediums: original tape, disc and HDD(either MPEG-2 or DV).
That way you don't have to worry about your DVD's failing after 5 years.

[jay1028]

moviegeek,
you are right. But I have probably 100 DVDs ranging from old super 8mm film converted to vhs to my newer DV camcorder. It's just that if something would happen to an HDD, all would be lost. I will always keep the tapes.
I guess it's better that I find out now about the CMC problems before I have readability problems. For my digital photos, I do as you suggest. I have copies on CD, DVD and three small portable external USB drives.

[lordsmurf]

All of the speed and probe tools are for bragging rights.

It reminds me of kids on a playground...
Kid 1: "My daddy's a _________."
Kid 2: "Oh yeah, well my daddy's a ______."
Teacher comes along. "Do either of you even know what _____ and ______ do?"
Kids, sheepishly: "No."
Bragging about stuff they don't even understand.