Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


quickymart

13963 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#320329 1-Aug-2025 12:44
Send private message quote this post

Following on from my other thread about lifting video from old VHS tapes (now done) I'm in a situation where I'd like to burn the files I've lifted onto a DVD to send to my family.

 

Before anyone says "oh they can stream it" my family all live rurally with slow DSL that isn't great for streaming, so I'd like to put the files onto DVD for them.

 

Years and years ago I used to use Nero as well as DVDFab, however on trying to use either of these this morning it's just not working. I picked up some new blank DVD's (these ones: https://www.jaycar.co.nz/verbatim-datalifeplus-azo-dvd-r-4-7-gb-jewel-case-singles-16x/p/XC4733 ) however either my DVD player won't read them or it just spins and spins and eventually says it can't read it. It doesn't read it in VLC on Windows either.

 

I'm just wanting to get some software that allows me to create a menu page, drag-and-drop my three video files, and it writes it. At the other end, my mother would insert it into her Blu-Ray/DVD player, menu comes up, she picks the file she wants to watch, and we're done.

 

All I seem to be creating is coasters and it's quite frustrating.

 

Any suggestions for burning software (free, preferably) and blank DVD's I could/should be using would be greatly appreciated!

 

(Sorry for repeating info here, this got a bit lost in the other thread).


Create new topic
Rickles
2938 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #3399064 1-Aug-2025 13:34
Send private message quote this post

Years ago, pre-flash drives and network storage, I used to do DVD burns all the time.

 

Whilst there are many great Apps available to do that job (you named two of them), I found increasingly that 'home-made' discs were very picky when it came to playback.

 

Most would be perfectly fine on a computer, but with DVD players it was all hit-and-miss, vis. some would play happily on one brand/model of player, and others would reject them as you have found.  Even differences between -R and +R would cause problems.

 

These days, if a friend wants to view one of my collection, I copy to external hard drive, and they connect to TV that way.




wellygary
8328 posts

Uber Geek


  #3399070 1-Aug-2025 13:55
Send private message quote this post

TBH, most recent TV's ( last 15 years +) likely have the ability to play video files straight from the USB stick, 

 

If that's an option I would go down that route 


nutbugs
270 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

  #3399071 1-Aug-2025 13:57
Send private message quote this post

In my experience from burning a lot of DVD's for people of the years as part of a service offering - stick to DVD-R (rather that DVD+R) for better compatibility with DVD players




trig42
5814 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

  #3399072 1-Aug-2025 14:20
Send private message quote this post

I used to always slow down the burning speed as well. 4x seemed to work better than 16x


Rikkitic
Awrrr
18663 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

  #3399074 1-Aug-2025 14:25
Send private message quote this post

Back when I was doing this sort of thing, I found an excellent simple little DVD burner that never gave me any trouble. It always just worked. I'm not sure if I should link to it here but you can easily find it by searching cdbxpp.exe. I think it says it is made for XP but it should run on any Windows version. 

 

 





Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

 


 


quickymart

13963 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

  #3399085 1-Aug-2025 14:41
Send private message quote this post

Sadly the USB stick option would be a bit too complex for my family hence the DVD query.

 

Thanks for all the pointers, I'll pick up some DVD-R's (instead of +R's) and try burning at 4X the speed to see how that goes. DVDFab looks fairly straightforward to use, so will probably stick with that one.


gzt

gzt
17140 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

  #3399142 1-Aug-2025 22:11
Send private message quote this post

I recall as speed improved some burners didn't really support low speeds or were unreliable on low speeds. For some reason they liked to advertise the 'best' range support. Similar story for the high numbers. Then buffers. Nero and similar had a test write mode that made a speed recommendation. Long time ago but the tech did plateau there.

 
 
 

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).
SepticSceptic
2191 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #3399173 1-Aug-2025 23:04
Send private message quote this post

Your DVD burner could be flakey as well.

 

Dust, weak laser,  etc


gzt

gzt
17140 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

  #3399175 1-Aug-2025 23:44
Send private message quote this post

Windows Media Player?

Goosey
2834 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

  #3399190 2-Aug-2025 07:34
Send private message quote this post

“Nero” software was the industry leader back in the day…

 

just remember, don’t write too fast..  use quality media.

 

 

 

 


bebek
2 posts

Wannabe Geek


  #3399300 2-Aug-2025 11:51
Send private message quote this post

Nero Burning ROM software still available for Windows 11, 10, 8. 
Price is $79.95
https://www.nero.com/eng/products/nero-burning-rom/?vlang=us

 

For the free one, you may try one of these:

 

ImgBurn Portable
https://portableapps.com/apps/music_video/imgburn-portable

 

InfraRecorder Portable
https://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/infrarecorder_portable

 

When burning the DVD:
- use DVD-R not DVD+R for wider compatibility
- never burn at max speed of your DVD burner
- IMO the sweet spot is between 8-12X to ensure the DVD will burned perfectly & work on virtually any DVD player on the planet. 

 

Hope this helps


Hunter
79 posts

Master Geek


  #3399308 2-Aug-2025 12:37
Send private message quote this post

Wow, thanks for bring this up.
I have been struggling for a while trying to burn DVD.
To the extend, brought out a *very* old laptop from storage, running XP
Unfortunately 1. Does not like large USB 2. DVD burner on it decided to call it a day :-)

FYI, if you want to watch on TV, burn on DVD-RW
Am not sure if software can handle that now
But I used to do that for my mother to watch videos, wipe it and burn another on for her.


nitro
658 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #3399309 2-Aug-2025 12:38
Send private message quote this post

been a while since i've done this sort of things... perhaps try ImgBurn 


ANglEAUT
2326 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #3399424 2-Aug-2025 19:51
Send private message quote this post

What nobody has mentioned so far is the CODEC used for your videos. Make sure to use older CODECs to ensure compatibility with DVD players that are 15+ years old. While newer TV's can read the MP4 & MKV files, I'm not so sure about the DVD players themselves.





Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.


rhy7s
625 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #3399427 2-Aug-2025 20:00
Send private message quote this post

If you want menus, DVD Architect https://archive.org/details/dvd-architect-pro-6.0 then burn the *.iso at 8x in ImgBurn


Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.