Clients Having Trouble Reading DVD's I've created...

<p>Hi! First, let me say I'm not 100% sure that this is the correct area to post this question in, but I thought it was a good start. <br>

I've been shooting and burning CD's and DVD's for a little over 7 years now, and for some reason I keep having clients tell me they can't open the files on my disk. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong, and I check to make sure that the files are in fact present before I mail the disks. It's not a problem to burn a couple disks every now and then, but this is getting to be a big problem for me now. Any ideas as to what I may be doing wrong? <br>

Someone once suggested there's something I need to do to make sure the disk can be read on any computer...I've never heard of that though...<br>

Any help would be greatly appreciated!</p>

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<p>What kind of discs, operating system, program and file format are you using? Any common denominator in the clients that are having issues?</p>

<p>It's an internal DVD burner on an HP laptop. I'm on Windows Vista, burning JPG's. No common denominator I can think of... I have had people tell me that their computers can't read DVD's and so they take them to the nearest photo finishing store and even the store can't open the files... One client just happens to be a friend of mine, so she brought me the disk and I was able to view the files just fine... </p>

 

<p>One thought: you can't just copy and paste the images to the DVD, you really need to burn them with a program like Nero (there are dozens of others - check download.com), and make sure the session is closed when you are done. If you copy and paste, you may be able to read them on your computer or others with Vista, but not other OS'.</p>

<p>Here I am a printer; service bureau etc. The canned burner program that come with prepackaged VISTA often creates a ill/freak/bastard CD or DVD; that can only be read by say VISTA or most XP.<br>

<br /> Unless one goes into the bowels of the burner program; one cranks of these freak discs that a subset of folks can read. There is away to make your burner software write discs readable by all; BUT one is going to have to find the magic bullet setting that is set ON by default; to make these ill/freak discs.<br /> <br /> We get discs in daily to print from; ones written with VISTA can be read always with our VISTA box; and with most XP boxes.<br /> Sometimes a XP box will read a VISTA written disc; other times it will not; other times the box get confused; it does reties. I have two dozen boxes; it is NOT a reader issue but a freak disc issue.<br /> <br /> Thus discs I burn for clients I use old Nero; it it can be read by all boxes; VISTA; XP; win2000; win98SE; NT4; dos too.<br /> <br /> These ill VISTA written discs cannot be read by our 3 year old Imac 20" unit either; I think it has Tiger.<br /> <br /> Here typcially I write discs using Nero under Win2000 or XP; sometimes VISTA too and we have had zero issues with folks reading them.<br /> <br /> The real sad thing is that the Government is issueing CD's for folks to bid on contracting jobs; and that wedding chaps are making proof CD's that the common Joe and Jane cannot read.<br /> I get these weird CD's that VISTA can only read; or sometimes XP several times each week.<br /> <br /> In some cases the ONLY thing I am doing is creating a readable CD or DVD that somebodies parents can read; since they do not have a brand new computer. ie I re make a readable on all systems disc; instead of one that only read by a subset of computers.<br /> <br /> many folks who create these discs with readabilty issues do not know they are making one that can only be read on a subset of computers.<br>

<br /> This issue was such a problem I went out in January and bought a VISTA box just to read these ill/freak/poor VISTA written discs; 349 bucks well spent.<br>

I was wasting alot of time trying all these XP boxes; there really was no pattern. One day one XP box would see a VISTA discs contents; but ccpying files was like a dialup modem or a serial port; darn slow.Another disc and one could not read it; another disc and all was ok. I got tired of messing with dozens of XP boxes and rolling the dice.</p>

<p>I had a highly recommend burner, Plextor I believe, and was using it with Nero. I quickly found out I was getting errors burning DVD's at their rated speeds. My solution was to reduce speed of burn, and set Nero to <em>verify</em> data after the burn. These two factors stopped the problem, but it was somewhat frustrating to have to reduce the burn speed.</p>

<p>That burner quit working, I got a new LG burner (at a fraction of the cost of the Plextor), and found it capable of burning disks at rated speeds, no problems. For any critical burns I continue to set Nero to verify the data though. I believe Roxio has a similar verify function.</p>

<p>Bottom line: try a new burner, they are very cheap now. Maybe look up their ratings at PCWorld, see who's the current best/cheapest combination. Internal burners, if you have a desktop computer, might be more dependable.</p>

<p>You should burn at reduced speed of 4x only and use a real program like the free www.infrarecorder.com or deepburner and let the program finalize (close, no multisession) the DVD.</p>

<p>The only reason I use this dumb VISTA box is to read these weird discs; plus I use the 320 gig hda as another space for duplicate file storage. Thus the dumb VISTA box is often just used to read in a clients disc; then I burn another CD or DVD with dumb Nero; so the disc is now readable by all systems.</p>

<p>I also blank discs from clients too; when VISTA came out this weird readability issue came up; I first thought the discs were just blank; then I discovered this weird issue.<br /> <br /> All my expert buddies said the readers were bad; but there is no way a dozen readers are bad at once.<br /> The best XP box that I have that *tends* to read these weird VISTA discs the most is an old box that is only a dual 333Mhz; the reader is on a 1996 motherboard. It must read at a dumber/slower old busmaster speed;and thus works more times.<br /> <br /> Our XP 64 bit box sometimes goes into a tizzy fit reading these weird discs; the reader has it carriage going into a mix master mode. The extra CPU fans kick in; one has now a heater.<br /> <br /> One "sees" the clients files sometimes; then when one tries to copy and paste; a 30 meg file takes 5 minutes or never; instead of a few seconds; or the mouse hangs. One has a dual processor workstation with dual 3.3 Ghz CPU's with 2 megs of cache each with its knickers in a knot; the CPU's are at 100 percent and its reading a file like its is off a serial port in speed. One can add another reader; even external and is does the same thing. One can then try a discs written with Nero and it reads in in flash; with no CPU action.<br /> <br /> With the intel based 2 ghz dual iMac 20" unit with I think Tiger; it never goes into a tizzy fit with these weird discs; it just gives up on first tries. Its is like there is no hang on by the teeth mode; and lets try again like a PC does.<br /> <br /> This issue is with the burner program that many consumer VISTA boxes use. Discs are made using the canned settings; folks drag and drop; or us the canned program that came with their PC.<br>

The issue is one NOT of a bad burner; NOT of a not doing a verfiy either; it is a software issue; the disc is written in jive instead of plain english. Buying another burner will not fix this issue; or doing a verify either. These canned VISTA discs written with many consumer boxes by DEFAULT create these ill discs; they are not readable by older boxes. Slowing down the burn to only 2x still will NOT make these ill discs readable; it is a software issue; NOT a hardware issue.</p>

<p>The situation I have as printer is I see the cesspool of folks inputs; whether zip discs; floppies; CD's; DVD's; even IBM PC cassettes and 5 1/4 stuff too.<br>

<br /> Burning CD's and DVD' at moderate speeds and doing a verify is what we do here; plus we use a common denominator burner program such as NERO so all can read the discs.<br>

<br /> ****Buying a another burner does NOT fix the ill VISTA disc issue; NOR does a slower burn; NOR does a verify.****<br>

<br /> A verify with your VISTA box and using the ill burner software/settings just means you wrote in JIVE and were able to read back in JIVE.:)<br>

<br /> The poor grandmother in Ames Iowa using just Win2000 or Win98SE and sometimess XP; or a 3 year old Mac thus cannot read the ill disc written in VISTA JIVE; since the lame burner program purposely made it a weird variant by default; and most ALL cannot fathom this at all.<br>

<br /> Buying a new burner WILL fix the issue; IF you use the new burner's software; most of the time.<br>

Thus one buys a new burner; and the better software is really what made the disc readable in Ames on a win2000 box or XP; NOT the new hardware.<br>

<br /> Here I just took a NERO disc that came with a spare LG or Liteon 30 buck Walmart burner; and placed in on our VISTA box; and thus we have a good program that works on Vista for writting discs.<br>

<br /> One can use the canned burner with the VISTA/HP box here; or a friends Dell/Vista box and one can create these ill discs that read on as subset of boxes; ie duplicate the problem.<br>

<br /> One can "turn off " the canned settings on your OEM burner software that comes with your VISTA box and make it readable by all; but you have to find the hidden default ill settings to turn off.<br>

This was addressed by another; when I brought up this VISTA disc issue; when VISTA first came out; it is a several year old issue now.</p>

<p>There are many formats for CDs and DVDs, some standard, many proprietary. Discs which are hard for others to read are often written in packet format, emulating files on a floppy disc. These can only be read with the original software used in their creation, especially if they are not finalized. Other questionable formats include track-at-once and multi-session (session-at-once).</p>

<p>Discs written in the disc-at-once format (single session) and finalized can be read nearly universally. Within that category, you have ISO-9660 and UDF formats. Either can be read by both PCs and MACs. If you don't know what format your software is using, you have the wrong software. Nero is an excellent package. It has a lot of sugar-coated wizards, but you don't have to use them once you learn your way around.</p>

<p>ISO-9660 is probably the most widely accepted format, but can't write files greater than 2GB. Most digital images are smaller than that, so ISO is the best choice. UDF can write files larger than 2GB, and is the basis for most video and Blu-Ray recordings. I use UDF only for backups which might contain big audio and video files.</p>

<p>There's always a chance you have a bad burner or bad lot of discs. You won't know until you have good software.</p>

<p>As pointed out, the burning program is most likely the culprit (thank you M/S). Using a better burning program will help. Use quality blank discs. I personally prefer Verbatim but find a disc you like and stick with it. I have been using Verbatim's for 5 or 6 years now. Burn at a medium speed in relationship to your burner/media. If you have a 16x burner and 16x media, burn at 8x. Burning at a slower speed obviously doesn't change the data, but it does affect the ability of other readers to <em>read</em> the data.</p>

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