OT Burned DVD Question for Computer Guys OT

[PatS....]

My cousin had all the old home movies from all of us edited and transferred to DVD. The place that did the transfer gave her the original DVD and she burned some for us.

Mine won't play on my 4 yr old DVD OR my 6 yr old computer (Win 2000).

Nobody else can get theirs to play except for my 14 yr old nephew's computer will play them.

She burned them on a Vista computer.

Is there any way to reformat them so we can watch them without a huge hassle???

Lots of old family cars in the background including my old 49 Chrysler!

Thanks Alot!!!!

[Norm's Coupe]

I'm no computer expert, but I've had the same thing happen every now and then with music CD's. Had my son take all of our old time records and albums and transfer them onto CD's. Most of them will work on my computer. However, I've had a couple that didn't. But..........the same one that did not work on my computer does work on a regular CD player in the house or in the car. He made new copies from the original record/album and it still would not work. We never did figure out why those couple would not work.

Based on that, see if your DVD will work in your DVD player hooked up to your TV.

[PatS....]

I'm no computer expert' date=' but I've had the same thing happen every now and then with music CD's. Had my son take all of our old time records and albums and transfer them onto CD's. Most of them will work on my computer. However, I've had a couple that didn't. But..........the same one that did not work on my computer does work on a regular CD player in the house or in the car. He made new copies from the original record/album and it still would not work. We never did figure out why those couple would not work.

Based on that, see if your DVD will work in your DVD player hooked up to your TV.[/quote']

Thanks Norm. I did try it in my 4 yr old DVD hooked to the TV...no dice. Won't work in my sister's DVD either or her computer.

[Merle Coggins]

There are a couple different DVD formats. DVD-R and DVD+R are the most common used for recording or copying DVD's. Some DVD players don't like certain formats so they won't play. I seem to have had the best luck with DVD-R discs. And you mention that it won't play on some computers. Do those computers have DVD drives? If it's only a CD drive it won't play a DVD.

Just my thoughts,

Merle

[BobT-47P15]

I think Merle is on the right track.

There is also a DVD-RW (re-writable).....and I don't think they work in

certain machines either.

The rule seems to be a DVD player will play a CD.....but a CD player won't

play a DVD. Or something like that.

Sometimes the way a disc is "formatted" might be an influence on how

it works.......just guessing here.....not much of an expert.

[Norm's Coupe]

As mentioned, it could be something to do with the disc drive in your computer. Also, it could have something to do with what program your computer uses for playing DVD's and CD's. I've had CD's that didn't work that my son copied that did work if I switched programs used to play it.

As for those rewritable CD's and DVD's, I don't trust those at all. We were using those to store invoices and purchase orders a few years ago. After you access them so many times, the don't work anymore and you lose what is on them. So........I'd only use the ones that are not rewritable.

[BobT-47P15]

It seems to me that the re-writable ones were what would not play in my

player. Been a while since that occurred, can't recall for sure.....but

think that was the case.

[randroid]

Gents,

I have both a CD\DVD burner\player (D:) and a CD\DVD player (E:) in my homemade (non-proprietary) computer, and for some reason the player will play some disks the burner\player doesn't recognize. It's the same way on my wife's computer, which is a Dell and ergo highly proprietary. As simple as it sounds, try playing the DVD in another drive (if you have one) and it might work.

(Parenthetically yours,)

-Randy

[randroid]

Gents,

I don't use 'smilies' for no reason other than I don't use them, but I'm befuddled as to why they appeared in my prior post instead of the colons I intended. Maybe my computer is simply having a very nice day?

-Randy

[Young Ed]

Because a : followed by a ) turns in

[YukonJack]

As previously stated format has a lot to do with this. I have 3 dvd burners. A + in my desk top computer, A - in a VHS/DVD player/burner hooked up to a tv and a laptop that burns +/- and DL (dual layer). RW shouldn't make a difference as these are still +or - format just with the option of erasing them and using them again. DVD -R seems to be about the most compatiable. Age of the dvd player also plays a part in it. Older ones weren't designed to read both formats. As far as Cd's. Something burned on Vista might not work on XP, Burned on XP won't work on 2000 or 98, Not always backward compatiable and if the disc isn't finalized it will only play on the machine that burned it. My Ex did my resume on her computer years ago which was running Windows XP, I was running Windows 98, My computer wouldn't read the disc. If you have ever bought any computer games, they state on the label which versions of Windows they will work with.

[TodFitch]

I have found that the double layer DVDs burned on my computer do not play on our DVD player. Single layer formats (+ and -) both seem to work okay though.

[GeorgeLeonard]

Im no computer expert either, but I do know that if you re format any disc, you will lose any information stored on it. So Id forget that idea and just stick to trying different machines until you find one that will play it. You may find that the only one that will play it is the one that created it in the first place. Could it have been created on an Apple machiine?

[TodFitch]

..snip...

Could it have been created on an Apple machiine?

I work in a Windows shop that makes Linux based products and I will have to say that I have had much better luck burning CDs and DVDs that will load on all machines (Windows and Linux) using my MacBook than many others have had trying to burn the same software using their Windows machines. My guess is that had the CD/DVD been burnt on a Mac there would have been fewer problems with others reading it.

[Captain Neon]

I burn a lot of DVDs, and I have found that the DVD-R format has the least number of compatibility problems. More than likely, your DVD was copied on to a DVD+R disk and your DVD players do not recognise it.

I have yet to see any benefit to the DVD+R format. It doesn't copy any quicker than a DVD-R and they don't appear to be any better at retaining copy quality.

Frustrating as I have a master supplier that uses nothing but DVD+R discs. I usually end up keeping my first copy on to DVD-R and use it to master the rest of my discs.

[Frank Elder]

Randroid....:}:] You can use different parenthesis, or simply disable your similies in text.

[PatS....]

I just checked and these are on DVD-R I have a friend with a new Mac, I'll ask him to upload the video's and reburn them and see what that does.

Might have been easier to just thread the spliced film into a bloody projector .

Maybe I'll have them put onto a Beta Video Cassette I hear they may stage a comeback! I still have a Beta machine as big as a Mack truck.

Progress may have been all right once, but it has gone on too long.

[Dennis_MN]

I've had the same experience with a couple of computers in my house and some Video tapes that I had converted to DVD's

1. The DVD's would not play on the DVD player hooked to my TV

2. They would play on my vista compter but they showed an index and then when I clicked on the index image they played.

3. They would not work on my wife's XP machine because she only had a CD player.

Options that I found to solve the problems.

1. I got a software program which would take the original DVD with the photo index and make it into a playable DVD for the tv set. I only did it once

2. My vista machine will play it

3. I went out a purchased a external DVD player recorder for my wifes computer, then her computer will play the same stuff that my laptop (vista) plays. This device cost $85.00 and it came with some software which allowed me to make a playable dvd for the tv set. However it was missing some sound or dolby license so I didn't get sound.

I tried to burn the DVD onto a CD but the segments were way too large for a CD player. Progress is great, all of my stuff will be soon obsolete.

Dennis