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        New Message Board Archives >> 2007 General Board Posts >> I'm going to flippin scream! (DVD-R tech crap)
        
(Message started by: Melissa on Dec 6^th, 2007, 9:32pm)

Title: I'm going to flippin scream! (DVD-R tech crap)
Post by Melissa on Dec 6^th, 2007, 9:32pm

Ok, I have a bunch of home movies I had burned using our ancient Sansui VCR/DVD thingy and I'm having problems playing them on the damn thing cause it's so freakin old and ancient. Anyway, I was hoping there would be a way for me to copy them off the DVD-R discs and onto my computer, but it doesn't even read them? Does anyone know what I can do or download in order to get them onto my puter? I have a Dell Latitude C600.

Thanks!

Title: Re: I'm going to flippin scream! (DVD-R tech crap)
Post by rolo65 on Dec 6^th, 2007, 9:56pm

Melissa,

Does the computer have a DVD drive or just a CD drive?

If your computer does not have a DVD drive you will have to buy a seprate DVD drive with USB interconnect.

I hope this helps some how. :)

Roland.

Title: Re: I'm going to flippin scream! (DVD-R tech crap)
Post by Melissa on Dec 6^th, 2007, 10:00pm

Yup Roland, I have a DVD RW drive.

Title: Re: I'm going to flippin scream! (DVD-R tech crap)
Post by Jonny on Dec 6^th, 2007, 10:04pm

Dont ask me, I upgraded my video card for online gaming, the gaming is great, but my puter freezes every time a video comes up.

Ugh! >:(

Title: Re: I'm going to flippin scream! (DVD-R tech crap)
Post by rolo65 on Dec 6^th, 2007, 10:11pm

Then you will probably need to upgrade the codec for media player or install a program like Power DVD to watch them. Go online to the DVD writer manufacturer to find out the M-peg format used to writ the original DVD disks and make sure the program you install is compatible with that format. I’m pretty sure it’s a codec upgrade you need.

If you are using Windows Media Player to view DVD movies I can E-mail you a codec pack that will most likely fix the problem.

What program are you using to watch the DVD? Rolo.

Title: Re: I'm going to flippin scream! (DVD-R tech crap)
Post by Melissa on Dec 6^th, 2007, 10:20pm

I tried Power DVD already and it won't read the disc. I've also tried Roxio, Windoze Media Player and a couple others I can't remember the name of. I used the stupid Maxell DVD-R discs to record and am unsure as to what to look for on their website.

Title: Re: I'm going to flippin scream! (DVD-R tech crap)
Post by rolo65 on Dec 6^th, 2007, 10:23pm

Will the computer play store bought DVD's?

Title: Re: I'm going to flippin scream! (DVD-R tech crap)
Post by Melissa on Dec 6^th, 2007, 10:26pm

Yup, no problem!

Title: Re: I'm going to flippin scream! (DVD-R tech crap)
Post by rolo65 on Dec 6^th, 2007, 10:29pm

If you used a special recorder it may have recorded in open session mode and won’t close the disk out until it is full. In this case you may need to go into the player settings and allow open session reading for the DVD player properties settings. I suspect this is what is going on from the feedback so far.

You may be able to close the disk out with Nero (Roxio) but your drive will have to write DVD's to do that.

Roland.

Title: Re: I'm going to flippin scream! (DVD-R tech crap)
Post by Melissa on Dec 6^th, 2007, 11:02pm

Thanks Roland, but I think I'm pretty much stuck. :( I wonder, is it possible for my computer to record a movie off the TV, like if I were to play a VHS tape? Would it just take an S-Video cable to do so or would I need a certain kind of software?

You're great, thanks for taking the time to help me. :)

Title: Re: I'm going to flippin scream! (DVD-R tech crap)
Post by rolo65 on Dec 6^th, 2007, 11:10pm

OK to start, the easiest way to do this is to buy a TV tuner card for your computer (PC not notebook) with A/V inputs. Then you can pipe the A/V from the VCR into the computer TV card inputs and save the video in a file that will fit on a disk for burning later so don’t make your file too big. Break (cut) them into small clips that can be burned to CD’s later.

Hope this helps dear,

Roland. :)

PS: that S-video connector on your notebook is for connecting it to a LCD projector and it does not have input capabilities.

Title: Re: I'm going to flippin scream! (DVD-R tech crap)
Post by fubar on Dec 7^th, 2007, 2:06am

All of the above advice is good.

Regarding the recording of TV programs; You can build you own tivo-like digital video recorder from an old PC quite easily, believe it or not. The PC doesn't have to be anything special, either. It needs some storage (60GB is good for a start), and it works best with an add-in card that does the mpeg encoding and those are cheap. If you truly want it to work like a tivo, it can't be an unreliable PC. That seems like common sense, but I know people who think just because it worked for 10 hours it's going to work for 10 years. Anyway, on to the point.

In order for any TV program recording device to work, you have to pay for guide information. Tivo's lifetime subscription rate is $400, for example. For a build-it-yourself machine, your can go to Schedules Direct (http://www.schedulesdirect.org/
) and pay $20/year. That's a good deal if you think about it. It's not on the web for free, trust me.

This is a link to some supported hardware (http://ivtvdriver.org/index.php/Supported_hardware). You can find some of these cards for $30.

The project that makes this possible, quite easy in fact, is MythTV (http://www.mythtv.org/index.php).

Here is a link to the How-To for MythTV (http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO-3.html).

One drawback is you won't be recording any scrambled channels unless you setup a way for the PC to control your cable box with an IR output. There are other ways I guess, but by then your really trying too hard and should be talking a walk instead.

But, you can always just buy a Tivo and pay every month for the subscription.

-Shawn