dvd burner question

[almaty 19]

i am a pretty useless chopf##k in regards to computers, well allot of things, and i was thinking of adding a dvd burner..i got a cd one already..is it hard to install? and what is a good one, that is the quality or speed to look at?

[GaryC 7]

i am a pretty useless chopf##k in regards to computers, well allot of things, and i was thinking of adding a dvd burner..i got a cd one already..is it hard to install? and what is a good one, that is the quality or speed to look at?

Installing a DVD burner is easy. The hard part is getting the computer open. If you only have one disc reader/burner in your system you can just add the burner. If you have two (a burner and a reader) then you should remove one and replace it with the new burner. There are only two connections that you need to worry about. A ribbon cable and the power cable. Both are keyed so it is easy to do. They will only go on one way. Just be sure you don't bend any of the pins when installing the ribbon cable. If you are running XP there are not even any drivers you need to install. There will probably be a disc with burning software. I recommend Nero burning ROM. Don't worry, it's not hard at all.

If your still not sure there is always the Geek Squad. They will do it for you.

[almaty 19]

thanks brother gary..i heard from folks at work, it is not too hard..got a sony so, it slides open on the side.

[Marilyn. 340]

you want to get at least a 16x but I would recommend getting a 18x or 20x....

[Heracles 417]

You could buy an external one. Most of the DVD burners will plug straight in. Unless your PC is using SATA drives..

[Jasman0717 9]

You could buy an external one. Most of the DVD burners will plug straight in. Unless your PC is using SATA drives..

See a sales person they can help you. You can probably even find an external one that will plug into the USB port.

[almaty 19]

You could buy an external one. Most of the DVD burners will plug straight in. Unless your PC is using SATA drives..

whoa!!!! thanks brother infidel..tha is, what i will do..you are indeed a right thinking helpful guy..

Edited August 13, 2007 by almaty

[Fandango 1,439]

It's a piece of cake, Deano....I changed mine! So as far as computer stuff (which is not my forte)...if I can do it, so can you

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

here ya go a step by step Dean.

http://www.fonerbooks.com/r_cd.htm

[SteveLaura 0]

Can I piggyback off this, Brother Dean?

I have a CD burner on my laptop. I can burn CDs OK (audio & MP3s) thru iTunes. But I used to be able to save other files - like photos, etc - onto disk and now I can't. Don't remember what error message comes up - maybe D file not in use, or something.

Is there software on the laptop I could uninstall and reinstall thru one of the CDs that came with it? Or some other way to fix it? Seems I know as much as Bro Dean on these matters.

Cheers.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Can I piggyback off this, Brother Dean?

I have a CD burner on my laptop. I can burn CDs OK (audio & MP3s) thru iTunes. But I used to be able to save other files - like photos, etc - onto disk and now I can't. Don't remember what error message comes up - maybe D file not in use, or something.

Is there software on the laptop I could uninstall and reinstall thru one of the CDs that came with it? Or some other way to fix it? Seems I know as much as Bro Dean on these matters.

Cheers.

Go to my computer and see if the drive your talking about is showing.

[almaty 19]

It's a piece of cake, Deano....I changed mine! So as far as computer stuff (which is not my forte)...if I can do it, so can you

thank sisster lisa..i am going to look into it this week-end...

here ya go a step by step Dean.

http://www.fonerbooks.com/r_cd.htm

thanks brother marc..i feel better...i e-mailed this link and will print it out

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Try this S&L

1.. Insert a blank CD-R into your CD drive. Wait about 15-20 seconds for

XP to recognize that a CD-R has been inserted. A window will open, with a

variety of options in it. You don't need any of the options in this window

to copy to a CD-R. There is a Cancel button at the bottom of this window.

Click on it to close this window.

2.. Click on My Computer and navigate to the folder where your pictures

are located. Open the folder so you can see the files you want to copy.

3.. You now need to select the files you want to copy. Do you want to copy

all the files in the folder? If so, hold the Ctrl key down and press the

letter A. This will select (highlight in blue) all the files in the folder.

If you want to select only some of the files, click on the first file you

want to select. Remove your finger from your mouse, hold the Ctrl key down

and click on the second file you want to select. Continue doing this until

all the files you want to copy are selected. Each time a file is selected it

will be highlighted in blue. If the files you want to select are listed in a

row, you can do it this way. Click on the first file, remove your finger

from the mouse. Hold the Shift key down and click on the last file you want.

All the files between the first and last file you clicked on will be

highlighted in blue.

4.. Once you have selected the files you want to copy, look at the menu on

the left of the selected files. The top menu should be "Picture Tasks". The

last item listed under "Picture Tasks" is "Copy to CD". Click on it.

5.. The copying process will start and you will get a message, right hand

corner bottom of your screen, "You have files waiting." Click on it.

6.. A window will open. It will show you the photo files you just selected

to copy. Look at the menu on the left and click on "Write these files to CD"

..

7.. A Wizard box will open. Just follow the directions on the screen to

complete the job.

8.. Once you have copied the photos to the CD you may want to copy more to

it in the future. Just insert it instead of inserting a blank CD and follow

the same directions. Just make sure you have enough space on it to add more

photo files. A CD will hold 700 MB but with photo files, don't try to fill

it. Limit to about 200 - 300 photo files per CD. Otherwise it can take a

long time to open this CD to view the files, but if you don't mind the time

you can fill it.

[SteveLaura 0]

Cheers. That's what used to happen to copy files. Now I don't have the 'copy to CD' option. The drive is recognised - I can watch DVDs in it, and burn CDs with iTunes. I just can't copy.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Cheers. That's what used to happen to copy files. Now I don't have the 'copy to CD' option. The drive is recognised - I can watch DVDs in it, and burn CDs with iTunes. I just can't copy.

See if this fixes it.

http://www.pchell.com/support/copytocd.shtml