dvd recording help please

[ellenfl]

i have a new iomega 16x16 dvd writer. i have downloaded some videos from the 'net and have a compilation that is just under 4 gigs that i have been trying to burn to disc (dvd -r). the copying takes 10 hours! however, i have only gotten 1/2 way through when my computer reboots itself. my resources are adequate and i am not using my computer during the burn time. i am using nero 6.

i have not checked to see what i have on the disks. i assume i have part of what i am trying to copy.

any ideas why my 'puter keeps dumping? also, any ideas on how i can speed up the process?

win xp (sp2)
1008 mbs ram
850mhz amd duron processor

tia

ellen fl

[RoyGBiv]

1. Processor speed ...

Up front, I'll ask for a clarification. Ten hours seems absurd for just writing the data to the disc, so I'm wondering if what you're doing is authoring a DVD. That would mean you're taking the files you downloaded, probably in MPG or some similar format, converting them to DVD standard format, and then writing all that to disc. The rendering process takes time, and ten hours is more reasonable on the speed of machine you're using. It takes my machine, which is quite a bit faster, about four to six hours, depending on what I start with, to render a full set of DVD files from MPGs using ultra-high quality settings.

The following comments are made with this possibility in mind. Some of it still could apply, but not in quite the way I'm thinking.

Your processor is way too slow for speedy DVD authoring, particularly since it is a Duron. There's nothing particularly wrong with Duron except that it's even slower than an equivalent Athlon would be. I would not personally even try authoring without at least an AMD AthlonXP 2200+ (1.8GHz) or equivalent, and that's the low end. I mean, you can do it, but it's a process that takes a long time even with a fast machine. With the speed you're using, you're going to be waiting awhile.

As for the system rebooting, a number of things could be causing this. My first suspicion is the software you're using. I went through several authoring programs before settling on a few I use for various tasks, and the reason I stopped using some of the others was because they crashed a lot, sometimes causing or requiring a system reboot. You might also have an overheating problem. You're taxing your processor pretty hard when you author a DVD, so it's going to procude more heat. This might not show up as a problem when you're just doing normal work, but it might whenever you're doing something processor intensive.

That's just what comes to mind initially. It could be a lot of things, even memory. You have a good amount, but how stable is it, how fast is it running, etc.? You're also taxing the memory with DVD authoring, so problems could again show up that might not at other times.

[LiberalUprising]

2. Still having problems ellen?

Have ya updated the drivers from iomega site? Lots of times there are updates available even for new products. I have a BTC burner and had to update mine when I bought it.

I am using a 2.4 ghz with around 800 mb ram and Nero 6 and it takes around 2.5 to 3 hrs to burn at 4 gig disc, including the recode, so 10 hrs sounds about right with an 800mgz processor judging from the length it takes me to burn a DVD.

As I understand it the processor usage during a DVD burn is very high and ram doesn't have much to do with the length in time it takes to burn a DVD.

Try downloading and running CCleaner, it will take unnessary crap off your puter
http://www.ccleaner.com/

and check for spyware and adware with adaware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

and spybot, both are free, don't forget to update them before using
http://security.kolla.de/

Also when I got my burner I had to update Nero 6, go here for updates to Nero
http://www.nero.com/en/nero-up.php

And shut down all excess running processes such as anti virus, screensavers ect. to give more resources to puter while burning.

Try these and see if it helps, sorry I don't know what could be causing the reboot problems, here is a site that may help with that issue
http://www.mrbass.org/dvdnewbie/

Good luck and feel free to pm me if this doesn't help, my son is a whiz with pcs and I can check with him.