OT: Copy a CD

[endover]

I must be dumb or something but I'm trying to make duplicates of my home video's to give out to my family for Christmas (hopefully it won't bore them) and I can't seem to figure out how to copy a full DVD (home video) to another blank DVD.

I'm running Windows XP on a fairly new computer and have a single read/write DVD drive. If I copy all the contents of the DVD(with home movie on it) onto my harddrive and then swap out to a blank DVD, can I just hit "Copy files to DVD" and it will make a readable duplicate that my mom can put in her DVD player?

[ZAKO]

?????

[jbsl]

How big is the home movie file compared to how much space is available on the DVD r/w?

[jamesV]

You should be able to use a simple program like Nero. They have a button to copy a DVD, that would do exactly like you are thinking, first to the hard drive then to the blank DVD.

James

[jacksonbart]

so you want to copy a DVD not a CD, right?

[endover]

Oh crap! Okay...okay...okay (Jacksonbart)...I did mention something about being dumb or something in my message so maybe the shoe fits. It's definitely a DVD and not a CD.

As for the question about size of the video, I have no idea. I haven't looked. All of my movies are originally recorded on mini-dv and then transferred to DVD thru the Sony (model # unknown) DVD recorder. They are all 1 hour long (or less).

[skonopa]

I

As for the question about size of the video, I have no idea. I haven't looked. All of my movies are originally recorded on mini-dv and then transferred to DVD thru the Sony (model # unknown) DVD recorder. They are all 1 hour long (or less).

If this is a fairly new computer (is this a desktop?) I would imagine that it has at least 100 gig drive in it (most likely, more). A typical DVD that home movies are recorded on is typically a single-layer DVD that can only hold around 4.7 gigabytes, thus that is as big as the video could get. I would not be surprised if you probably still got a good 50 gigs or so free on your machine (open "My Computer" and right click on the drive icon and pull up the "properties" dialog - will tell you how much space you still got on your drive).

But as for the actual copying, did your DVD burner come with any type of software such as Nero or Roxio Easy CD/DVD Creator (or whatever they are calling it these days?). As was already mentioned, this software should have a "Copy DVD" function that will do a striaght-up copy of the disk, much like the old "diskcopy" command from the days of floppy diskettes. I don't think Windows XP itself has the ability to make copies of CDs and/or DVDs natively (does Vista now?). You will need to use one those CD/DVD burner/creation programs ala Nero, Roxio, et-al.

[LarryC]

I don't think Windows XP itself has the ability to make copies of CDs and/or DVDs natively (does Vista now?). You will need to use one those CD/DVD burner/creation programs ala Nero, Roxio, et-al.

My Dell with XP came with Roxio, and it burns CDs like a charm. I don't see any reference when I bring it up to burning DVDs, though.

Roxio mentions DVD burning on its website, http://www.roxio.com/enu/products/mydvd/mydvd.html. I have a DVD disc-playing in my PC, but maybe only a CD burner. So, can I not burn DVDs?

[skonopa]

My Dell with XP came with Roxio, and it burns CDs like a charm. I don't see any reference when I bring it up to burning DVDs, though.

Roxio mentions DVD burning on its website, http://www.roxio.com/enu/products/mydvd/mydvd.html. I have a DVD disc-playing in my PC, but maybe only a CD burner. So, can I not burn DVDs?

Most likely, you probably don't have a DVD burner. This eMachines computer that I primarily use is the same way. The drive can read both CDs and DVDs, but can only burn CDs. I've added an external DVD burner so that I can also burn DVDs as well.

I know Roxio can in fact copy DVD's, as well as Nero (which I use myself).

[jerohm]

A program like ImgBurn (free download) will tell you what you have ( and do what you want IF the source DVD is NOT ENCRYPTED ). There are programs that can decrpyt the DVD (of course), but that runs into legality issues.

tools->device->capabilities

DVD movies store data in a format specifically for video playback. You CAN'T just use 'explorer' to copy (drag & drop) the files on to your hard disk. If you aren't dealing with a RETAIL (read: encrypted) DVD, you want to read the entire DVD as a single ISO image file (or MDS volume).

[endover]

It's a gateway 3Ghz Desktop with lot's of RAM and harddrive space. I had to completely clean it off a few months ago due to a virus that I never seemed to be able to get rid of. I'll go back thru the software bundle they provided me when I got the computer. It sounds like, when I reloaded the computer from scratch, that I somehow missed the DVD burning software that came with it.

Thanks!