Wryter

Cynthia: Thanks for your reply - and the link! I've copied it down for future reference. As to "the day?" A quiet one for my wife, Merri, and me - cards and flowers, and a home-cooked dinner. We no longer make a Big Deal out of Valentine's Day - we save our finery for our anniversary. As I do the cooking, well, I guess dinner was my gift. And instead of Florist-made flowers, we bought a mixed bouquet and my wife arranged them in a vase. She actually loves to do that (she's an artist) and told me she'd rather have that than the more formal florist-created ones. Fine with me! Saves a ton of money! Respectfully. . .LarryR

Cynthia: Thank you for the wonderful Valentine! Neat-oh. As to operating system - nope, I'm with XP - but sometimes it gets balky and uncooperative. I never have any trouble with ImgBurn, but I do have some other programs that oft-times give me hiccups. SIGH. Frankly, I'm looking forward to Windows 7 - and a more powerful laptop to go with it! GRIN Thanks again for the welcome reply. Respectfully. . .LarryR

Trying to delete a file containing a downloaded movie - but it won't work - says "access denied to file VTS_01_4 VOB - file is right protected or in use." SORRY, CHAPS - I SOLVED THE PROBLEM (BIG BLUSH) JUST RE-BOOTED THE COMPUTER, AND AWAY WENT THE OFFENDING FILE. SORRY TO BOTHER YOU. Respectfully. . . .LarryR

Again, Sir - thank you for your quick and informative reply. Worrying (something I do very well) about this problem, I called a friend - who happened to have a new Sony-NEC Optiarc 7530B drive that he'd just swapped out in his (new) computer. He brought it over, we installed it, and did a test-burn. Perfect! This drive is smoother, obviously faster, and obviously more accurate. The device buffer stayed at 100% - and at the moment I'm thoroughly enjoying Sir Gardiner and his Monteverdi Choir performing some Bach cantatas from your fair country. Beautiful! I think the player was the problem - and I'm going to try to get some resolution from the seller, who is one of those eBay "power sellers." Wish me luck! Those guys are often "gray" sellers. Respectfully, LarryR

Thanks for the reply! First, I'm burning the double layer at 2.4 speed, and the single layer at 4x speed - so I doubt that my speed is an issue? Second - I DO have buffer problems I guess. The device buffer usually stays at 96% - but irregularly dips down to about 10 %, then slowly returns to 96% - it NEVER gets all the way up to 100% - so, me thinks that my DVD drive is at issue here? I recently bought what I believed to be an "upgrade" unit - NEC6650A - to replace the original Sony unit which had been giving me all sorts of headaches. Hmm. . .now I wonder if there's a problem with THIS unit, as well? I wondered about the "bouncing buffer" - and guess that may be my problem. Will contact the supplier with some questions. Respectfully, LarryR

I've run into a problem with some of my opera and musical performance DVDs. After copying the discs to my hard drive, I note that there seem to be files Everywhere! It wouldn't bother me, except that I've been having momentary "freeze" spots in the discs I burn with ImgBurn. The verify doesn't catch any problems, and yes, I ONLY use Verbatim discs, either single or double layer, depending on program length. A friend suggested defragging the hard drive before burning the discs, and I guess it might make sense - though taking a long time. Each performance leaves at least 125 fragmented files on the drive. Any thoughts? IF defragging makes the burn more accurate - without "freeze" points - I'm all for taking the extra time. Respectfully, LarryR

Donating is easy (even when our Market goes where the flush sends it) - finding a good software program is hard. Which is why I added my few hardly-earned Yankee dollars to the ImgBurn kitty. Glady so. Hope it helps. Respectfully. . .LarryR

Good points about carefully using the Mechanic or any such program. And yes, I've found those burning programs to be more trouble than help in many ways. I've only used Sonic and Roxio, but ImgBurn seems so much better! I (again) thank the developers. And yes, I've put a tad of my money where my mouth is. Donation is good for the soul, or something. . .(grin) And Blutach: I envy you, mate - I hope to go there sometime - sigh. Right after those six little Lottery balls fall into place. (grin) Respectfully. . .LarryR

PS - Good to hear from you - I've got very dear cyber-mates down there, but way, way north of you up by Cairns. We e-post a lot, and though we've never met, they live up to Aussie standards! (very high, BTW)

Thanks. I've had less than great results with both Sonic and Roxio - and so far ImgBurn has met or exceeded my expectations and, indeed, hopes. I know many people swear by Registry Mechanic - but I've also read several horror stories where the program crashed machines and left their computers in limbo. I know just enough to get into real trouble, so I tread lightly where you experts do not fear to go. Long live ImgBurn! Respectfully. . .LarryR

My apologies to all of you who patiently read my troubles with autoplay. After many regedits, re-boots, etc. etc. etc. - I FINALLY got to the core of the problem: corrupted files and commands that two programs were creating. First - PowerDVD somehow got corrupted - I uninstalled it and a dozen dlls that were hanging around. Second - a program that I'd just installed, supposedly to HELP me - Registry Mechanic. After uninstalling that one I found that I had a cleaner machine, but one that was still crippled. Had to buy and download a new DVD-playing program - xpack from Corel - that made Windows Media Player work, and work much faster! Money well spent there. The USB port autoplay still doesn't work -but that's minor. The CD/DVD player now hums along, and I'm a happier camper. In closing (will he EVER shut up?) I'd again like to heap some praise on ImgBurn, which I've now used seven times, and which has given me sterling copies each time. THANK YOU! Respectfully. . .LarryR

Your suggestions - ALL - have been solid, and I thank you for them! Just one other question and I'll get on with what's left of my life. How many, and where, NoDriveTypeAutoRun values should there be? There's none in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE - and I think there should be? The Microsoft knowledge(?) base keeps writing about the Autorun "entries," so I guess there should be more than one place where they show up in the registry? If anyone can just post the location - I'll try to enter them and see how quickly I can crash my machine! (GRIN) Respectfully. . .LarryR BTW - I used ImgBurn SUCCESSFULLY three times last night. What a great program! I'm glad I "killed" the Dell-supplied Sonic burning program that always hung up.

mmalves, et al - SIGH - OK, I went into Regedit again - after running Registry Mechanic and another registry cleaner. They found some 14 problems, and now the CurrentVersion DOES come up - TWICE - one if full of files, the other only has one listing. The subfolder goes to Control Panel. The top CurrentVersion, however leads to Policies (hurray!) and then to Explorer. Unfortunately, there are only two entries here: Default - REG-SZ - and (value not set) the seond one - and rather alarming - is NoCDBurning - REG_DWORD 00x0000000. Now I'm REALLY confused! And about to give up. double sigh. Thanks, but I just don't know where to go with all this - it's only my third time running Regedit, and I'm a bit scared of the whole thing. Respectfully. . .LarryR

WHOA! You may be on to something here! Should there be a NoDriveTypeAutoRun key under Explorer in the local_machine as well? And if so, can I just modify Explorer so that the thread is added to it? Hmm. . .this may be my problem? THANKS!

After checking the registry - yes, 91 (145) is the set figure there. Thanks for your reply! Respectfully. . .LarryR EDIT: but let me add here that there are TWO autorun settings - the second is for NoDriveAutoRun - REG_BINARY 01 00 00 00. And at the top, under Explorer, is the drive itself - Default - REG_SZ (value not set) Also - NOTE - in the HKEY Local Machine thread in the registry, there is no "policies" in the string - it goes from CurrentVersion right to Explorer. Same driver setting as with Current_User - Default REG_SZ (value not set) - BUT - There is NO "noDriveAutoRun" or "NoDriveTypeAutoRun" listed there at all! Missing, though I'm not sure it should be there? Please help me on this.

First - thank you for your reply. Usually I get "the brush-off" at most forums. I appreciate this one! Now: when I insert a DVD it spins for a few seconds, then opens up C:\Documents & Settings\ our log-on name. Then, the disc just spins for awhile, then stops. The on-screen display does not change. With My Computer open - when I put in the DVD it does show the content (movie title, opera, etc.) but the drive letter (D:) remains the same. When I R-click on the disc drive in My Computer the menu I'm presented with is as follows - top down. Read using ImgBurn - Browse with FastStone - Search - Open - Explore - Autoplay (which won't) Scan with AVG antivirus - eject - copy - create shortcut - properties. That's it. Oh, yes - the D drive DOES auto play music CDs, but not DVDs. Also, the USB thumb drives on which I store backups won't autoplay, either. Sigh. Respectfully. . . LarryR

Whew! Sorry - my e-mail notification got accidentally turned off. OK - I've checked both the Device and Registry menu sections to be sure all is checked that should be. It's OK. Went into Regedit and the . . . .Services/CDrom autoplay was set to 1, not 0. Also checked HKey_classes_root\DVD. It read: Name - (Default) Type - REG_SZ Data - (value not set) Is that a problem? I haven't the foggiest. . . As to reinstalling my DVD software - it came "bundled" with the Dell computer, and there's not many CDs in the package. A hint as to how I reinstall this? SIGH. . . Sorry to be such a bother. Again - it is NOT in anyway the fault of ImgBurn, but you folk seem so knowledgeable and patient that I thought I'd "bare my soul" and hope for help. Respectfully. . .LarryR

OK - I'm not blaming you good folks - BUT. Shortly after I used ImgBurn for the first time, the autoplay on my DVD player quit cold. I've tried TweakUI (shows all is normal) I've downloaded MS autoplay fix - which shows autoplay V2 is not working, but says it can't fix it. I've gone into regedit, which tells me all settings are good. I've used Registry Mechanic and two other programs, which tell me ev-ting's OK. I've R-clicked on the menu for the DVD drive and my USB thumb drives, one by one, and set all to autoplay. Nope. It's not to be. Any suggestions would be WELCOME! (sigh) ImgBurn, BTW, works flawlessly - and I've happily used it five times now. Respectfully. . .LarryR

Glad to read that humor "across the pond" isn't dead!

Sump-in new ev-day! Sigh. I can't burn SLOWER than 2.4? Wowzer - I'll re-set my auto settings to that, and hope for the better next time around. The firmware is up to date - checked yesterday. And I clean the lens every month. Faithfully. Also - I'm one of those fanatics who cleans ALL my discs - new or old. I've been through a dozen "miracle cleaners," and have engaged in not-always-friendly competitions on various forums. At my advanced age, and with the so-called wisdom attendant to it - I finally settled on the BEST CD/DVD cleaning procedure. I go to Sam's Club here in our faire towne and get 8-oz. bottles of Member's Mark lens cleaner "safe for all coated lenses." Spray the DVD, then wipe off with - and this is the key - MICROFIBRE towels. I get them in auto department of various stores. They WILL NOT SCRATCH the DVDs. Wash them and dry WITHOUT any fabric softener. They get super-mirror finiishes on the DVDs. OK - I'm learning. thanks for the replies, and I'll not bother you further. Respectfully. . . .LarryR

Whew! I finally did it! Yep - a copy of the opera "Magic Flute" has now been burned onto one of my brand new Verbatim 2.4X DVD+R DL discs - with MIXED RESULTS. Sigh. First question: why does the burned disc "hiccup" or hang up in several places during the first two minutes of play? Second question: why does this happen on the computer - but not on my Oppo 980 DVD player? Hmm. . . Third question: When burning, why does the screen show a write speed of (2.5) when I set the write speed at an even 2? Fourth question: I'm terribly happy about this, but why is the burned disc a bit more sharp than the original disc?(original disc a DG DVD) Now - as I'm NEW at this - may I make a (very) few comments? First, I'm using ImgBurn on a Dell Inspiron 6000 computer with a Sony DW-Q58A DVD player/burner. It has served me very well for nearly two years now, though the resident burning program - Sonic - is NOT a reliable product. ImgBurn seems much more stable and sure-footed. (pat yourselves on the back, please) My playback in the media room is fairly good: An Oppo 980 (luv that player!) DVD player - a NAD receiver - B&W 705 mains speakers - a Mordaunt Short subwoofer - some sorta-basic surround speakers which seem "good enough" And oh, yes - a 46-inch Samsung 650 series HDTV TV set that I also love! With that in mind, my main focus is on opera, with an occasional movie or personal art-picture-file thrown into the mix. While I'm just getting started with these projects, I'd already like to thank the developers of ImgBurn. I hope to live up to your standards with my burning programs, though I shall probably come up short. . .(GRIN) Very Sincerely, Larry Roderick

Again - thanks for your willingness to help! I've read all the applicable guides (well-written, BTW) but am still pretty much "in the dark" regarding all the various cells to be copied (or not) when using the "movie only" settings. I think I need to read further about all this! Sigh. As I'm copying mostly opera, I want to make sure that nothing is left out or distorted in any way. Anyway, because I have no discs yet, I have lots of time to read as much as I can. Wow! This is like going back to college. . .especially for a guy who's seen seven decades pass, with incredible changes in technology, some of which I actually understand! (grin) Thanx again. . .

Again - thank you for your info and patience! I've got discs on order from Amazon.com, and when they get here I'll post either my success - or my disaster! (grin)

OK - I've got Verbatim discs on order, though I have no idea where they're made. And I have copied down the forum instructions re dual-layer discs. Thank you! Now I'll see how badly I can mess it all up. I'm very good at that. . .(grin)

(BLUSH) Of course you are quite correct. GB, NOT MB! Sigh. . .I just had cataract surgery, and things don't look "normal" as of yet. Had to type with only one eye open - and half a brain in operation! (grin) OK - the hard drive file is not copyguarded - in video_TS(?) format. So, I just go buy some dual discs and follow ImgBurn directions? I'm assuming that the software WILL burn to the larger disc? This is really my first time out with this, and old dogs really DON'T learn new tricks easily! Many thanks.