I wasn't sure where to post this so I am posting it here because a it really isn't an ImageBurn issue in itself. I'll give a brief history of my experiences.
I started using ImageBurn along with DVD Shrink and DVD Decrypter a long time ago. I had a laptop that did not have a DVD burner so I bought an external USB unit. I didn't go out of my way to buy top quality DVDs but still had around a 75% success rate. After support for DVD Shrink ended I started getting worried about support for newer movies. And it appeared that my success rate started going down. After a prolonged search for new tools I discovered DVD-Cloner. This tool worked wonderfully. During the first few months with DVD-Cloner my success rate was around 90%. About 6 months ago my DVD burner died. I bought a new Samsung SE-224Q external USB drive. Nothing really changed other than the speed drastically increased. About 4 months ago I started getting more and more failures. When DVD-Cloner v7 came out I installed it and have had nothing but problems. For a while my best soltuion was to rip the DVD using DVD-Cloner to an ISO file and then burn with ImgBurn. But that went south about 2 months ago. Since then I have been haunting the forums and trying different tools. I have tried several tools. Everything I have tried has given no improvement. I have been trying to backup my Star Trek and the original National Treasure for 6 weeks with not a single success.
The problem I have been encountering with all the DVDs is freezes during playback. With my older DVD player it would typically freeze up and not continue. I have purchased a new DVD player and it will freeze at the same spot for 1-5 seconds and then continue on. Only occasionally does it totally freeze. In reading the forums this is typically blamed on the media. I am going to order some new blanks based on the advice from the forums. But it seems to me that the failure rate shouldn't be so complete. I am getting a 100% failure rate. I've tried every possible combination; 1:1, DV9-DV5, DV9-DV5 Movie Only, DV5-multiple DV5.
I have just recently discovered that the ISO file generated from the original DVD is often bad. So I have started mounting the ISO and watching the movie on the 'puter before attempting to burn the DVD. At which point I have to watch the movie again to ensure that it burned properly. I tried using the ImgBurn verify agains the original DVD and get a failure on the very first block of data. I have used DVD-Cloner and AnyDVD to create the ISO files. Once I get a valid ISO file I then try burining it to DVD. (I have watched parts of Star Trek so many times I just about can recite the lines!!!) So far I am still getting a 100% failure rate on the final DVD.
I need to try to find a way to get this working.
I have a Lenovo ThinkPad with Windows XP SP3 with 3 GB of memory. As stated above I have a Samsung SE-S224Q external USB drive with latest update (TS02 1118 Reg 1). I have used a number of varying DVD brands with Memorex being most successful. That is what I have been using most recently.
Is there a tool that will check an ISO file to ensure that it is complete and will play? What am I doing that ImgBurn doesn't like that keeps it from doing a verify back to the original? (I haven't tried generating the ISO file from ImgBurn yet. That will be next.)
I am reluctant to purchase media through eBay so I guess NewEgg gets more of my money!! #39;(
Any suggestions on what I can do to get past this situation is appreciated.
