Burning to DVD in Win XP

[Guest]

Just got new Gateway 5200XL PC with Win XP Pro w/SP2. Trying

to burn to DVD-R, and getting strange behavior.

First tried to burn backup with Nero BackItUp, and it seemed

to work. However, the only way to tell for certain is to

restore everything, which I don't want to do.

Don't like backup programs or anything that compresses or

otherwise makes files inaccessible without restoring. I want

to be able to go to backup DVD and just copy over a single

file or folder. Which is why, previously, I have always just

used Windows Explorer to open a window for the blank CD-R,

then just dragged the files and folders I wanted to backup

into that window, then clicked on "Write these files to CD."

I tried to do the same with a DVD-R, which, according to user

guide files on Gateway's site, I *SHOULD* be able to do the

same way. But when I put in a blank DVD-R, Windows apparently

sees it as a CD-R. The directions say to click "Take No

Action," which I do, and then say to open My Computer,

right-click on the writable DVD icon and click "Format."

Here's where I run into trouble: there *IS* no writable DVD

icon in My Computer.

Weird thing is that, when I put in a CD-R, it is immediately

recognized as having 702MB total capacity, and 702MB free.

However, when I put in a DVD-R, it sees it as a CD, and says

"Total Capacity: 0 Free: 0."

Gateway Tech Support tells me that I have to use Nero to

format the DVD-R, which I think is bull, but I tried anyway,

and since I've never used it before, I poked around, and don't

see how to do this. (They pointed me to Nero Express 6.)

Then I tried to just copy files to the DVD-R using Nero

Express 6, which seemed to at least recognize it as a DVD

(because it said the total capacity was 4,000+ MB - I don't

remember the number offhand, but you get the idea). So I

tried to copy one folder to the DVD-R, and then it told me

that it was unable to write to the current media. What's up

with that?

Just FYI, I tried 3 or 4 different blank DVD-Rs, thinking

maybe one or two could theoretically be bad (they're HP,

though, so I doubt all 3 or 4 would be, although if that's it,

I'd at least know what the problem is!).

Gateway insists the DVD burner is fine if it can burn using

Nero, but again, no way to tell about BackItUp, and it won't

work using Nero Express 6.

Anyone have any idea what's going on?

What else should I try?

Thanks!

suemichele

 

[Raymond J. Johnson Jr.]

| Just got new Gateway 5200XL PC with Win XP Pro w/SP2. Trying
|
| to burn to DVD-R, and getting strange behavior.
|
| First tried to burn backup with Nero BackItUp, and it seemed
|
| to work. However, the only way to tell for certain is to
|
| restore everything, which I don't want to do.
|
| Don't like backup programs or anything that compresses or
|
| otherwise makes files inaccessible without restoring. I want
|
| to be able to go to backup DVD and just copy over a single
|
| file or folder. Which is why, previously, I have always just
|
| used Windows Explorer to open a window for the blank CD-R,
|
| then just dragged the files and folders I wanted to backup
|
| into that window, then clicked on "Write these files to CD."
|
| I tried to do the same with a DVD-R, which, according to user
|
| guide files on Gateway's site, I *SHOULD* be able to do the
|
| same way. But when I put in a blank DVD-R, Windows apparently
|
| sees it as a CD-R. The directions say to click "Take No
|
| Action," which I do, and then say to open My Computer,
|
| right-click on the writable DVD icon and click "Format."
|
| Here's where I run into trouble: there *IS* no writable DVD
|
| icon in My Computer.
|
| Weird thing is that, when I put in a CD-R, it is immediately
|
| recognized as having 702MB total capacity, and 702MB free.
|
| However, when I put in a DVD-R, it sees it as a CD, and says
|
| "Total Capacity: 0 Free: 0."
|
| Gateway Tech Support tells me that I have to use Nero to
|
| format the DVD-R, which I think is bull, but I tried anyway,
|
| and since I've never used it before, I poked around, and don't
|
| see how to do this. (They pointed me to Nero Express 6.)
|
| Then I tried to just copy files to the DVD-R using Nero
|
| Express 6, which seemed to at least recognize it as a DVD
|
| (because it said the total capacity was 4,000+ MB - I don't
|
| remember the number offhand, but you get the idea). So I
|
| tried to copy one folder to the DVD-R, and then it told me
|
| that it was unable to write to the current media. What's up
|
| with that?
|
| Just FYI, I tried 3 or 4 different blank DVD-Rs, thinking
|
| maybe one or two could theoretically be bad (they're HP,
|
| though, so I doubt all 3 or 4 would be, although if that's it,
|
| I'd at least know what the problem is!).
|
| Gateway insists the DVD burner is fine if it can burn using
|
| Nero, but again, no way to tell about BackItUp, and it won't
|
| work using Nero Express 6.
|
| Anyone have any idea what's going on?
|
| What else should I try?
|
| Thanks!
|
| suemichele

XP's burning facilities will not burn DVDs. You will have to use Nero or
some other third-party application. What did Gateway provide with the
computer? Formatting of optical disks involves use of third-party packet
writing software, such as Nero's InCD. It may or may not have been provided
with a bundled (crippled) version of Nero. Be aware that packet writing is
a method of getting optical disks to do things they weren't designed to do,
and I would never trust important data to it. Also, are you sure that your
drive is capable of burning DVD-R disks? Some are not, in which case you
must use DVD+R.

 

[Guest]

| Just got new Gateway 5200XL PC with Win XP Pro w/SP2. Trying
|
| to burn to DVD-R, and getting strange behavior.
|
| First tried to burn backup with Nero BackItUp, and it seemed
|
| to work. However, the only way to tell for certain is to
|
| restore everything, which I don't want to do.
|
| Don't like backup programs or anything that compresses or
|
| otherwise makes files inaccessible without restoring. I want
|
| to be able to go to backup DVD and just copy over a single
|
| file or folder. Which is why, previously, I have always just
|
| used Windows Explorer to open a window for the blank CD-R,
|
| then just dragged the files and folders I wanted to backup
|
| into that window, then clicked on "Write these files to CD."
|
| I tried to do the same with a DVD-R, which, according to user
|
| guide files on Gateway's site, I *SHOULD* be able to do the
|
| same way. But when I put in a blank DVD-R, Windows apparently
|
| sees it as a CD-R. The directions say to click "Take No
|
| Action," which I do, and then say to open My Computer,
|
| right-click on the writable DVD icon and click "Format."
|
| Here's where I run into trouble: there *IS* no writable DVD
|
| icon in My Computer.
|
| Weird thing is that, when I put in a CD-R, it is immediately
|
| recognized as having 702MB total capacity, and 702MB free.
|
| However, when I put in a DVD-R, it sees it as a CD, and says
|
| "Total Capacity: 0 Free: 0."
|
| Gateway Tech Support tells me that I have to use Nero to
|
| format the DVD-R, which I think is bull, but I tried anyway,
|
| and since I've never used it before, I poked around, and don't
|
| see how to do this. (They pointed me to Nero Express 6.)
|
| Then I tried to just copy files to the DVD-R using Nero
|
| Express 6, which seemed to at least recognize it as a DVD
|
| (because it said the total capacity was 4,000+ MB - I don't
|
| remember the number offhand, but you get the idea). So I
|
| tried to copy one folder to the DVD-R, and then it told me
|
| that it was unable to write to the current media. What's up
|
| with that?
|
| Just FYI, I tried 3 or 4 different blank DVD-Rs, thinking
|
| maybe one or two could theoretically be bad (they're HP,
|
| though, so I doubt all 3 or 4 would be, although if that's it,
|
| I'd at least know what the problem is!).
|
| Gateway insists the DVD burner is fine if it can burn using
|
| Nero, but again, no way to tell about BackItUp, and it won't
|
| work using Nero Express 6.
|
| Anyone have any idea what's going on?
|
| What else should I try?
|
| Thanks!
|
| suemichele

XP's burning facilities will not burn DVDs. You will have to use Nero or
some other third-party application. What did Gateway provide with the
computer? Formatting of optical disks involves use of third-party packet
writing software, such as Nero's InCD. It may or may not have been provided
with a bundled (crippled) version of Nero. Be aware that packet writing is
a method of getting optical disks to do things they weren't designed to do,
and I would never trust important data to it. Also, are you sure that your
drive is capable of burning DVD-R disks? Some are not, in which case you
must use DVD+R.

Yes, it can write DVD-Rs per Gateway. But why would GW's

support docs have instructions for writing to DVD in My

Computer if it weren't possible? Is it possible it's part of

SP2 that allows this? (And I've never been able to find

anything remotely helpful on ANY issue through MS's KB....)

Also, I didn't see anything called InCD, and there's a small

bundle of Nero apps that came installed on the PC. If I

can't find that, is there any other app I can D/L to do this?

Any recommendations? What can I use to just drag and drop

rather than do a full or partial backup with compression and

other fancy stuff? All I was to do is copy files like I would

onto a CD. That's all!

Anyone else have any thoughts on this too? I'll take any

help/suggestions I can get!

Thanks!

SueMichele

 

[Raymond J. Johnson Jr.]

|
|
| "Raymond J. Johnson Jr." wrote:
|
| >
| > | > | Just got new Gateway 5200XL PC with Win XP Pro w/SP2. Trying
| > |
| > | to burn to DVD-R, and getting strange behavior.
| > |
| > | First tried to burn backup with Nero BackItUp, and it seemed
| > |
| > | to work. However, the only way to tell for certain is to
| > |
| > | restore everything, which I don't want to do.
| > |
| > | Don't like backup programs or anything that compresses or
| > |
| > | otherwise makes files inaccessible without restoring. I want
| > |
| > | to be able to go to backup DVD and just copy over a single
| > |
| > | file or folder. Which is why, previously, I have always just
| > |
| > | used Windows Explorer to open a window for the blank CD-R,
| > |
| > | then just dragged the files and folders I wanted to backup
| > |
| > | into that window, then clicked on "Write these files to CD."
| > |
| > | I tried to do the same with a DVD-R, which, according to user
| > |
| > | guide files on Gateway's site, I *SHOULD* be able to do the
| > |
| > | same way. But when I put in a blank DVD-R, Windows apparently
| > |
| > | sees it as a CD-R. The directions say to click "Take No
| > |
| > | Action," which I do, and then say to open My Computer,
| > |
| > | right-click on the writable DVD icon and click "Format."
| > |
| > | Here's where I run into trouble: there *IS* no writable DVD
| > |
| > | icon in My Computer.
| > |
| > | Weird thing is that, when I put in a CD-R, it is immediately
| > |
| > | recognized as having 702MB total capacity, and 702MB free.
| > |
| > | However, when I put in a DVD-R, it sees it as a CD, and says
| > |
| > | "Total Capacity: 0 Free: 0."
| > |
| > | Gateway Tech Support tells me that I have to use Nero to
| > |
| > | format the DVD-R, which I think is bull, but I tried anyway,
| > |
| > | and since I've never used it before, I poked around, and don't
| > |
| > | see how to do this. (They pointed me to Nero Express 6.)
| > |
| > | Then I tried to just copy files to the DVD-R using Nero
| > |
| > | Express 6, which seemed to at least recognize it as a DVD
| > |
| > | (because it said the total capacity was 4,000+ MB - I don't
| > |
| > | remember the number offhand, but you get the idea). So I
| > |
| > | tried to copy one folder to the DVD-R, and then it told me
| > |
| > | that it was unable to write to the current media. What's up
| > |
| > | with that?
| > |
| > | Just FYI, I tried 3 or 4 different blank DVD-Rs, thinking
| > |
| > | maybe one or two could theoretically be bad (they're HP,
| > |
| > | though, so I doubt all 3 or 4 would be, although if that's it,
| > |
| > | I'd at least know what the problem is!).
| > |
| > | Gateway insists the DVD burner is fine if it can burn using
| > |
| > | Nero, but again, no way to tell about BackItUp, and it won't
| > |
| > | work using Nero Express 6.
| > |
| > | Anyone have any idea what's going on?
| > |
| > | What else should I try?
| > |
| > | Thanks!
| > |
| > | suemichele
| >
| > XP's burning facilities will not burn DVDs. You will have to use Nero or
| > some other third-party application. What did Gateway provide with the
| > computer? Formatting of optical disks involves use of third-party packet
| > writing software, such as Nero's InCD. It may or may not have been
provided
| > with a bundled (crippled) version of Nero. Be aware that packet writing
is
| > a method of getting optical disks to do things they weren't designed to
do,
| > and I would never trust important data to it. Also, are you sure that
your
| > drive is capable of burning DVD-R disks? Some are not, in which case you
| > must use DVD+R.
|
|
| Yes, it can write DVD-Rs per Gateway. But why would GW's
|
| support docs have instructions for writing to DVD in My
|
| Computer if it weren't possible? Is it possible it's part of |
| SP2 that allows this?

Because some form of packet-writing software is installed, I suppose. I
repeat--XP (even with SP2) has no native DVD burning capability.

|(And I've never been able to find anything remotely helpful on ANY issue
|through MS's KB....)

Sounds like a personal problem. The KB can be a little dense, but there's
all kinds of helpful information there.

| Also, I didn't see anything called InCD, and there's a small
|
| bundle of Nero apps that came installed on the PC. If I
|
| can't find that, is there any other app I can D/L to do this?
|
| Any recommendations? What can I use to just drag and drop
|
| rather than do a full or partial backup with compression and
|
| other fancy stuff? All I was to do is copy files like I would
|
| onto a CD. That's all!

I thought you wanted to copy files onto a DVD. You can use Nero for what
you want to do. Read the instructions.
|
| Anyone else have any thoughts on this too? I'll take any
|
| help/suggestions I can get!
|
| Thanks!
|
| SueMichele
|

 

[Pop]

Hi Sue,

Look at the CD drive door, or very near it: There will be a logo
of some sort there that will tell you whether it's a CD or DVD or
CD/DVD along with + or - and so on. If it was built correctly,
or you didn't take it out by customizing it, Gateway says you
have:
16x Double-Layer Multi-Format DVD Writer (DVD±R/±RW) and 16x
DVD-ROM drive, and
Optical Drive: 16x Double-Layer Multi-Format DVD Writer
(DVD±R/±RW) and 16x DVD-ROM drive in another place.
That's great, and I wish I had it!

But, the software only indicates:
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
with Service Pack 2

Application Software: Microsoft® Office Basic Edition
2003 (Includes Word, Excel and Outlook)

AntiVirus Software: Norton AntiVirus 90 day introductory
offer


Unfortunately, I don't see anything in there that would let you
burn DVDs, but that doesn't mean it's not there. I've never
known Gateway to sell a peripheral like that without hardware to
support it, but I guess thre's a first time for everything.
The Help and Support for XP Pro SP2 (my own machine) talks
about Roxio software, and CD Creator, both of which came with my
computer. Roxio WILL burn DVDs, or at least the version I have
will, but ... it SAYS onscreen that it's a CD though, at first.
The free/used 0/0 you mentioned is also there. So, using
whatever you can figure out to get to that point, next go ahead
and format the drive. Then you should see something like 0/4.4G
instead of 0/0.
If there is no format option on the Roxio screen, look for
it in Right clicks (the right hand mouse button), and format the
drive. That will format it for use, plus explain lots of things
to you along the way.

HOWEVER:
If Roxio or some other app is no longer included, that sucks,
but, since that's how it is, Nero is an OK choice for burning
normal CDs and DVDs. It's not the best, but it's functional and
most importantly, there is a free version of it.

If you don't find joy soon, I'd go back to Tech Support while
it's still free, and insist that they walk you through the
creation and/or formatting and copying to a blank DVD.
You do realize that if you try to burn a DVD (or CD) and fail,
that the CD or DVD is no longer any good, right? Unless it's an
RW, you only get one chance (with a DVD-R blank). A failure
usually locks you out of any further use of the DVD.
I've also heard complaints about Nero only burning one layer
on a dual layer optical drive such as you have, which seems
plausible for a freebie software package. So, start out by
burning a single-layer DVD. Besides, they're cheaper to buy.
Any blank DVD write speed of 2x or above, up to the limit of your
drive (16x?) will work, so choose the cheaper ones to experiment
with. If the software sees it's only 2x, that's what it will
write at. To write at say 8X, you'd have to buy media rated for
8x and so on.

Be firm and insistant with Tech Support until you're satisfied
with the results. Do not be afraid to ask for a higher level of
technical support - sometimes the first line support guys you get
don't really know what they're talking about - they only have
scripts to read from. I've had Gateways and Dells for years and
never had any problems with GW's support except for a shipping
problem once where I took it all the way up to Ted Waite's desk.
Asking for next level support has always worked for me. So far.
knock on wood <g>.

For a verifiable backup, don't use normal "backup" or "archival"
software. For simplicity, I recommend Winzip for backups. It
will span CDs, DVDs, etc., and is very stable. Plus you can
easily verify integrity with it. And you can also transport its
output to another PC and still read it.

Start small with just a few files or a folder or two to start
with until you're familiar with everything you need. Then get
out the bigger ammunition and do your full backup with Winzip
(winzip.com) or whatever you settle on. It's also free long's
you'll put up with a nag screen, which is no big deal. If you
like it, you'll want to pay for it - it's a good piece of
software.


Regards,

Pop

 

[Dick Mahar]

Just got new Gateway 5200XL PC with Win XP Pro w/SP2. Trying

to burn to DVD-R, and getting strange behavior.

First tried to burn backup with Nero BackItUp, and it seemed

to work. However, the only way to tell for certain is to

restore everything, which I don't want to do.

Don't like backup programs or anything that compresses or

otherwise makes files inaccessible without restoring. I want

to be able to go to backup DVD and just copy over a single

file or folder. Which is why, previously, I have always just

used Windows Explorer to open a window for the blank CD-R,

then just dragged the files and folders I wanted to backup

into that window, then clicked on "Write these files to CD."

I tried to do the same with a DVD-R, which, according to user

guide files on Gateway's site, I *SHOULD* be able to do the

same way. But when I put in a blank DVD-R, Windows apparently

sees it as a CD-R. The directions say to click "Take No

Action," which I do, and then say to open My Computer,

right-click on the writable DVD icon and click "Format."

Here's where I run into trouble: there *IS* no writable DVD

icon in My Computer.

Weird thing is that, when I put in a CD-R, it is immediately

recognized as having 702MB total capacity, and 702MB free.

However, when I put in a DVD-R, it sees it as a CD, and says

"Total Capacity: 0 Free: 0."

Gateway Tech Support tells me that I have to use Nero to

format the DVD-R, which I think is bull, but I tried anyway,

and since I've never used it before, I poked around, and don't

see how to do this. (They pointed me to Nero Express 6.)

Then I tried to just copy files to the DVD-R using Nero

Express 6, which seemed to at least recognize it as a DVD

(because it said the total capacity was 4,000+ MB - I don't

remember the number offhand, but you get the idea). So I

tried to copy one folder to the DVD-R, and then it told me

that it was unable to write to the current media. What's up

with that?

Just FYI, I tried 3 or 4 different blank DVD-Rs, thinking

maybe one or two could theoretically be bad (they're HP,

though, so I doubt all 3 or 4 would be, although if that's it,

I'd at least know what the problem is!).

Gateway insists the DVD burner is fine if it can burn using

Nero, but again, no way to tell about BackItUp, and it won't

work using Nero Express 6.

Anyone have any idea what's going on?

What else should I try?

Thanks!

suemichele


In Nero, on the opening page, you have to choose between DVD or CD, in the
upper right hand corner. Also, you must format the disk. InCD must be installed,
this will give you the option to "Format/Prepare disk". After this is done, you
can go to Backitup and proceed.... Dick M.

 

[Guest]

|
|
| "Raymond J. Johnson Jr." wrote:
|
| >
| > | > | Just got new Gateway 5200XL PC with Win XP Pro w/SP2. Trying
| > |
| > | to burn to DVD-R, and getting strange behavior.
| > |
| > | First tried to burn backup with Nero BackItUp, and it seemed
| > |
| > | to work. However, the only way to tell for certain is to
| > |
| > | restore everything, which I don't want to do.
| > |
| > | Don't like backup programs or anything that compresses or
| > |
| > | otherwise makes files inaccessible without restoring. I want
| > |
| > | to be able to go to backup DVD and just copy over a single
| > |
| > | file or folder. Which is why, previously, I have always just
| > |
| > | used Windows Explorer to open a window for the blank CD-R,
| > |
| > | then just dragged the files and folders I wanted to backup
| > |
| > | into that window, then clicked on "Write these files to CD."
| > |
| > | I tried to do the same with a DVD-R, which, according to user
| > |
| > | guide files on Gateway's site, I *SHOULD* be able to do the
| > |
| > | same way. But when I put in a blank DVD-R, Windows apparently
| > |
| > | sees it as a CD-R. The directions say to click "Take No
| > |
| > | Action," which I do, and then say to open My Computer,
| > |
| > | right-click on the writable DVD icon and click "Format."
| > |
| > | Here's where I run into trouble: there *IS* no writable DVD
| > |
| > | icon in My Computer.
| > |
| > | Weird thing is that, when I put in a CD-R, it is immediately
| > |
| > | recognized as having 702MB total capacity, and 702MB free.
| > |
| > | However, when I put in a DVD-R, it sees it as a CD, and says
| > |
| > | "Total Capacity: 0 Free: 0."
| > |
| > | Gateway Tech Support tells me that I have to use Nero to
| > |
| > | format the DVD-R, which I think is bull, but I tried anyway,
| > |
| > | and since I've never used it before, I poked around, and don't
| > |
| > | see how to do this. (They pointed me to Nero Express 6.)
| > |
| > | Then I tried to just copy files to the DVD-R using Nero
| > |
| > | Express 6, which seemed to at least recognize it as a DVD
| > |
| > | (because it said the total capacity was 4,000+ MB - I don't
| > |
| > | remember the number offhand, but you get the idea). So I
| > |
| > | tried to copy one folder to the DVD-R, and then it told me
| > |
| > | that it was unable to write to the current media. What's up
| > |
| > | with that?
| > |
| > | Just FYI, I tried 3 or 4 different blank DVD-Rs, thinking
| > |
| > | maybe one or two could theoretically be bad (they're HP,
| > |
| > | though, so I doubt all 3 or 4 would be, although if that's it,
| > |
| > | I'd at least know what the problem is!).
| > |
| > | Gateway insists the DVD burner is fine if it can burn using
| > |
| > | Nero, but again, no way to tell about BackItUp, and it won't
| > |
| > | work using Nero Express 6.
| > |
| > | Anyone have any idea what's going on?
| > |
| > | What else should I try?
| > |
| > | Thanks!
| > |
| > | suemichele
| >
| > XP's burning facilities will not burn DVDs. You will have to use Nero or
| > some other third-party application. What did Gateway provide with the
| > computer? Formatting of optical disks involves use of third-party packet
| > writing software, such as Nero's InCD. It may or may not have been
provided
| > with a bundled (crippled) version of Nero. Be aware that packet writing
is
| > a method of getting optical disks to do things they weren't designed to
do,
| > and I would never trust important data to it. Also, are you sure that
your
| > drive is capable of burning DVD-R disks? Some are not, in which case you
| > must use DVD+R.
|
|
| Yes, it can write DVD-Rs per Gateway. But why would GW's
|
| support docs have instructions for writing to DVD in My
|
| Computer if it weren't possible? Is it possible it's part of |
| SP2 that allows this?

Because some form of packet-writing software is installed, I suppose. I
repeat--XP (even with SP2) has no native DVD burning capability.

|(And I've never been able to find anything remotely helpful on ANY issue
|through MS's KB....)

Sounds like a personal problem. The KB can be a little dense, but there's
all kinds of helpful information there.

I'm sure there is, it's not easily accessible...just don't wanna go there.

| Also, I didn't see anything called InCD, and there's a small
|
| bundle of Nero apps that came installed on the PC. If I
|
| can't find that, is there any other app I can D/L to do this?
|
| Any recommendations? What can I use to just drag and drop
|
| rather than do a full or partial backup with compression and
|
| other fancy stuff? All I was to do is copy files like I would
|
| onto a CD. That's all!

I thought you wanted to copy files onto a DVD. You can use Nero for what
you want to do. Read the instructions.

I tried using Nero for this. Got an error msg:
"Sorry, your compilation cannot be written on this kind of disc. Please
insert a disc of the correct type or modefy the settings of your compilation
to make it compatible with this current disc."

Thing is, when I look at "Disc Info" it recognizes that it's a DVD. But it
wouldn't write to it.

 

[Guest]

Hi Sue,

Look at the CD drive door, or very near it: There will be a logo
of some sort there that will tell you whether it's a CD or DVD or
CD/DVD along with + or - and so on. If it was built correctly,
or you didn't take it out by customizing it, Gateway says you
have:
16x Double-Layer Multi-Format DVD Writer (DVD±R/±RW) and 16x
DVD-ROM drive, and
Optical Drive: 16x Double-Layer Multi-Format DVD Writer
(DVD±R/±RW) and 16x DVD-ROM drive in another place.
That's great, and I wish I had it!

Has logo for CD-RW,DVD + Rewritable, and DVD R/RW.

But, the software only indicates:
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
with Service Pack 2

Application Software: Microsoft® Office Basic Edition
2003 (Includes Word, Excel and Outlook)

AntiVirus Software: Norton AntiVirus 90 day introductory
offer

Did you just get this from the model #?

Unfortunately, I don't see anything in there that would let you
burn DVDs, but that doesn't mean it's not there. I've never
known Gateway to sell a peripheral like that without hardware to
support it, but I guess thre's a first time for everything.
The Help and Support for XP Pro SP2 (my own machine) talks
about Roxio software, and CD Creator, both of which came with my
computer. Roxio WILL burn DVDs, or at least the version I have
will, but ... it SAYS onscreen that it's a CD though, at first.

No Roxio, I wish. Just Nero: the Bare Bones Bundle. Has:
BackItUp
CD-DVD Speed
Cover Designer
Drive Speed
Express
Info Tool

The free/used 0/0 you mentioned is also there. So, using
whatever you can figure out to get to that point, next go ahead
and format the drive. Then you should see something like 0/4.4G
instead of 0/0.
If there is no format option on the Roxio screen, look for
it in Right clicks (the right hand mouse button), and format the
drive. That will format it for use, plus explain lots of things
to you along the way.

No Roxio, and Nero isn't at all intuitive. :-(

HOWEVER:
If Roxio or some other app is no longer included, that sucks,
but, since that's how it is, Nero is an OK choice for burning
normal CDs and DVDs. It's not the best, but it's functional and
most importantly, there is a free version of it.

If you don't find joy soon, I'd go back to Tech Support while
it's still free, and insist that they walk you through the
creation and/or formatting and copying to a blank DVD.

Got the 3 year warranty, but they want to send me to their fee-based support
for this, would you believe?! $3/min ($180/hour!). Screw that! Spent most
of yesterday just trying to convince GW that I had a valid warranty and that
the DVD drive is a burner (they didn't have the correct part # coming up,
though Customer Svc. had it). <Glyph of redhead restraining from pulling out
hair and just banging head on wall instead.>

You do realize that if you try to burn a DVD (or CD) and fail,
that the CD or DVD is no longer any good, right? Unless it's an
RW, you only get one chance (with a DVD-R blank). A failure
usually locks you out of any further use of the DVD.
I've also heard complaints about Nero only burning one layer
on a dual layer optical drive such as you have, which seems
plausible for a freebie software package. So, start out by
burning a single-layer DVD. Besides, they're cheaper to buy.
Any blank DVD write speed of 2x or above, up to the limit of your
drive (16x?) will work, so choose the cheaper ones to experiment
with. If the software sees it's only 2x, that's what it will
write at. To write at say 8X, you'd have to buy media rated for
8x and so on.

Yeah, hit a sale at Staples, got 50 8X DVD-Rs for about $17, when 5 RWs were
$14, so I thought it was a good deal. But I hadn't thought of them being
ruined in a failed attempt, which is good to know.

Be firm and insistant with Tech Support until you're satisfied
with the results. Do not be afraid to ask for a higher level of
technical support - sometimes the first line support guys you get
don't really know what they're talking about - they only have
scripts to read from. I've had Gateways and Dells for years and
never had any problems with GW's support except for a shipping
problem once where I took it all the way up to Ted Waite's desk.
Asking for next level support has always worked for me. So far.
knock on wood <g>.

Oh, yeah, I've never been afraid to raise holy hell to get to the next
level...used to do Tech Support myself a while back. And you're right, they
don't know as much as I do a lot of the time. But this DVD-writing thing is
new to me...this is actually my boss' PC, so I don't have the DVD writer at
home...just figuring it out as I go.

For a verifiable backup, don't use normal "backup" or "archival"
software. For simplicity, I recommend Winzip for backups. It
will span CDs, DVDs, etc., and is very stable. Plus you can
easily verify integrity with it. And you can also transport its
output to another PC and still read it.

Not sure I'm following you here. I won't need to .zip if I can use a DVD.
Only have about 2 gigs worth of backup. Should get all on on DVD. If I do
it without compression without anything fancy - if I can figure out how to do
it like I did with CDs - I should just be able to retrieve one file at will,
right?

Start small with just a few files or a folder or two to start
with until you're familiar with everything you need. Then get
out the bigger ammunition and do your full backup with Winzip
(winzip.com) or whatever you settle on. It's also free long's
you'll put up with a nag screen, which is no big deal. If you
like it, you'll want to pay for it - it's a good piece of
software.


Regards,

Pop

Thanks for your help!

SueMichele

 

[Guest]

Just got new Gateway 5200XL PC with Win XP Pro w/SP2. Trying

to burn to DVD-R, and getting strange behavior.

First tried to burn backup with Nero BackItUp, and it seemed

to work. However, the only way to tell for certain is to

restore everything, which I don't want to do.

Don't like backup programs or anything that compresses or

otherwise makes files inaccessible without restoring. I want

to be able to go to backup DVD and just copy over a single

file or folder. Which is why, previously, I have always just

used Windows Explorer to open a window for the blank CD-R,

then just dragged the files and folders I wanted to backup

into that window, then clicked on "Write these files to CD."

I tried to do the same with a DVD-R, which, according to user

guide files on Gateway's site, I *SHOULD* be able to do the

same way. But when I put in a blank DVD-R, Windows apparently

sees it as a CD-R. The directions say to click "Take No

Action," which I do, and then say to open My Computer,

right-click on the writable DVD icon and click "Format."

Here's where I run into trouble: there *IS* no writable DVD

icon in My Computer.

Weird thing is that, when I put in a CD-R, it is immediately

recognized as having 702MB total capacity, and 702MB free.

However, when I put in a DVD-R, it sees it as a CD, and says

"Total Capacity: 0 Free: 0."

Gateway Tech Support tells me that I have to use Nero to

format the DVD-R, which I think is bull, but I tried anyway,

and since I've never used it before, I poked around, and don't

see how to do this. (They pointed me to Nero Express 6.)

Then I tried to just copy files to the DVD-R using Nero

Express 6, which seemed to at least recognize it as a DVD

(because it said the total capacity was 4,000+ MB - I don't

remember the number offhand, but you get the idea). So I

tried to copy one folder to the DVD-R, and then it told me

that it was unable to write to the current media. What's up

with that?

Just FYI, I tried 3 or 4 different blank DVD-Rs, thinking

maybe one or two could theoretically be bad (they're HP,

though, so I doubt all 3 or 4 would be, although if that's it,

I'd at least know what the problem is!).

Gateway insists the DVD burner is fine if it can burn using

Nero, but again, no way to tell about BackItUp, and it won't

work using Nero Express 6.

Anyone have any idea what's going on?

What else should I try?

Thanks!

suemichele


In Nero, on the opening page, you have to choose between DVD or CD, in the
upper right hand corner. Also, you must format the disk. InCD must be installed,
this will give you the option to "Format/Prepare disk". After this is done, you
can go to Backitup and proceed.... Dick M.

Not sure which Nero app you're referring to in the first sentence, but just
made a discovery: if I open Nero Express and start it BEFORE inserting the
DVD, I can specify DVD, and it did a simulation that finally bleeping worked!
YAY! I don't see InCD at all. Where would that be? In any of the
above-mentioned apps? If I format it, shouldn't I be able to just open it as
a drive in Windows and drag and drop to it? (Man, that'd be soooo much
easier!)

Thanks,

SueMichele

 

[NobodyMan]



Don't post binaries to this text newsgroup. I didn't want your crappy
GIF file on my hard drive.

 

[Keith]

Gateway Tech Support tells me that I have to use Nero to

format the DVD-R, which I think is bull, but I tried anyway,

and since I've never used it before, I poked around, and don't

see how to do this. (They pointed me to Nero Express 6.

RTFM

You think wrong windowsXP does support writing to CD-R/W
not DVD's.

Take some time and read the manual and/or help files in Nero
Express 6 to learn how to properly write DVD's. It should take 5
minutes to figure everything out.