needed: someone technical to explain DVD-R and CD-R differences

[seldear]

My laptop is CD-R capable but not DVD-R capable. It won't read DVDs. I have data on a DVD-R disc, but my computer won't even read the disc.

I got a work colleague to copy the files from the disc onto his computer, and gave him a CD-R onto which to burn the files. The files won't copy - it says they have to be burned on a DVD-R - or something about an unknown file format. They're in .avi form and won't play on my colleague's computer - I think it's possible that he lacks a codec to actually play them. (Not that he wants to, I want to, but I don't have a DVD-R drive.)

I would really appreciate some help here, because my knowledge of copying files onto discs stops around the "select the files you want to copy and drag them to the media in question and it'll all turn out okay, dude".

ETA: Okay, worked it out and am burning discs like crazy. Don't know what my boss must think of this - he's sitting opposite the guy whose laptop is doing the burning...

Comments

[hwcarnage.livejournal.com]

Does your laptop have a dvd drive?

[hwcarnage.livejournal.com]

I mean, on another machine, or a friends you could borrow?

It's easyer than re-encoding the file for a cdr

[chiroho.livejournal.com]

I think I vaguely saw your cry for help this am.

The files on the DVD are just plain files. There is nothing weird about their encoding. They're regular AVI files. The only reason I put them on a DVD was because there were 12 of them, and at 355 Mb a piece, that would have meant 13 CDs - which I wasn't interested in doing. (A DVD-R can fit 4.3 Gb of files, as against 650 or 700 Mb for a CD-R.)

So I must apologise most profusely as I didn't realize you didn't have a drive capable of reading DVDs when I made this for you. (Most people do, though I guess that wasn't really a valid assumption.)

However, if there is anyone with a DVD drive on their machine, they should be capable of reading the files on this disk. Both other people who got this disk had no difficulty accessing it from a regular DVD-ROM drive.

Most likely the issue with the colleague from work is that he doesn't have a codec capable of playing the AVI files. I'd be very surprised if he can't read the disk. If he can see files listed in file manager, he can copy the files.

Then all they need to do is burn them back to a regular CD-R so you can read them on your machine.

Once again I am most apologetic. I'll go hide now.

[saramund.livejournal.com]

Bad Rob!

*snicker*

Poor Sel. I'd offer my PC for you to view on, but I only have a CD-RW not a DVD drive...

[chiroho.livejournal.com]

You don't even have a DVD reader? What decade are you living in??

Oh yeah, you're a Kiwi. You're 25 years behind the rest of us. ;D

[seldearslj.livejournal.com]

Mine doesn't have a DVD drive, although the housemate does. The thing is that I won't be able to watch these files on my computer until I get a DVD-R capable laptop.

Which, you know, will be my next major purchase, just because...

[seldearslj.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm going to muck around on his computer during the lunch hour and see what can be done.

Just as well I bought a pack of 10 CDRs this morning. There may be a lot of burning to be done!

And yes, my next computer will have a DVD-R drive. I have a habit of getting exactly what I think I need instead of all the updated mod-cons, result of which, the mod cons come in handy and I don't have them.

Thanks for sending the discs - I really appreciate it. It was just something of a crisis when the housemate got home from soccer training and asked, "Does anyone want to Battlestar?" (And thousands of English Grammar Nazis died by the thousand.) And then we all got ready to watch it...and I couldn't play the disc.

[chiroho.livejournal.com]

Looks like you were successful, which is good. Sorry for all the trouble. :(

I guess I tend to buy the PC with most things. My desktop machine has had a DVD-ROM drive since 1999, and both laptops we have came with one. You just never know when you'll need it. I guess I'm in the camp of "buy the best machine you can afford, as you'll always end up wanting to do things with it that you're not thinking about now."

And thousands of English Grammar Nazis died by the thousand.

I can understand completely!

I couldn't play the disc.

At least you can tonight! Or last night. Or whenever it is that you're watching it.

[seldearslj.livejournal.com]

Well, not last night. And not tonight. But maybe tomorrow. :) Sooner or later, anyway!