burning DVD

boofy_2

This is such a basic question, and don't all shout at once!! If I download a video online, will it then burn to a DVD disc (before I go out and buy them).? And DVD discs have numbers after them, is there a particular one I should get. Am operating on Windows XP. I KNOW this is a simple question, but indulge me, please!

wakandem

You can copy any file to a dvd disk & your pc will read it. However if you want that dvd file to be playable on a stand alone dvd you will need to make sure it is in a format your stand alone player will read. As for type of disk I normally get 'minus' but it is six of 1 & half a dozen of the other. Check out [URL="https://www.doom9.net ] & click downloads for a full AV program listing of which most is free.[/url]

uselesswith£

How do you know which is the right format for your DVD player to read?
Does it say somewhere on the dvd player?

BillScarab

Generally you need to make a DVD in the 'standard' DVD format. Download DVDFlick and use that, it will take a standard AVI or MPG file on a PC and create all of the necessary files for a DVD and burn them for you.

Types of blank DVD

The first thing to check is that you actually have a DVD burner! Clickon My computer, you should see your DVD drive listed, make sure it says DVD-RW, if it just says DVD-R you only have a DVD reader.

If it is a DVD burner right click on it and it should tell you the model number. If you google for that you should be able to find out the specs and what discs you can use.

However the vast majority of DVD burners will write to DVD-R disks OK so you should be alright with those. You can only write to these once but they are only a few pence each.

DuncanMiller

As others have said above - if you intend to play a video file on a standard dvd player you will need to convert the files somehow.

This can be quite a lengthy process depending on the speed of your PC. One option is to use NERO (the Nero Vision part) as this is often shipped free with a dvd-writer. Not the best finish on the conversion but certainly very user friendly.

If you are going to be dowloading a lot of videos to burn onto dvd a much simpler option might be to buy a dvd player that can play divx files. Then you would not need to convert the files before burning and also you can fit a lot more videos per disk than the method above.

Divx players are as cheap as £20-£30 these days.

rockabilly_spike

can you watch the file on your pc?
if not download the STORM CODEC.
use Nerovision Xpress (not NERO Express) to convert it to a DVD format.
make sure your standalone dvd player will play copied discs.

and wherever possible, buy the original CD/DVD if you like the music/film and keep artists from losing money on illeagal downloads.