I bought a 4x external DVD burner about 2 months ago. I got it to back up all of my existing DVDs, because friends and family always want to borrow them. Anyways, I've gotten through only about 75 of my DVDs, when suddenly this weekend the burning process started slowing down. At 4x on a USB 2.0 connection, I used to burn a DVD in 13 minutes. Suddenly, this weekend it started taking 30 minutes to burn a DVD. Is this a symptom that the drive is finally succumbing to death? I've googled around the web, but have yet to find a definitive answer. How long are these drives supposed to last? I thought at least a couple of thousand hours worth of content. At 75 DVDs, I've only gone through a few hundred hours. Ideas anyone?
the exact same thing happened to me. I thought it was the media or my burner dying on me at first but when I formatted and started clean, that same problem went away. Did the buffer level fluctuate like a motha when you burn? Did you install any new software in your computer the last weekend?
Hmm... I did install Spybot Search & Destory (I had exclusively been using ad-aware). I'd hate to have to format, b/c I have a lot of "unaccounted for" software that was installed during the glory years of Kazaa. But if I must, I will.
I had this problem with my DVD burner and I read somewhere (sorry I dont care to look it up, I think it was on DVD X Copy's website/forum) that if you go to your IDE Channel (I know you said it was external USB 2.0) and change the transfer mode to DMA if available and reboot that can help. Also check to make sure that your DVD ROM/Burner is on the proper region. These things helped speed me up quite a bit. Those things usually go screwy if you are ripping/burning and it craps out in the middle of it.
Actually, I just remembered that the burning slowed down after I got the BSoD while burning my copy of Nutty Proffesor II Da Klumps. After getting the BSoD, I did a hard reset of the machine and it took forever to come up (like 5 minutes, when usually takes 30 seconds) and I kept hearing the hard drive click LOUDLY. So I decided to do a disk check and it took 6 freakin' hours!!!!! It found bad sectors in the Nutty Proffesor image I had copied to my hard drive. After allegedly fixing the corrupted data, that is when my burning process slowed down. Come to think of it, the copy process is slower as well. Used to take 20 minutes, now takes 45 minutes. Maybe I really do have to format. Geez, I wonder what the hell that stupid Klumps DVD did to my machine!
Slow Burn Speeds 321 Forum AfterDawn Forum These are great DVD burning forums. I have always had my questions answered here.
Formatting your harddrive is good for your health and you should do it often to keep things clean and organized Your computer will also be noticable faster after a format. Besides, you have a dvd writer to back up your data with.
Data's not the problem. I have a second internal hard drive where I store all of my data, plus I built an 80GB external hard drive over the weekend and put all of my data on it as well (for redudancy). However, I won't be able to get the same software I have currently installed without going through a lot of headaches. But since I got it through not the most legal of methods, I can't and shouldn't complain.
This isn't a software issue. If you buy a cheap drive, chances are that the focus actuator and coil wear down with use. Hence the longer seek times -> causing slower read/write speeds.
Well, it was a cheap drive I got off of newegg... but I'll check the DMA configuration options before buying a new one. I guess I should test it on my laptop with its USB 2.0 connection to see if it can burn DVDs in 13 minutes. I thought of this yesterday, but I was too lazy to untangle the massive mess of wires behind my desktop to isolate and remove the dvd burner. At least I have a pet project to take on during the 'Stros game tonight. Again, thanks for all the info fellas. It's been said before, and I'll say it again. This board is just a great resource for any and every problem.
Master Baiter, I owe you a beer. In fact, I owe you more than that. The explanation you gave, plus the awesome links, helped me fix my problem. I went home for lunch to work on my computer. You were correct. My primary IDE channel was switched to PIO mode, due to bad DVD copying. Since my primary hard drive was attached to that channel, all disk access was slowed down, including burning DVDs and doing disc scans. Everything works perfectly now. If we ever get a chance to meet, night's worth of beer is on me!
Now that you've fixed that problem, you should switch to a program called DVD Shrink (it's free!). It's easily the best DVD movie backup software out there and it puts DVD X to shame.
i actually do use DVD shrink, to shrink DVD images to fit on a single DVD. But I use Nero Burning ROM to make the copies.
okay. I assumed your post about the DVD X forums implied you use it. Too bad the DVD Shrink project is dead. One of the best programs I've ever used.
no, i was just using it as a resource to search for info about my problem. you're right, it's quite a nifty little app.
