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Posted by John Williamson on 12/22/07 09:41
knews4u2chew@yahoo.com wrote:
>>> If you can't see these folders in Windows explorer, either your drive is
>>> faulty or the DVD is not compatible with it.
>> Or he did "put a DVD in the CD player".
>>
> Yes.
> It seems my drives are older, 5 years, and were not DVD drives.
>
If they're not DVD drives, which are required to have the DVD logo on
the front somewhere, you'll *never* be able to read a DVD, as the
hardware is incapable of it. A DVD drive now costs very little & will
directly replace your CD drive, reading both CDs and DVDs. A combined
DVD reader & writer for anything other than a laptop will cost about 20
pounds in the UK, & takes a few minutes to fit into the same place,
using exactly the same fixings and wiring. It will also come with basic
software to let you burn DVDs and CDs. A`DVD reader will probably cost
under ten pounds, but won't come with any writing software. DVD drives
will read CDs, but CD drives won't read DVDs, no matter what software
you have.
For more money, you can buy an external DVD drive, which connects via
USB2, which will save you having to modify your computer at all. You
just connect it all up, & install the driver software which comes on a
CD. I use a couple of these successfully with laptops, but they'll work
with desktop units as well. The only proviso is that a lot of older USB
ports aren't fast enough to reliably work with DVD video.
What speed is your processor & how much RAM have you got? This may
affect your ability to burn DVDs and will certainly affect the speed of
conversion.
>>>>> Do I need two or three reading and compressing softwares?
>>> Not necessarily. There are easy to use single program solutions, or there
>>> are suites of programs that are more versatile, but harder to use.
>> But he will have to install something that adds a MPEG 2
>> Codec, to be able to read DVDs.
>
> Ok.
> So this appears to be what I need first just to see the DVD Files.
> I have to CD Drives a 50x and a 48x12x48x
> What software "freeware" should I start with for this?
>
Once you've installed a DVD drive, Windows Explorer will automatically
see the DVD, so you don't need to modify your Windows installation to
see the files in Explorer. An over the counter DVD drive package will
come with installation instructions and (usually) a DVD player program,
which will install a decoder for the files on the DVD so that you can
play them. Other programs can also use this decoder. The system
requirements will be listed on the box. If you're in the UK, PC World
(Among others) will sell you the drive, & install it for you if you take
your computer into the store & pay them 29 pounds or so(I could be wrong
about the installation charge, I've never used that service).
>> If he buys a DVD drive
>> it will probably come with DVD player software.
>>
>>>>> Is mpeg4 the best thing to go to to have a web based format?
>>> No. The most widely readable are Windows Media or Real Player formats.
>
> Which are?
> Avi, or?
>
Windows Media Video is a proprietary file format created by Microsoft,
which has support built in to Windows Media Player. All Windows PCs can
view this format, & most other operating systems have programs to view
it easily available. It can, with the right settings, be used to stream
along a dialup internet connection, although the quality is pretty dire.
Real Player is another proprietary format with a freely available player
for almost all systems.
This is what makes them best for the web (IMO), but mpeg4 is better for
local use, as it uses less space for the same quality.
>>> Mpeg4 is good for saving space, but a lot of people don't have the
>>> programs installed to view it.
>>>>> I've been tohttp://www.videohelp.com, but am really a novice at all
>>>>> this software jargon and usually have a terrible time downloading and
>>>>> installing things.
>>>>> Anyone have a step by step or do I need to call a pro?
>>> You'd be best off talking face to face with an expert who has a certain
>>> amount of hardware expertise as well as video knowledge. You may have
>>> hardware problems.
>> Reading the related newsgroups would be a good thing
>> to do before "talking face to face with an expert".
>>
> I think there is enough talent between use to get this done.
> I'm just running XP and have Win Media player and Real player.
>
You've got the output file viewing software, all you need now is the
conversion software, a DVD drive & plenty of time.
http://www.xilisoft.com/dvd-to-wmv-converter.html
Is one I found recently.
Just download ( It's just over 4Mb) it from the website using the link
on that page & open the file you downloaded to install it.
For non-commercial DVDs, this seems to do the job quite easily. It's
free to try & 29 Dollars US to register & remove the restrictions.
(Maximum 5 minutes of output & half the DVD if it's shorter than 5 minutes)
It's just taken 6 minutes to convert 5 minutes of DVD video using a dual
core 1.6Ghz computer with 1Gb of RAM. An 850MHz Pentium with 256Mb of
RAM takes about 15 or 20 minutes to do the same job.
Commercial DVDs use protection to stop most programs of this sort
working, though. It *can* be bypassed, but that's another problem,
needing another program.
>>> You'll also make less enemies if you only post to one newsgroup at a time,
>>> as most people regard crossposting as rude.
> I disagree.
> The groups are all related.
> Anyone from any of the groups can use the info or provide input.
>
I was only trying to pass on a helpful hint passed to me a while ago
when I (accidentally) did the same thing elsewhere, without resorting to
the flaming that I got.
Obviously people here are more lenient than they are in some areas :-)
--
Ciao for Now!
John.
(Changed to please Gino ;-))
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