Does Vista have disc burning built in?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rojo Habe
  • Start date Start date
R

Rojo Habe

I'm confused. Everything in the help files tends to imply that Vista can
burn a CD or DVD without the need to install Roxio or Nero. In fact, I did
once manage to do this, using Windows DVD Maker. It still didn't recognise
my internal Samsung DVDRW drive but did burn successfully to the Fujitsu
Siemens USB drive that came with my laptop.

Everything I read in the help files leads me to believe I just stick a blank
disc in the drive and up pops a dialog enabling me to format it. This
doesn't happen with either drive.

The drives are as follows (as reported by the Device Manager)

Internal Samsung drive: TSST corp CD/DVDW SH-182D SCSI CdRom
Device
USB Fujitsu Siemens drive: TOSHIBA CD/DVDW SDR6472U USB Device

They both have the same driver, the standard Microsoft cdrom.sys
Oh, and I'm fairly sure it isn't a SCSI drive, whatever the Device Manager
says. I don't think my motherboard has a SCSI controller.

I tried flashing the internal drive with the latest firmware but this didn't
make any difference. I didn't try this with the external drive because I
have succeeded with Windows DVD Maker, so I know it must work.

Am I missing some vital drivers, or do I have to install Roxio again. I
really don't want to have to do this because it's such massive bloatware,
and it gets all over the registry like a rash.
 
Rojo,

Yes, Vista has built in CD/DVD burning capability. To make windows pop up
when you insert a disk, make sure you have set the behavior for this response
in the Play CD/DVDs area in Control Panel. Another way to accomplish
burning is to use Windows Explorer (Start > Accessories) to drag and drop or
to use the copy functions built into the right mouse click. Also, you don't
need to format a disk before you use it to burn regular files. The Windows
Help and Support feature explains under what circumstances you need to
format. You can also use Windows Media Player to burn.

When you're finished putting files into the CD/DVD-ROM drive (either by
dragging and dropping or by copying) for burning, you need to right click the
drive and select "copy these files to disk," (words to that effect). This is
because Windows stores those files you want to copy in a cache area on the
hard drive until you are ready to copy all of them at one time. It's not a
good idea to copy files one at a time. Each burn requires a separate index
built into the dick, which takes up anywhere from to 15-25 MB of space. The
idea is to burn everything at one time to conserve disk space. To see where
the files are located, right click a file and select Properties. You then
can see where the files are stored before you burn them. There are a few
tricks to learn, but it's not hard. You have the right idea in that you
should consult Windows Help and Support, but it takes a careful read when
you're not fully knowledgeable about these functions.

here are links to three burners that people who have used them say work well
with
Vista:

http://www.imgburn.com/

http://www.deepburner.com/

http://www.ashampoo.com/frontend/homepage/php/index.php?session_langid=2

I obtained those references from another forum. I've not used any of them.
Each one has a free version and a more fully featured pay version. Just for
your information and consideration, in case you want a burner capability
apart from that built into Windows and which are not bloat ware, such as is
the case for some other more popular burners that you mentioned.
 
Rojo,

I neglected to mention that you should tell Windows which drive you want to
use for burning. Double left click Computer (formerly My Computer) and
select the Properties of the burner drive by right clicking it. Under the
Recording tab, make sure you designate it as the burner.
 
Rojo,

Oh, one other point: Practice these burning functions using RW disks. You
can use those over and over. Practice makes perfect.
 
First of all, thanks for a very detailed reply, but I think it's a bit more
basic than that:


freddy said:
Rojo,

I neglected to mention that you should tell Windows which drive you want
to
use for burning. Double left click Computer (formerly My Computer) and
select the Properties of the burner drive by right clicking it. Under the
Recording tab, make sure you designate it as the burner.
Click to expand...
There's the problem right there. There is no Recording tab, for either
drive.

Windows DVD Maker successfully recognises and burns to the external drive
but totally ignores the internal one. Windows Explorer sees them both as
DVD RW drives and if you put in a blank disc it'll even tell you what type
of disc it is in the status area. There's just no Recording tab in the
properties and nothing on the right-click menu that you wouldn't find on a
read-only drive.
When you're finished putting files into the CD/DVD-ROM drive (either by
dragging and dropping or by copying) for burning, you need to right click
the
drive and select "copy these files to disk," (words to that effect). This
is
because Windows stores those files you want to copy in a cache area on the
hard drive until you are ready to copy all of them at one time.
Click to expand...

This sounds pretty much the same as the CD burning wizard that came with XP.
Unfortunately, I'm unable to drag files across to the drive. It comes up
with a little No Entry symbol next to the mouse pointer.

All this aside, Vista should support UDF for packet-writing. I believe the
help files call it Live File System. This being the case, shouldn't there
be a Format option on the right-click menu?
 
Rojo,

I have no way of knowing whether your system works properly. That's a
question different from the one that asked whether Vista has a built in
burning capability.
 
No need to be like that. I was thanking you for your reply. I didn't even
mind you thinking I was an idiot when I thought you were trying to help.


freddy said:
Rojo,

I have no way of knowing whether your system works properly.
Click to expand...

Well of course you bloody don't! Most people would read what I had to say,
then asked me some relevant questions, to which I would attempt to find the
answers, and eventually we'd get to a point where they either could help or
they couldn't. See how it works?


That's a question different from the one that asked whether Vista has a
built in
burning capability.
Click to expand...

Not really. Only if you just read the subject line a skim half-heartedly
through the rest of the text, thinking you know what I'm going to ask so you
don't need to bother to read it properly.

Anybody else got any input? Preferably with access to the Microsoft
compatibility list (which I looked for on the Microsoft Support site and
couldn't find)?

Here are those models again:

TSST corp CD/DVDW SH-182D
TOSHIBA CD/DVDW SDR6472U

PS, I've changed the subject line to something slightly more idiotic
(complete with apostrophe misuse), since that's the general assumption round
here.
 
freddy said:
http://www.imgburn.com/

http://www.deepburner.com/

http://www.ashampoo.com/frontend/homepage/php/index.php?session_langid=2

I obtained those references from another forum. I've not used any of
them.
Each one has a free version and a more fully featured pay version. Just
for
your information and consideration, in case you want a burner capability
apart from that built into Windows and which are not bloat ware, such as
is
the case for some other more popular burners that you mentioned.
Click to expand...
Windows still doesn't properly recognise the drive, but imgburn works a
treat. thanks for that
 
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