How do I play a virtual drive?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jethro
  • Start date Start date
Jethro said:
I created a virtual drive equating to a folder on my HDD. Now how do
I execute the drive to simulate playing a disk in a drive?

Thanks

Jethro
Click to expand...

There are a few bits of software that let you setup virtual drives that
behive like CD ROMs. search the internet for "Virtual CD drive". There is a
free one from MS.
 
Okay guys - here is where I stand. I will be as clear and complete as
I can. Please bear with me.

1) I have two machines, both WXP PRO SP2.
2) Both machines have Windows Media Player V10 as the default video
player.
3) Both machines have DVD-RW drives.
4) I found a new 600MB AVI video clip and used NERO to make two disks.
One disk was a DVD disk and the other was a CD disk.
5) The DVD disk will play automatically on both of my machines, using
auto play to select and run Windows Media Player.
6) The CD disk will play automatically on only one machine, using
auto play to select and run Windows Media Player.
7) The CD disk will NOT play automatically on the other machine -
instead of using auto play to select and run Windows Media Player,
it just displays the content of the disk. I can, however, run
Windows Media Player manually and it will play the video fine.
I checked that auto play is set to use Windows Media Player for
video disks, and it is.
8) Both disks play just fine on my stand-alone DVD players.

I am concerned because if I make one of these CD disks for my
relatives, and they choose to play it on their computer, I want them
to get whatever player they are using for their auto play to
automatically play the disk. One relative, for example, would not
know how to start up a video player application just to play the CD,
but if his computer is set up right, he shouldn't have to. The same
guy thinks stand-alone DVD players were created by the Devil to vex
him, so he sticks to VHS.

BTW, my past attempts to throw in auto run.inf and vcd.asx files were
motivated by (1) I found a web site that actually stated that CD disks
would not auto play under XP at all, and (2) I found other web sites
that quoted exactly how one would code and add such metafiles to
render a CD disk auto playable, and (3) I found still another web site
that stated that the presence of metafiles on a disk would NOT affect
stand-alone DVD players at all. So if I have been off base, so are
many others. Try google'ing this problem and see what you get.

Thanks again

I was willing to move this thread to another group, but since it
continues to have a life here, I am daring to continue it here.
:<)

Jethro
 
Jethro said:
Okay guys - here is where I stand. I will be as clear and complete as
I can. Please bear with me.

1) I have two machines, both WXP PRO SP2.
2) Both machines have Windows Media Player V10 as the default video
player.
3) Both machines have DVD-RW drives.
4) I found a new 600MB AVI video clip and used NERO to make two disks.
One disk was a DVD disk and the other was a CD disk.
5) The DVD disk will play automatically on both of my machines, using
auto play to select and run Windows Media Player.
6) The CD disk will play automatically on only one machine, using
auto play to select and run Windows Media Player.
7) The CD disk will NOT play automatically on the other machine -
instead of using auto play to select and run Windows Media Player,
it just displays the content of the disk. I can, however, run
Windows Media Player manually and it will play the video fine.
I checked that auto play is set to use Windows Media Player for
video disks, and it is.
8) Both disks play just fine on my stand-alone DVD players.
Click to expand...
[...]

Curiouser and curiouser. (I've been following this thread in hopes of
learning something. I've learned a lot, but none of it solves your
problems, more's the pity. ;-().

The two machines are clearly not identical. IMO, the most likely culprit
is a registry glitch - one machine has a key or two that it should not
have, or is missing a key or two that it should have. Try rolling back
to WMP 9 and reinstalling WMP 10. Or try updating the misbehaving
machine to WMP 11 (the latest version AFAIK.)

The other possibility is that the two DVD-RW drives are not the same
brand/model. The firmware would be different.

HTH.
 
Wolf Kirchmeir said:
Jethro said:
Okay guys - here is where I stand. I will be as clear and complete as
I can. Please bear with me.

1) I have two machines, both WXP PRO SP2.
2) Both machines have Windows Media Player V10 as the default video
player.
3) Both machines have DVD-RW drives.
4) I found a new 600MB AVI video clip and used NERO to make two disks.
One disk was a DVD disk and the other was a CD disk.
5) The DVD disk will play automatically on both of my machines, using
auto play to select and run Windows Media Player.
6) The CD disk will play automatically on only one machine, using
auto play to select and run Windows Media Player.
7) The CD disk will NOT play automatically on the other machine -
instead of using auto play to select and run Windows Media Player,
it just displays the content of the disk. I can, however, run
Windows Media Player manually and it will play the video fine.
I checked that auto play is set to use Windows Media Player for
video disks, and it is.
8) Both disks play just fine on my stand-alone DVD players.
Click to expand...
[...]

Curiouser and curiouser. (I've been following this thread in hopes of
learning something. I've learned a lot, but none of it solves your
problems, more's the pity. ;-().
Click to expand...

Me? I didn't continue the thread because the more I read the more question
I may have to ask. Example #4

- Making 3 discs out of 600MB AVI. Making 2 dics of what?

- I read the OP mentioned "VCD" over and over which I assume it's real "VCD"
now I read AVI = 2 disks and this is clear as mud. Is it really "VCD"
format? does the OP know "VCD" is a specific format not just any CD with
any video file on it?

- Yes, I believe that Nero can be able to encode many different video
formats into VCD/SVCD and DVD, but some will require specific PLUG-IN
else it won't work. And Ahead has several different products, so just
say Nero alone sometime can cause more confusing. More confusing because
I know more than one Nero, and because I have been working with video
daily for the past several years ... so I really need to know more detail
than "making 2 disks out of 600MB AVI video file.."
 
Jethro said:
Okay guys - here is where I stand. I will be as clear and complete as
I can. Please bear with me.

1) I have two machines, both WXP PRO SP2.
2) Both machines have Windows Media Player V10 as the default video
player.
3) Both machines have DVD-RW drives.
4) I found a new 600MB AVI video clip and used NERO to make two disks.
One disk was a DVD disk and the other was a CD disk.
5) The DVD disk will play automatically on both of my machines, using
auto play to select and run Windows Media Player.
6) The CD disk will play automatically on only one machine, using
auto play to select and run Windows Media Player.
7) The CD disk will NOT play automatically on the other machine -
instead of using auto play to select and run Windows Media Player,
it just displays the content of the disk. I can, however, run
Windows Media Player manually and it will play the video fine.
I checked that auto play is set to use Windows Media Player for
video disks, and it is.
Click to expand...

OK, this is your problem. You have in the past opened a Video CD on the
non-working PC and chosen to "open the containing folder", rather than
"viewing the video in Media Player". The little 'Do this everytime' button
was ticked at the bottom, so that is now what the machine does with a VCD.
What you need to do is insert the drive, then in Windows Explorer, right
click on the drive and choose Properties at the bottom. This will give you a
dialog and the second tab is Autoplay. Go there and change what the default
behaviour is and all should be well again.
8) Both disks play just fine on my stand-alone DVD players.
Click to expand...

There is nothing wrong with your discs, just 1 PC behaving differently, so
the fault is in the 1 PC
I am concerned because if I make one of these CD disks for my
relatives, and they choose to play it on their computer, I want them
to get whatever player they are using for their auto play to
automatically play the disk. One relative, for example, would not
know how to start up a video player application just to play the CD,
but if his computer is set up right, he shouldn't have to. The same
guy thinks stand-alone DVD players were created by the Devil to vex
him, so he sticks to VHS.
Click to expand...

Who knows how their PC is setup - if they have changed the autoplay, then
they might see the same as you, but that is a machine specific thing and
only the owner of the PC would know how it is setup and as you have shown,
even the owner doesn't always know!
BTW, my past attempts to throw in auto run.inf and vcd.asx files were
motivated by ...[snip]
Click to expand...

To distribute your video file, you have 3 options:

1. Get Nero to burn a VCD - Video CD. This is an industry standard CD format
and will play in standalone DVD players and PCs alike (so long as Windows
Autoplay default behavious has not been overriden). For what you want to do,
I would recommend this option.

2. Burn the video to the cd as a normal data file (.avi) on a Data CD.
Without an autorun.inf file, windows will suggest a menu of options, one of
which 'should' be "play video".

3. Burn the video to the cd as a normal data file (.avi) on a Data CD. Along
with the video file, create an autorun.inf file which instructs the PC to
play the video file.

Lets clarify Autorun.inf:

If you create a DATA CD (only place an autorun.inf is relevant), then you
can choose to include an autorun.inf file that has contents along the lines
of my earlier post. This instructs the target PC to open/run a particular
program on the CD.

There is more to the autorun.inf file than this, but basically, if you are
burning a VCD, then there is no autorun.inf. If you are burning a video file
direct to a data CD, then you can optionally choose to use an autorun.inf
file. Without an autorun.inf file on a data CD, windows will examine the
drive contents and bring up a dialog suggesting various options for the user
to choose from, such as "Play video using Media Player", "Open a folder
showing the drive contents", or "do nothing". If you include an autorun.inf
file, then this overrides the menu system and tells the PC exactly what to
do with the CD.

There is a slight problem with an autorun.inf file in that you can only
point to an executable file. So you need a small executable that simply runs
the video file. I created such an exe for exactly this purpose a few years
ago, so if you email me, I will reply and attach the small EXE along with
instructions. You can get my email from the header of this post.
 
Jethro said:
Okay guys - here is where I stand. I will be as clear and complete as
I can. Please bear with me.

1) I have two machines, both WXP PRO SP2.
2) Both machines have Windows Media Player V10 as the default video
player.
3) Both machines have DVD-RW drives.
4) I found a new 600MB AVI video clip and used NERO to make two disks.
One disk was a DVD disk and the other was a CD disk.
5) The DVD disk will play automatically on both of my machines, using
auto play to select and run Windows Media Player.
6) The CD disk will play automatically on only one machine, using
auto play to select and run Windows Media Player.
7) The CD disk will NOT play automatically on the other machine -
instead of using auto play to select and run Windows Media Player,
it just displays the content of the disk. I can, however, run
Windows Media Player manually and it will play the video fine.
I checked that auto play is set to use Windows Media Player for
video disks, and it is.
8) Both disks play just fine on my stand-alone DVD players.
Click to expand...
[...]

Curiouser and curiouser. (I've been following this thread in hopes of
learning something. I've learned a lot, but none of it solves your
problems, more's the pity. ;-().
Click to expand...

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, assuming it does.
The two machines are clearly not identical. IMO, the most likely culprit
is a registry glitch - one machine has a key or two that it should not
have, or is missing a key or two that it should have. Try rolling back
to WMP 9 and reinstalling WMP 10. Or try updating the misbehaving
machine to WMP 11 (the latest version AFAIK.)
Click to expand...

The only other WMP that I have is Classic (V4.6). It made no
difference.
The other possibility is that the two DVD-RW drives are not the same
brand/model. The firmware would be different.
Click to expand...

They indeed are different - in fact the one in the failing machine is
a double-layer, unlike the other.

Thanks for your interest.

Jethro
 
Wolf Kirchmeir said:
Jethro said:
Okay guys - here is where I stand. I will be as clear and complete as
I can. Please bear with me.

1) I have two machines, both WXP PRO SP2.
2) Both machines have Windows Media Player V10 as the default video
player.
3) Both machines have DVD-RW drives.
4) I found a new 600MB AVI video clip and used NERO to make two disks.
One disk was a DVD disk and the other was a CD disk.
5) The DVD disk will play automatically on both of my machines, using
auto play to select and run Windows Media Player.
6) The CD disk will play automatically on only one machine, using
auto play to select and run Windows Media Player.
7) The CD disk will NOT play automatically on the other machine -
instead of using auto play to select and run Windows Media Player,
it just displays the content of the disk. I can, however, run
Windows Media Player manually and it will play the video fine.
I checked that auto play is set to use Windows Media Player for
video disks, and it is.
8) Both disks play just fine on my stand-alone DVD players.
Click to expand...
[...]

Curiouser and curiouser. (I've been following this thread in hopes of
learning something. I've learned a lot, but none of it solves your
problems, more's the pity. ;-().
Click to expand...

Me? I didn't continue the thread because the more I read the more question
I may have to ask. Example #4

- Making 3 discs out of 600MB AVI. Making 2 dics of what?
Click to expand...

The AVI is a movie clip that a friend gave me.
- I read the OP mentioned "VCD" over and over which I assume it's real "VCD"
now I read AVI = 2 disks and this is clear as mud. Is it really "VCD"
format? does the OP know "VCD" is a specific format not just any CD with
any video file on it?
Click to expand...

I am and have been talking about CD disk burned in a VCD format (not
SVCD for example).
- Yes, I believe that Nero can be able to encode many different video
formats into VCD/SVCD and DVD, but some will require specific PLUG-IN
else it won't work. And Ahead has several different products, so just
say Nero alone sometime can cause more confusing. More confusing because
I know more than one Nero, and because I have been working with video
daily for the past several years ... so I really need to know more detail
than "making 2 disks out of 600MB AVI video file.."
Click to expand...

Possible culprit. I'll have to check.

Thanks

Jethro
 
To distribute your video file, you have 3 options:

1. Get Nero to burn a VCD - Video CD. This is an industry standard CD format
and will play in standalone DVD players and PCs alike (so long as Windows
Autoplay default behavious has not been overriden). For what you want to do,
I would recommend this option.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I hear from the OP in order to make a next move or
another guessing. But it's pretty hard to get this type of detail info from
the OP <bg>
 
Joel said:
This is exactly what I hear from the OP in order to make a next move or
another guessing. But it's pretty hard to get this type of detail info
from
the OP <bg>
Click to expand...

Actually, his last reply (that you have snipped) tells us everything we need
to know.
 
Joel said:
This is exactly what I hear from the OP in order to make a next move or
another guessing. But it's pretty hard to get this type of detail info from
the OP <bg>
Click to expand...

Oops! I meant "what I WANT to hear from OP.." sorry for typo.
 
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