No encryption,already compressed? Vista should be able to handle it.ImgBurn would be the best route to go.
She can't re-rip your backups:
Can she play original dvds on it?
Was she able to re-rip your backups before Vista?
Was Vista loaded in a new pc,or onto her current XP-upgraded to Vista pc?
I give a 90% chance that it's a compatability issue with her drive.
When it comes to reading OPB-"other people's backups",
dvd-rw drives can be just as picky as stand alone players. Classic symptom: no disc error, when your backup is slapped into her
dvd-rw drive. You can try other programs,but likely get the same no disc error.Her drive does not like your backups.There's something about your backups that her
dvd-rw doesn't like.
Here's how I'd try to fix it,but it'll have to be performed with your future backups:
1) Look at the format of blank media that you are using. If your dvd-rw drive has
bitsetting capability to
booktype,then booktype the plus format to
dvd-rom. Hands down,booktyped backups will have the highest compatability rate. If your drive doesn't have bitsetting capability,then switch to the opposite format for your friend's burner to rip. This is the usual fix,but let's say Bubba has no trouble re-ripping your current backups. He may have trouble after you switch to the opposite format. It's hard to control what drives that'll read your backups,unless you can booktype.
If your friend switched computers,therefore she has a totally different dvd-rw drive than before vista,most likely her new dvd-rw drive favors the opposite format than what her older dvd-rw drive did.
2) Media quality: Again,some dvd-rw drives can be as picky as stand alone players. Certain
MID coded media may give them fits. Crap media can also do a number on all dvd drives. Use quality media and you'll have a lot less headaches now,and later.
Pick up some RW discs.RW can be even trickier to read,but may save you from having extra copies laying around. It'll also give you another format to try on her pc.
3) Burn half the rated speed.Ex:16x media,burn at 8x.
Crap media,burn slower. Quality media,you can speed it up.
4) Burner quality: Not all dvd-rw drives are alike. There's some great drives,decent drives,and pc's of crap drives. The compatability rates can vary. The booktyping drives will help solve this issue. People run into these compatability issues when they switch burners. All of a sudden,their blank media won't work as well as it did before,even though it's the same brand name,format,speed rate,and even the same batch of discs.
Example: My HP640 using
Hitachi maxell media: 50% compatability rate with either plus or dash format. Any of my Benqs or
Plextor,95% compatability rate after they're booktyped.
Look for the latest
firmware version for your drive and update it.It controls the writing strategy-which tells your burner how to properly burn that specific blank media.
5) Slapping any sticker labels on them? That'll do a number on drives.
6) Burn engines: Picky drives can tell a difference between burn engines. Try another burn engine on a backup,and test on her Vista PC.ImgBurn is very quick with re-ripping backups and non encrypted DL backups. Faster than most programs and less strain on a pc.It can also set the booktype to dvd-rom if your drive has that capability.
After trying the above and her drive doesn't recognize your backups,Try another drive in it.Another Dvd-rom,Dvd-rw,or Combo
cd-rw/dvd-rom drive. You may even take your burner out and swap it out for hers. Decent burners from newegg can be had for well under $40 in a worst case scenario.
If she can get a drive to recognize your backups,then lets hope she doesn't encounter any CRC errors. That's another issue when it comes to OPB,then all the above can apply for that as well.
