I've been using DVD X Copy for quite a while now and it's been working great. However, I just purchased a Pioner 8X burner and DVDXCopy doesn't seem to be either reading or writing any faster than it did with my old 1X drive. It is much faster with DVDDecrypter on reading and writing. Any suggestions or is this just a limitation of DVDXCopy?

Thanks in advance!

TeddyKGB, Welcome to our forum,

What speed media are you burning and what media are you using ?

Pete

I'm using 4x media and prodisc media that I purchased from Americal.com. Like I said, it burns fine at 4x with DVD Decrypter?

Which version of XCopy are you using?

3.2.1.0

Platinum or Gold?

Go into the program using windows explorer. Open the PcSetup file in XCopy. Open the Patin-Coufin driver and see if your new drive is listed (click on the + in the box and it will open up). The program may be remembering your old drive and not recognizing the new. In normal circumstances, I would say to reload the program if your drive isn't recognized. With 321 ripper software, that is not always an option. Check to make sure you can reactivate if you need to reload. Normally 321 is faster at decrypting than DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink and others.

Below is a tech checklist for 321 software. I always present this to people with 321 software. It is advisable to copy and keep a copy of this bulletin. There are a lot of recommendations that can prevent problems. Sometimes with new drives they supply new software, so the following is at least a good check to ensure you didn't add any problems.


Seems that a number of popular software programs cause interference problems. Tech Support said the problem could crop up anytime; even after the program functioning well for an extended period.

A word of warning, try turning off programs before going through Add-Remove to remove permanently. I found my solution in the bulletin. My Roxio and anti virus software needed turning off before burning. Hope your problem may be as simple.

Here is the bulletin:

The following programs can cause problems while using 321 Studios software. Your situation sounds like one of these are installed:
1. B's Clip: This package will load a packet-writing software that will constantly talk to your CD/DVD writer, and can cause a number of issues while trying to write a disc. Disabling this software is not enough, as a portion of this package is always running after you start Windows. You will need to uninstall it in Add/Remove Programs, then reboot to remove it.
For more information, visit the B's website at http://www.bhacorp.com.
2. Direct CD or Drag to Disk: These are applications from Easy CD Creator from Roxio. This package will load a packet-writing software that will constantly talk to your CD/DVD writer, and can cause a number of issues while trying to write a disc. Disabling this software is not enough, as a portion of this package is always running after you start Windows. To remove them you need to go to Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel. There you can select Easy CD Creator to Change - not Remove. Then you click next until it gives you the option to Modify. Then either Direct CD or Drag to Disk should be selected and changed to "make this option not available". Then click Next. While the program may look like it is installing, it is actually removing those options.
For more information, please visit Roxio's website at http://www.roxio.com/en/support.index.jhtml
3. GoBack: This is backup software that constantly runs in the background (Terminate and Stay Ready) which not only needs to be turned off, but disabled. Unfortunately, this may cause some restore points to vanish, but it will free up a lot of hard drive space.
For more information visit Symantec's web site for GoBack at http://www.symantec.com/goback/index.html
4. DLA: Also HP-DLA, Veritas DLA, and others. DLA stands for Disk Letter Assignment. This package will load a packet-writing software that will constantly talk to your CD/DVD writer, and can cause a number of issues while trying to write a disc. Disabling this software is not enough, as a portion of this package is always running after you start Windows. You will need to uninstall it in Add/Remove Programs, then reboot to remove it.
5. InCD: This is packet writing software that comes bundled with Ahead Nero Burning Rom. This package will load a packet-writing software that will constantly talk to your CD/DVD writer, and can cause a number of issues while trying to write a disc. Disabling this software is not enough, as a portion of this package is always running after you start Windows. You will need to uninstall it in Add/Remove programs, then reboot to remove it.
For more information go to Nero's website at http://www.nero.com/en/
6. Interactual Player and PC Friendly Player: These programs are DVD software viewers that often come on DVD movie discs, and will try to install themselves everytime you watch a movie on your computer. Please make sure to NOT let these install. Both programs interfere with all 321 Studios software and should be un-installed from Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel when found. In some cases, you will need to uninstall and reinstall our software to restore functionality after removing one of these.
For more information about both players, visit http://player.interactual.com/
7. McAfee Anti-Virus: This is anti-virus software that when running, can cause errors. It needs to be disabled by right clicking on the icon in the lower right side of the task bar. The 321 Studios software then needs to be restarted. Whenever you are using our software, McAfee needs to be disabled to ensure unrestricted access to your drive.
For more info go to McAfee's website at http://us.mcafee.com/default.asp
8. Norton Anti-Virus: This is anti-virus software that when running, can cause errors. It needs to be disabled by right clicking on the icon in the lower right side of the task bar and the automatic updates should be disabled. The 321 Studios software then needs to be restarted. Whenever you are using our software, Norton needs to be disabled to ensure unrestricted access to your drive.
The Norton Website is http://www.symantec.com/
9. StopZilla: StopZilla can hinder required portions of our installer, causing the software to fail. Please completely disable StopZilla, then install our software. Once our software is installed, you may safely enable it again. If you have any difficulty using our software at a later time, you may need to disable StopZilla before going to use our software. Uninstallation is not required.
10. MyStorageGuard: This backup software can hinder certain required files from being copied during the installation. Please disable this program before installing our software, and have it disabled any time you go to use our software. Uninstallation is not required.
11. Napster 2.0: This software includes some basic burning software that can cause burning problems if it is running. You will need to close this program completely before trying to use our software. In some rare cases, you will need to completely uninstall this package to attain full reliability, so if disabling does not solve your issue, please try uninstalling this software, and try again.
12. Easy CD Creator 4.x: Due to the age of this package, it is no longer updated by the authors. There are bugs present in this older system that will cause NUMEROUS problems on your machine, not just with our software. Please Uninstall completely, and consider either the new 6.x version from Roxio (http://www.roxio.com) or Nero 6.x (http://www.nero.com). These packages, installed without the Packet Writing software (DirectCD/Drag to Disk/InCD), all work very well together with our software.
13. NTI FileCD: This program has packet writing software installed with it. This package will load a packet-writing software that will constantly talk to your CD/DVD writer, and can cause a number of issues while trying to write a disc. Disabling this software is not enough, as a portion of this package is always running after you start windows. You will need to uninstall it in Add/Remove Programs, then reboot twice to fully remove it.
For more information go to NTI FileCD's Product page at http://www.ntius.com/default.asp?p=cdmaker/filecd_main
Spyware and Adware - some programs can install other software that can be damaging to your Operating System. Please scan for these programs with a Spyware utility. We recommend Ad-aware, available freely at www.lavasoftusa.com
If you perform any of these changes, you may need to uninstall our software, then re-install to fix any damage left. If you find some of these packages, please shut down and reboot twice to ensure that the last pieces of the conflicting software are completely removed.
Every version of windows requires updates. These updates correct a multitude of problems that are found, on many levels.
To be sure your system is completely up to date go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
If you are using Windows XP please visit http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/default.asp
If you are using Windows 2000 please visit http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/default.asp
You will also want to update your Direct X control to insure full functionality of any of our programs. You will want to download, and install Direct X 9 from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/downloads
Certain programs running in the background can use system resources and cause our software to experience burning issues.
To disable your start up group go to start, run, and type in msconfig and hit enter, then click on the startup tab.
Windows XP(Home & Pro):
If you are running Windows XP you will click the disable all button.
Windows Me:
If you are running Windows Me disable all items that are not Windows system processes.
Windows 98:
If you are running Windows 98 disable all items except for Systray, Explorer and Scanreg.
Windows 2000:
Windows 2000 does not have this utility please make sure to close all programs through your system tray.
Please update your ASPI software by installing the software at this link:
http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/support/driverdetail.html?sess=no&language=English+US&cat=/Product/ASPI-4.70&filekey=aspi_471a2.exe
Follow the instructions carefully, and make sure to reboot afterwards.
Make sure you have the latest firmware update for your writer by visiting the manufacturer's website. Due to legal issues we cannot provide links for you. If you cannot find any update on their website it is recommended to contact them by phone to make sure your firmware is up to date.
Here are some of the more common drives we know of. Please check at this location if you have the corresponding drive:
NEC _ND-1100a - http://support.dell.com/FileLib/Format.aspx?c=us&l=en&ReleaseID=R59801
Sony Drives - http://sony.storagesupport.com/dvdrw/index.htm
Pioneer - http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/links/list/0,,2076_4249,00.html
TDK - http://www.tdk.com/support/dvdburners/index.html
LiteOn - http://www.liteonit.com/ODD/english/index-english.htm
Toshiba 5002 / 6012 - http://sdd.toshiba.com/cda/main.aspx?Path=/818200000007000000010000659800000963/818200000111000000010000659c000003c7/8182000006d4000000010000659c0000154c
Memorex - http://www.memorex.com/service_support/software_display.php?id=456&dl=p
Verbatim Branded - http://www.v-pgi.com/Downloads.htm
Hewlett-Packard - http://www.hp.com/cposupport/software.html
BenQ - http://www.benq.com/drivers/storage_drivers.html
OptoRite - http://www.optorite.com/support.htm
Asus DRW-0402P/D - http://usa.asus.com/products/optical/drw-0402P-d/overview.HTM - choose Download
Teac - http://www.teac.co.jp/dspd/download/firmware/dv-w50e/explain.html
Plextor - http://www.plextor.com/english/support/support_downloads.html#firm
IOMEGA - http://www.iomega.com/software/index.html
_

Thank you for the help. I did everything that was applicable to my situation, but it still is reading quite slowly. I haven't tried burning yet but I thought I'd start with the reading issue. Any more thoughts?

Okay, now that the checks have been done, hopefully.

Naturally the read process will be faster from a HD file than one being ripped and processed in a temp file. But look at the time it takes to do the rip with Decrypter. X Copy is one of the few programs I know that can beat Decrypter on a good rip (speed wise). Unless you want to work with HD files, as I do, you loose time with Decrypter overall (with a lot of programs the time would be about the same and in some instances faster with Decrypter). Most of the work is already done and the HD is a lot faster than a disc drive. So that part is natural and a faster burner makes no difference there.

The only place an 8X burner will help is saving a few minutes on the burn. BTW 8X is not twice as fast as 4X.

Which brings me to a question, have you been doing your routine housekeeping: clearing the cache, history, cookies, running the registry tool, emptying the recycle bin, running the adware and spyware removal tools and the antivirus scans? When was the last time you defragged the HD? And are you leaving plenty of free HD space. Do you have the latest Windows Updates? Hope you don't keep all those Decrypter files on the HD. Starts getting crowded after a while. All these things are pertinent and getting the new burner may have been only a coincidence to the slow down. You'll have to do all the maintenace to know. But then, you should be doing all this on a regular basis anyway.

Make sure you reboot after all this.

Thank you for all the tips. The only reason I'm looking for a faster read is that I'm now using my old burner to read them as it reads faster than the DVD drive I had before getting my new burner so I would have thought the read process would be faster as well. I downloaded DVDXCopy Express RF last night (free upgrade from 321) and then installed the patch and it's burning in the 15 minute range which is right for using 4x media. So that part is fixed. The read process is around 36-41 minutes which may be as good as it gets and I'm just obsessing? I routinely do the maintenance steps you outlined as I'm very performance conscious which is why this was bothering me in the first place! Thanks!

Fast read capabilities are often stymied by the software. Just because a drive is capable of reading faster doesn't mean it gets to. Most companies and software authors want you to make a good copy. So the read is slowed down for quality sake. So in cases like that, it doesn't matter how fast the drive is.

Plus, different programs will read at different speeds and the length of the read depends as well of the file size (a 4GB movie will read a lot faster than a 7GB). And an 8X burn isn't twice as fast as a 4. There's a lot in the setup as well as the math and the math isn't always in a mathmatical progression.

try going into ur device mgr, open up ide ata/atapi controllers and delete the primary and secondary ones. then reboot, winxp (i presume this is ur os) should re-install this.

i have read that this on another forum and apparently resolves the speed issue. haven't tried it myself though.

that and other speed issues discussed here:
http://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=180270

correction to above....the attached link indicates to delete only the primary one....sry about that.

Thanks for the input Neo. The suggestion would probably help with a problem with the drive. When there are limitations due to software, which was implied here, speeding up a drive will not help when a limit is imposed by the software program involved.

TeddyKGB

As I understand, you are ripping and burning with your burner? If that is the case you might try a seperate 16 DVD ROM drive for ripping. Lite-On 166 for around 35.00 is a good choice. My rips average from 8-20 min. with this ROM drive. Gives you also less wear on the burner.

Another way to save wear and tear is to use HD files. You only run the laser to rip and burn. It's out of the loop for the encoding process, which is faster from the HD. A lot easier on system resources than recording on the fly. Once again, speed is dictated more by software than by hardware.