I'm Using DVD shrink, and recentally my times have almost doubled. I uninstalled the Secondary IDE controller and when my computer boots up I let it install the drivers, when it finishes installing though, it says there is an error. I contacted the company which i bought my computer from (ibuypower) and they just told me to reformat my HD, which I just did about 2 weeks ago, and don't really want to do it again. Anyone have any ideas on a Fix to this problem other then trying to reformat my HD?
One suggestion is dont multitask whilst burning and make sure any spyware (such as spyware doctor) is closed as this really slows things down. May not be the cause but worth a try
more things you can do is to clean your registry, do a disk clean (found in All Programs, Accessories, system tools), then a defrag, and reboot. Should show some improvement. You shouldn't have to format your Hard Drive when your computer gets a little sluggish.... it's the Windows syndrom! Just need better housekeeping! It works for me! Makes everything fresh and clean again! I even have WinTrace Remover to take out my tracks so that it doesn't clog up the works! My computer always works like new.
I'll give it a shot. I don't think system maintenance is going to reduce my speed from 1 hour to half an hour again, but eh its worth a shot.
stros The reasoning behind reinstalling the IDE Channel for speed issues is resetting the PIO-DMA settings. The drives should be in DMA, but sometimes repeated errors will cause the system to go into PIO. DMA is faster. You can check before uninstalling to see if that is the problem. If the system is encountering errors in reinstalling, it may be the OS as the setup is part of plug and play. Normally if a system drive has gone into PIO, backing up a DVD can run at a snail's pace. A formatted and clean startup is going to be cleaner and faster (if all is done properly). As the system has more software added to it and drains put on the system resources, it's going to slow down. There was no note of specs for the system. Using Shrink with the Quality Settings on or off makes quite a difference in speed as well. On a newly formatted drive, I doubt fragmentation would be a problem, but good housekeeping goes a long way toward good performance. So, keep it clean and run defrag on occasion. It can't hurt. Just out of curiosity, did you record the same DVD at different speeds or was it different DVDs? Times vary from different DVDs, so a number of factors could come into play. A large DVD of nearly 8GB is going to take longer than a smaller one at 5 or 6GB. Then if Quality Settings are used in Shrink, that takes a lot longer. The smaller movies don't need quality settings, so they're going to skip along in comparison. Then if you did the long movie before the format and the smaller movie following the format, the backup app probably ran a little faster after the format. If all or part of those things happened, there'd be a noticable time difference. If I were you, I'd post the system specs and a movie with the backup time involved and see how it compares to others with a similar system. Make sure you're in DMA though.
I Just checked and the Drive is in DMA. As for DVD shrink, I am Shrinking down New Dvds, ex.. 40yr old virgin, Kingdom of heaven, Deuce Bigalow.. So they are all double layer to start out, I am reducing them to burn on a single layer with shrink. It takes about an Hour. If I just rip or burn a Single layer CD with Alcohol 120%, It is only taking about 12-15 minutes for a full 4.7 gig. I tried seeing if there was a setting in Shrink that would limit speed but I couldn't find anything.. Any suggestions?
Checking the Quality Settings in Shrink has the most drastic effect on speed. However, if you don't check them, the quality suffers and compression problems can creep in. Movies about 5 to 6GB aren't as much a worry, but when going nearer 7GB and above those settings get very important. Deep analysis is another choice that improves the DVD quality, it adds something like 15 minutes on average to a large DVD. Those aren't speed settings, but they are selections that cause the process to take longer. It's either do it faster or take the time for quality. That happens with apps other than this one. Other than that, there is little more that effects speed that I can think of off hand. Some DVDs have a more complicated structure and can take longer. I've noticed time differences using the same settings with movies the same size. The more backups you do, the more you'll notice the little things. If you're in DMA and the system is maintained as it should be, then there is little you can do that will improve speed, other than possibly turning off all non essential programs running in the background. Better CPUs and more memory always helps, but then that wouldn't be the same as what you have now. Good luck and happy burning. Out of curiosity, what are the specs on your PC? Just so we know what we're talking about here. Brand and model, RAM (amount and how much in reserve), hard drive and free space, operating system, and drive configuration? That way we have a picture of your machine.
I'll check those settings in 3.2 Right now im running a labtop built by IBUYPOWER.com AMD 3400 - its like 2.7 ghz or something 1 gig of ram 60 gig 7200rpm HD, about 30 gigs free when theres no dvd images saved. I'm Running XP Home
Sounds like your system has ample resources. Some people complain about laptops running a bit warm when encoding movies. The process loads the CPU and keeps it loaded for an extended period, unlike most apps. You weren't complaining about that problem though. By the way, a rule of thumb is to keep at least 2 times the space of the DVD being recorded free on the HD when starting a project with Shrink.
I said screw it and reformatted my comp. It works now though.. So i don't know what was wrong with the software.
The last operating system installation is suspect. The most outstanding incident was the error in picking up the IDE Channel. That shouldn't have happened unless there was some hardware problem. Since the new installation took care of the problem it was either the OS or you have an intermittent problem. Keep an eye on things in the near future. If nothing crops up, then you know what it was. It's not unheard of to get a corrupted OS installation. Another thing to look for is problems caused by software installations and/or interference. Pay attention to the apps as you install them. Instead of doing the software installations all at once, especially recording apps and burner software, reinstall them as needed and note if problems crop up after an install of a particular app.
I think I found what the problem was.. I Installed Shrink3.2 first.. and It was putting out an image at about 30-35 mins each dvd. I then installed A120% and it was taking about an Hour each dvd for shrink to prepare.. I unisntalled A120% and its back down to 30-35.. Any suggestions of Burning programs other then 120%?
It slowed wayy down again.. I uninstalled A120%, Now its burning images in 45 minutes... I don't get the reason for the 10 minute increase?!
Alcohol isn't usually an app used with Shrink. Burning with Alcohol has nothing to do with Shrink, except it is a burner. ImgBurn is a freeware burner; it's the burning portion of DVD Decrypter. The author, LUK, can support the burning software but is barred from further supporting the decryption software. You may want to give that a try. Shrink can use both the Nero Burning ROM and DVD Decrypter to auto burn the Shrink output. Decrypter or ImgBurn are limited to ISO files, Nero can handle Files and ISO. With the files transcoded by Shrink, the process shouldn't take any more additional time than what it normally takes for your burner to do a burn. 25 minutes does sound like a bit long for a burn. At 4X a disc can usually be burned in about 15 minutes or so. I haven't timed one lately. I don't know what Alcohol was doing to add the additional time. Alcohol is a good app, but I don't use it for burning. If you're going to be doing a lot of backups, I'd suggest Nero, if you don't mind retail. CopyToDVD3 is another good app. I mentioned the free ImgBurn and DVD Decrypter is still available and handles burning in ISO format. Nero also has Recode2 which is another handy transcoding app. Interesting is the fact that the author of Shrink went to work for Nero. By the way, Decrypter is still a handy ripper and utility, even if the author is no longer able to support its development. It only has problems with some of the newer encryptions when functioning as the sole decryption tool. Nowadays when I rip with it, I have AnyDVD running in the background. AnyDVD works with Shrink as well. Since Shrink is no longer being supported, it shares the same problem as Decrypter, it doesn't work with some of the newer encryption. You may want to check out http://www.slysoft.com and do a read on AnyDVD and give the trial a run. You won't get much faster than running Shrink with AnyDVD and having it set to auto burn with Nero or DVD Decrypter. There's a freeware app, DVD43, which is similar to AnyDVD. I don't like it as well and it doesn't get updated as quickly. I guess the operative word is free. So, one can use DVD43, DVD Shrink, and DVD Decrypter to burn and have the entire package for free. The time you noted seems to indicate you're not using the quality settings. Not a big deal until you get to higher compression. Then you can get compression faults and lower video quality. It takes longer for the higher quality.
As far as the video quality goes, I was using the Default settings. Ive checked out decrypter before but it was just a quick glance at it and with all the options it looked like it carried I didn't go through them and set them up. I will go through and check out the programs you mentioned though.
I just downloaded Decrypter, and for some reason the speed issue isn't changing at all.. I am following a guide from "Scuba Pete's" (www.dvdplusvideo.com) It is still taking about 45 minutes to rip the dvd. But its only taking 15 or 16 to burn.. It does make sence that it would take about the same to burn as to rip, but im not sure whats going on here.
I 18:15:45 DVD Decrypter Version 3.5.4.0 started! I 18:15:45 Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600 : Service Pack 2) I 18:15:45 Initialising SPTI... I 18:15:45 Searching for SCSI / ATAPI devices... I 18:15:45 Found 1 DVD±RW! W 18:15:48 Possible RCE Protection Found! W 18:15:48 Media region code: 1 W 18:17:13 User selected Region 1 for the disc's region code. W 18:19:33 Possible RCE Protection Found! W 18:19:33 Media region code: 1 W 18:19:38 User selected Region 1 for the disc's region code. I 18:20:03 Operation Started! I 18:20:03 Source Device: [1:0:0] Slimtype DVDRW SOSW-852S PSU2 (D (ATA) I 18:20:03 Source Media Type: DVD-ROM I 18:20:03 Source Media Region Code: 1 I 18:20:03 Source Media Copyright Protection System Type: CSS/CPPM I 18:20:03 Source Media Implementation Identifier: UDF Toshiba DVD Video I 18:20:03 Destination File: C:\CHARLIE_AND_CHOCOLATE_FACTORY.ISO I 18:20:03 File Splitting: Auto I 18:20:03 Detect Mastering Errors: No I 18:20:03 Remove Macrovision Protection: Yes I 18:20:10 Extracting Sectors... (LBA: 0 - 4029374) I 18:23:00 Found IFO File: VIDEO_TS.IFO - (LBA: 213098 - 213103) I 18:23:00 Found BUP File: VIDEO_TS.BUP - (LBA: 213104 - 213109) I 18:23:00 Found IFO File: VTS_01_0.IFO - (LBA: 213116 - 213132) I 18:23:00 Found VOB File: VTS_01_0.VOB - (LBA: 213133 - 213133) - KEY: E8 C1 83 82 BA I 18:23:00 Found VOB File: VTS_01_1.VOB - (LBA: 213133 - 580873) - KEY: E8 C1 83 82 BA I 18:26:58 Found BUP File: VTS_01_0.BUP - (LBA: 580874 - 580890) I 18:26:58 Found IFO File: VTS_02_0.IFO - (LBA: 580891 - 580934) I 18:26:58 Found VOB File: VTS_02_0.VOB - (LBA: 580935 - 673869) - KEY: E6 50 B9 FB 48 I 18:27:51 Found VOB File: VTS_02_1.VOB - (LBA: 673870 - 1198156) - KEY: E6 50 B9 FB 48 I 18:32:12 Found VOB File: VTS_02_2.VOB - (LBA: 1198157 - 1722443) - KEY: E6 50 B9 FB 48 I 18:35:53 Found VOB File: VTS_02_3.VOB - (LBA: 1722444 - 2014687) - KEY: E6 50 B9 FB 48 I 18:37:45 Found VOB File: VTS_02_4.VOB - (LBA: 2014688 - 2538974) - KEY: E6 50 B9 FB 48 I 18:41:10 Found VOB File: VTS_02_5.VOB - (LBA: 2538975 - 3063261) - KEY: E6 50 B9 FB 48 I 18:45:06 Found VOB File: VTS_02_6.VOB - (LBA: 3063262 - 3587548) - KEY: E6 50 B9 FB 48 I 18:49:51 Found VOB File: VTS_02_7.VOB - (LBA: 3587549 - 3860006) - KEY: E6 50 B9 FB 48 I 18:52:54 Found BUP File: VTS_02_0.BUP - (LBA: 3860007 - 3860050) I 18:52:54 Found IFO File: VTS_03_0.IFO - (LBA: 3860051 - 3860057) I 18:52:54 Found VOB File: VTS_03_0.VOB - (LBA: 3860058 - 3860058) - KEY: E9 A7 A7 CA D0 I 18:52:54 Found VOB File: VTS_03_1.VOB - (LBA: 3860058 - 3901663) - KEY: E9 A7 A7 CA D0 I 18:53:25 Found BUP File: VTS_03_0.BUP - (LBA: 3901664 - 3901670) I 18:53:25 Found IFO File: VTS_04_0.IFO - (LBA: 3901671 - 3901678) I 18:53:26 Found VOB File: VTS_04_0.VOB - (LBA: 3901679 - 3901679) - KEY: EB 69 4F AD 53 I 18:53:26 Found VOB File: VTS_04_1.VOB - (LBA: 3901679 - 4029365) - KEY: EB 69 4F AD 53 I 18:55:10 Found BUP File: VTS_04_0.BUP - (LBA: 4029366 - 4029373) I 18:55:11 Operation Successfully Completed! - Duration: 00:35:06 I 18:55:11 Average Read Rate: 3,826 KB/s (2.8x) - Maximum Read Rate: 5,538 KB/s (4.0x) That was my latest log for Dvd Decrypter.. Im not sure why its reading at 2.8x but i can burn it at 4.0x...
The read is a bit slow. Different variables affect that. Disc surface condition is sometimes a factor . Always have the disc as clean and polished as possible. Remember, the laser is having to read through the laminate surface and any distortion affects the read. Luckily it doesn't have to be perfect or we'd be in trouble. Smudges and scratches do slow the system down though. Then you have the encryption Decrypter is breaking along the way. Some are more difficult than others. That's why I use AnyDVD for decryption and let Decrypter just do the rip to the HDD. You'll find that Decrypter is pretty good at default settings unless it runs into some of the latest encryption it can't handle. As I mentioned, support was dropped due to legal issues. If ripping to the HDD I use DVD Decrypter. I normally have AnyDVD running in the background, so Decrypter is actually just ripping an already decrypted folder. Decrypter is handy for getting the files on the HDD though. AnyDVD is my main decryption tool. Luckily the programs work well together. If for some reason a person needed to, most recording apps can rip to the HDD when set to no compression and using AnyDVD to decrypt. Decrypter is just handy and made for the job. I noticed from the log that Decrypter was being used in the decrypt mode to create an ISO. That's handy for burning with burners that handle ISO or transcoders like Shrink that will handle them. I found that using the File mode can be handy with a variety of apps, though it limits the choice on free burners. Some of the retail apps won't read an ISO unless you have it loaded in an emulator. One thing about having the ripped source on the HDD, you can go back and check the source if a problem with the output occurrs. But if it's important to shave a minute or so off or a step, just start AnyDVD and then open Shrink and transcode (shrink) the video. With the software preset to burn, you eliminate the need to manually open the burner. You're using temp files and a bit more memory, so I'm not sure how much time you'd actually save. As for Scuba Pete and his manuals, I'll give him his due, he's helped get a bunch of newbies started. Unless he's changed his ways, he pushes freeware too much. We don't seem to frequent the same threads anymore. There was also some disagreements over usage of some apps. He used to say using ISO and emulators was a bit complex for the beginner and that using DVD Decrypter was like using a big hammer on files and that it could somehow damage them. Not so. Guess I wandered on and you were just wondering about the read speed. Load the AnyDVD trial from SlySoft, http://www.SlySoft.com , read the instructions and info at the site (not very long, the app runs in the background), start the AnyDVD, use the same DVD for the test, make sure the DVD is clean and shiny, and then rip to the HDD and see if that improves the speed. Decrypter will only be ripping and the AnyDVD does the decrypting. Be interesting to see if that helps. What is the max read speed of your laptop drive? I've used a laptop to burn a few CDs while away from home. The laptop was slower than my desktop at backing up things and I suspect the laptop hardware was the problem, RAM and CPU speeds were comparable. You give up some things for portability. If I was going to use a laptop as my only PC, I'd have a docking station with some external drives, along with the big keyboard, mouse, printer and 19" monitor (at least). Some laptops are set up for multi media and gaming, but they're a slightly different breed and more expensive. I just noticed a top end Dell for about $4000. Sort of out of my budget. I could build my dream PC for far less than that. It wouldn't be a laptop though.
I really appericate all the help you have given me.. One last question though, this will incorporate Decrypter, and AnyDVD. Say I'm Ripping with Decrypter, How can I setup either of the programs to Shrink the files down to a single layer dvd size?
@stros Just out of curiosity have you updated your burner's firmware to its latest version available? Firmware can be very useful, it will help to increase the burning performances and media compatibility -- meaning it will recognize other newer media codes on blank media easily if you have the current firmware on your drive. Burning at 4X is good enough, it is the best and most recommendend here at AfterDawn. However, if you want DVD Decrypter to rip faster, then you can try to set the settings to read a little faster. Look at picture for reference. I wouldn't go beyond 8X for reading and ripping though. The choice is yours.
