VSO ConvertX to DVD is freezing (WinAvi did too)

I used WinAVI a few times and had trouble with the movies skipping on playback (they would play fine for about 10 minutes then start stuttering and not stop). Then, after that happening to 3 movies, I would go to convert the avi to DVD and it would work about halfway and then freeze the computer or restart the computer.

So I googled some fixes and found that other people had that problem and switched to VSO, so I did that. VSO now freezes as soon as I click "convert"

I don't know what to do, I'm hoping someone here can help me. I don't know offhand what information or logfiles you need, but if you tell me what to do I can do it.

I ran CCleaner, AdAware, and Spybot (in that order) and the only things they found were cookies but I did delete them.

 

The problems you describe, could be a due to poor media and high burn speeds. Use Verbatims or Taiyo yudens and burn at half the rated speed. IE: 8X or even as low as 4X speed. A significant difference in quality of blank media makes life sooooo much easier.

These are all good tools , not to mention free... Slightly off topic...... defrag your hdd frequently, it really will help.

 

I have been using 2x to burn DVD's, I don't think my burner will go any slower.

I'm more worried now about the fact that I can't even convert avi's anymore, since both programs were locking up on me.

I don't know what Verbatims or Taiyo yudens are.

 

Oh and I'm using TDK DVD-R's. I don't know if that is a good brand or not.

 

If you know the AVI is good and you have uninstalled and reinstalled Convertx, then something on the PC is in conflict with the program.
Boot the PC into 'Safe mode' and run Convertx again.
If it runs ok in safe mode, then you have to figure out which program is causing it.

 

Ok thanks! I'll try that right now. Any idea how to figure out which program it is if that's the case?

 

Startupcop is handy.
http://www.mermeliz.com/startup_cop/startcop_install.zip

There's also 'Winpatrol'.

BTW if it runs ok in safe mode and when you reboot to 'Normal' and your running an Antivirus program, try turning it off.It might be something simple like that.

 

Well I did it. It converted alright but then launched into a "write" feature (which I didn't know it had since it was freezing) and that failed. I used Nero to burn the converted files and it took 3 times as long as usual and none of my dvd players will read the disc, they say "disc unknown"

Something is wrong and I just don't know how to find the problem and fix it. I'll try those programs you suggested and see what they say.

When I try to right click the DVD drive in my computer with that last disc inserted it just makes the "my computer" window freeze and go to "not responding status"

 

Burning at 2X speed may be a little too slow even for poor media. Have you got any other programs running, as multitasking has a significant negative effect?

Taiyo yuden and verbatim are media brands..and good ones too. Usualy Made In Japan. For years I've used TDK's and had very few problems, but having said this, I now use Verbatim. Reason being is they are far better quality and some members here at AD, swear to the medias superior longevity. Attars advice is definetely on track, especially if your system resource are low. It may be worth posting the speed of your CPU and also how much RAM you have.

 

No I stay away from the computer during converting and burning.

1 Gh with 376 GB RAM is what it says in my system info.

I'm about to run startcop and see what it says.

 

I opened StartUp Cop and I have no idea what to do with it.

 

Herein lies the problem. Your system resourses are being overstretched and simply are struggling to comply with what you require. An upgrade of RAM has to be made. If your mobo supports 1gig or more, then this is the cheapest option to take. Without this capacity, your backups will most likely be on the "iffy" side.

 

I don't understand why it worked fine for the last 2 years and now all of a sudden won't though. I know it took a little longer than it should, but the movies were perfectly playable. It was only a few days ago when the problems started.

 

Being as it's only been the last few days that you've experienced these problems, what changes(any and all) have been made to your pc? Perhaps the burner itself is on the fritz?

 

I've wondered about the burner too.

The only things that's changed, is about a month ago I switched from calbe internet to DSL, and when I was swapping over my service and the anti-virus sotfware that came with them, C prompt popped up and deleted every system32 file on my computer. I had to re-install my operating system, and certain programs (mostly microsoft ones) stopped working properly and needed to be re-installed too.

I had VSO Divx to DVD originally, then upgraded to ConvertX thinking I could try it and see if it was faster. I wound up switching from it to WinAvi because of the watermark in the trial mode of ConvertX. I was basically playing around with new programs to see if there was anything better. WinAvi might not have caused the skipping, but when I googled there were other people experiencing it too, so I switched back to ConvertX and just got the full version.

Now I'm where I'm at. I defrag once a week, twice a week sometimes, and it always gets as clean as it can be.

Is there some kind of diagnostic program that can be run that will tell me where the problems on my hard drive are? I think that virus or whatever it was that I got that deleted my system 32 files must have screwed something else up too.

 

Right click on the drive icon and select properties, select tools and then error check. Having your "system 32" files deleted is a worry. Hopefully that reinstall of the OS fixed that issue. At this juncture, we are coming across more issues, perhaps it may be best to backup your data to an "off pc" source, not forgetting program serial numbers and keys etc, and completely reformat your hdd. This should be left as a last resort if all attempts fail. Although... I suspect the burner is the culprit.

 

It won't let me scan until the next time I restart, so I set it to happen automatically.

How can I tell if it's the burner or not? I'm also getting a ton of error messages in Nero too, like reset errors, unable to perform end of disc-at-once, and a few others. For both CD's and DVDs. I think the burner is 5 years old or so, and it's been used fairly heavily, maybe once every day-two days on average for that entire amount of time.

Thank you so much for all your help, I really appreciate it. I can usually muddle my way through most of this stuff but obviously not that well since I'm having all these problems! Originally all the burning and converting stuff was set up by someone else who just showed me what to do, and I could follow the instructions, but not fix the problems without help.

 

To be brutally honest...ditch the burner. Leave your system "as is" for the interim, and buy another optical drive. There are drives available for less than $50 US delivered.(see Newegg for example). Before installing you brand new drive, uninstall the old one, turn off the pc and remove the drive and hook up the newy and restart your pc. Fingers crossed ...... all should be well.

EDIT:

Your very welcome.

 

So this might be a dumb question, but are all DVD burners compatible with my computer. I know absolutely nothing about computer hardware. I think my burner now is a Hitachi HD-500 DVD-R. How do I know what to buy?

And if you don't mind telling me, what do I do with Startup Cop?

 

I can't be 100% sure but your motherboard may not support SATA. So stick with IDE/ATAPI drives(unless advised differently). I really am biased towards Pioneer, it's a brand I've grown up with but I'm sure there are better. As for Startup cop, sorry...never used it. Heres a link to Newegg.