Hi! Very newbie here. But...used ScubaPete's guides very successfully to burn clips to a disk. Re-authored the clips I wanted on DVDShrink down to around 182mb. Everthing's fine. Can play my clips from the disk - very happy. I now want to add to the RW disk a Movie Maker file of 17.3mb which is on the hard drive. I tried to use "Send to" to move the file to the DVD disk - a "Burn a disk" dialog box comes up giving me a choice of preparing the disk using Live File System or Mastered. Clicking on Live File System results in a warning message of "Warning: Formatting will erase ALL data on this disk....". I don't want to erase, I want to add to the clips already there. Another thing - when using Explorer it says there is no free space on the DVD disk, when as I mentioned, I only burnt around 182mb. My questions are: 1. Is using "Send to" not the right thing to do? 2. Why would there be "no free space" left on the DVD disk? Sorry for being a newbie and asking what I'm sure are dumb questions with simple answers but would be greatful for your help. PS: Have searched for an answer on the threads here but nothing fits exactly...so far.
Which program did you use to burn your files? On some programs, the offer a multi-session burning, which means you can add more files at another time.
I used DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink. Your question made me go back to DVD Decrypter and I see under "Sessions" it says "1". Maybe the program doesn't allow for multi-sessions?
I can't remember if dvd decrypter has a multi session option, as I haven't used mine in a while and decrypter & shrink have not been updated in years.
Maybe multi-sessions is the answer tho! Maybe the (free) program doesn't support multi-sessions. If it doesn't this could also be the reason the disc shows up as "full" when I only burned a small file - 182mb. Will look into this. Oh also, just tried to burn the Movie Maker file using Windows Media Player and it wouldn't burn to the disk I already had clips on, it said "Insert blank disc". Anymore suggestions welcome. Thanks rtm27.
Your problem is caused by the single session choice for your disc. (I presume it is a DVD-RW since the DVD+RW's design allows multi-session recording, fast formatting, and fast erasure as features superior to what DVD-RW offers.) There are advantages to single session recording: uniform laser power applied across the disc during recording and no imperfect links between sessions. Recording your disc in a single session "closed/finalized" the disc by writing an unchangeable table of contents. That's why the disc appears full and does not allow additional recordings. Multi-session recordings are risky but safer for data recordings on rewritable discs than for write-once discs (DVD-/+R) or for video on any disc because DVD players often get stuck on imperfect links. DVD-ROM drives are better than players in that regard, but audio and video ought to be recorded in single disc-at-once sessions for the best results. You have the option of transferring the data files from the disc to a hard drive, reformatting the DVD-RW disc, and then transferring the files back to the reformatted disc in multiple sessions. That saves your disc and your files--but it does waste some time.
Thanks JoeRyan. The disc is DVD+RW. Think I'll be doing as you suggest - transferring the files to the HD and then reformatting for multi sessions. Having fun learning, so what is time....? Thanks again guys.
