Newbie Needs Help with DVD Fab Burning

[maineman]

Good advice from everyone...
It sounds like you're experiencing some sort of I/O conflict. Worse, the problem is somewhat intermittent and involves multiple software.
Worse still, you're there and we're not. It's not that your explanations are poor, they're actually quite good, but based on what we know, it's a bit of a crap shoot.

A few questions and I apologize if I've missed 'em.

I'm not understanding the free trial status...
As stated, the free trial will cease to function after 30 days unless you reformat your hdd or manually edit the registry...this would require knowing exactly how and what to edit.
Subsequent to the free trial period, the retail version will cease to function.
Only the freeware version will work and there is no burn utility...period.
It is a ripper only.

What OS are you using and how is your I/O mode configured in Fab...
ASPI, SPTI or Auto?

Do you have any packet writing software installed?
For eg., Nero's InCD is notorious for causing problems.

Have you tried what GregiBoy suggested and uninstalled the burner in device manager?

Is your burner in UDMA mode (if yes, which one?) and have ever you noted that it's fallen into PIO mode?

I hate to say it, but as GregiBoy said, slimline burners are crap when it comes to video archiving.
They're sure not inexpensive though, are they?
I would give serious consideration to buying an ext burner or tossing an internal burner into an external case.

[W&B]

When I say the drive has the title of the movie on it, if you go to "Computer," and then look at the DVD/CD drive which is the E drive, it has the title of the movie on the E drive. And the title stays there for a long time, almost as if it's stuck in what it was doing last. And I think the solution is somewhere in that. The program is stuck in what it was doing last and can't move on. It still thinks it's burning or trying to burn that same DVD title from before. If I can fix that weird glitch, I can fix the DVDFab program glitch.

Understood, same glitch I had and as crazy as it sounds what I posted before fixed my problem with them not refreshing, only reason I tried that was after I Googled DVD drive not refreshing I found that somewhere and just tried it. Your problem sounds more serious and even with the many post I've read about ppl having problems burning with laptops with their internal burners I've never heard of that. Thats the only reason I suggested trying to borrow a usb type if possible to troubleshoot. Usually they just won't burn properly and when they do its either a bad burn that won't playback at all or skip/freeze. Other than that I really don't know since it is a general computer problem, sorry I can't be of more help.

[GregiBoy]

With the amount of time you are spending on this problem, it may be cheaper to just buy a new drive.

[4795209]

The problem is frustrating because it seems as though there is a solution, but I can't figure it out. When I used DVD Fab before, it was the same problem. It would burn a few DVDs and then stop working. It would not read any new DVDs as being in the tray. I had been using HomeDVDCopy for a long time and that worked great, and then just stopped working one day as well. Uninstalling and re-installing did no good. It doesn't work no matter how many times I reinstall it and try different DVDs. That was not a trial version. But I just uninstalled it because it only takes up space if it never works any more.

The optiarc drive has worked very well for a long time, but the more programs I tried the less often it seemed to work well. When I say the drive has the title of the movie on it, if you go to "Computer," and then look at the DVD/CD drive which is the E drive, it has the title of the movie on the E drive. And the title stays there for a long time, almost as if it's stuck in what it was doing last. And I think the solution is somewhere in that. The program is stuck in what it was doing last and can't move on. It still thinks it's burning or trying to burn that same DVD title from before. If I can fix that weird glitch, I can fix the DVDFab program glitch.

[W&B]

I remember now how I fixed my drives not refreshing. All I did was go to Control panel and selected the autorun icon. I keep mine always disabled since I do alot of video work and I don't like the pop up or any program starting after inserting a disc but after I installed a virtual drive it mucked something up. All I did was re-enable it, rebooted and then disabled it again and my drives would refresh after I ejected my disc or UNmounted my virtual drive. Might not be the fix for your problem though. I'm running Vista Ultimate x64 btw. As for the optiarc drive not working well with vista, I have a ad-7200a installed for about 6 months now and never had any problems and never personally heard of anyone having problems with any optiarc drives, less its a slim type but even then it's not brand specific.

[W&B]

Well I admit it is a stumper as to how you are getting around the 30 day trial but most here will tell you the same thing about the slim type drives. As for your drive not refreshing itself in windows explorer, I had the same problem about a year ago and it had something to do with a virtual drive I installed but I can't remember exactly what I did to correct that, only difference is mine would refresh if I scrolled my mouse pointer over it but your case seems much worse. I am positive it has nothing to do with Fab. Sounds like you might have some form of malware but thats just a guess. I'll dig around the net and see if I can come up with something, that was how I found the answer to my problem.

[4795209]

Also, I have many flash drives, but what would that do to change anything?

[4795209]

You only get a 30 day trial period and after that it will no longer be fully fuctional but it should still rip to your hdd. Do you have problems with any other burning programs? you can use Fab on lappy's but slim type drives are VERY problematic. I suspect that's your problem. Can you borrow a usb type drive to troubleshoot with?

Edit: sorry Gregiboy, I was reading and got distracted.

Wild and Blue:

I can respect that if that's what you believe. But if that were true, why would the DVD Fab program allow me to burn DVDs after I uninstalled and then re-installed it? Also, the date that the program says it's good until changes every time I uninstall and reinstall it. Also, that does not address why it would burn some times and not other times and why the title of the last DVD burned is still stuck to my DVD burner drive name.

There's something happening after the blank DVD pops out of the burner with the DVD content on it, that's preventing it from reading DVDs after that.

[GregiBoy]

maybe uninstall teh device in "Device manager", reboot and let Windoze reinstall it.

[stonemiser]

May be something messed with your drivers for the DVD drive or maybe it is that you are using the Temp DVDFab. Not sure. I wish I could be of more help.

By the way, are you running Vista or XP? I did look up "problems with Optiarc DVD Drives and alot of the sites did say that Vista and Optiarc don't play well together. Not saying that is the problem since you state that it did well with multiple burns till now. You last description does lead me to the Temp DVDFab program. You may want to buy the liscence. I've used this program for years and to me, it's the best out there.

[W&B]

I downloaded the trial version from the website page several months ago first. I used it a few times, then it stopped working. I uninstalled the program from my laptop and then just tried it again a day or two ago. It worked one time and then stopped working completely again.

You only get a 30 day trial period and after that it will no longer be fully fuctional but it should still rip to your hdd. Do you have problems with any other burning programs? you can use Fab on lappy's but slim type drives are VERY problematic. I suspect that's your problem. Can you borrow a usb type drive to troubleshoot with?

Edit: sorry Gregiboy, I was reading and got distracted.

[GregiBoy]

If you used it a few months ago, uninstalled and reinstalled, the trial would have still have expired unless you have done a clean reinstall of your Operating System.

That's the way it works. The trial is for 30 days from the first time that you use it.

[4795209]

First to Stonemiser:

I understand why you would like something that would burn faster, but to me I'm willing to wait if it will work and burn the DVD as it did before. I like less programs on the laptop . DVD Fab worked great a few times then konked out on me, so I would prefer using DVD Fab for ripping and burning if it would work for more than just a few uses. To answer your other questions:

I have an Optiarc DVD/CD RW burner. That's all I know. It was purchased and installed in my laptop within the last year and is relatively new and has worked very well for burning many times up until now.

Yes, the data gets on the disc when DVD Fab worked before. It made beautiful, complete copies several times. Then stopped working completely. No matter what DVD I put into the tray, the program would not read any thing.

"One other thing I can think of is, is the small box that says "save" checked on the final page that pops up after the burning process is over?" To answer this, I honestly do not remember if the box was checked or not. What would happen if it was checked or if it was not checked? What does it do?

TLI asked me if the program had expired. No it had not. I downloaded the trial version from the website page several months ago first. I used it a few times, then it stopped working. I uninstalled the program from my laptop and then just tried it again a day or two ago. It worked one time and then stopped working completely again. Whatever new DVD I put into the tray, the program simply does not read it. Something is happening after it burns the DVD to the blank DVD, that it cannot read anything new placed in the tray. That's the problem, but I do not know how to fix that and that's what I need help with.

[stonemiser]

tli, you may be onto something there, but what gets me is that the title stays on his computer within the program. Sounds like something is locking it up.

[tli]

Expired Trial Version?

... the DVD Fab program will work fine for one use, but then I cannot use it again sometimes for weeks or longer.

... I want to purchase the full DVD Fab program, but want to make sure it will work ok first.

How long have you been using the trial version of DVDFab? Did your trial period expired already? I'm not familiar with the trial version so I don't know if it would burn a blank DVD after expiration.