The Functions of Different Types of DVD Software

Recently I was asked for recommendations for DVD software covering a wide range of purposes. The questions made me realize that there exists some confusion as to which DVD software does what. So I will attempt to clarify this seemingly confusing subject.

The actual difficulty in working out which DVD software would suit you best really arises from the dearth of clear definitions of each type. In addition to that the technology of dealing with DVDs has stabilised through development so that just burning a DVD would hardly be described as rocket science anymore!

The result being many of the DVD software makers incorporating other functions to try to lure customers through added features and benefits. This “blurring” of the things you can do with a DVD has resulted in a lack of clarity as to which software you should use to suit your specific requirements.

DVD Copying Software.
This DVD software has as its main purpose, the action of copying one DVD onto another DVD. It will commonly achieve this by making a copy on to the hard drive of your computer first then using the copied data to write to a new DVD. Usually this is an automatic process.

A variation of this is DVD Ripping where the software deconstructs the original DVDs contents into its various files and folders while it is being copied to the computer hard drive. This permits a degree of manipulation before burning a fresh DVD. Pure DVD Copying software is very often combined with the ability to make basic edits and changes to parts of the DVD and remove unwanted features like subtitles or extra content.

DVD Conversion Software.
The main action here is to take the contents of a DVD and convert them into another format. Such as a home video DVD converted to a more compressed video file format for uploading on to MetaCafe or similar or for watching on a computer.

An example of a combination DVD Copying Software and DVD Conversion Software would be DVDFab or 1Click DVD. This is software that allows DVD copying in many forms with a high degree of control over the final output combined with the ability to convert the contents of the DVD to other formats.

DVD Burning Software.
The main purpose of DVD burning software is to take data from a computer and transfer it on to a DVD disc. This occurs in two ways depending on what is being burned.

In the case of data such as files, folders or documents this is a pretty straightforward process of copying that data and placing it on the DVD in such a way that other programs can read what is there.

As for video DVDs it is a little more complicated procedure. There are specific rules that govern how a video DVD must be organized on to a disc. DVD burning software has the ability to understand and create those protocols as it is burning. The DVD Burning ROM of NERO 9 would be an example of this. This does, however, lead to another type of DVD software.

DVD Authoring Software.
DVD authoring means to build a standard DVD video structure on to a DVD disc that includes the video, menus, menu buttons, subtitles or any other features you may see on a normal DVD.

The video portion of a DVD is a special video file called MPEG2. If you just burned the MPEG2 on to a disc a DVD player would not be able to recognise or play that file. The file has to be “wrapped” in a certain type of structure for the DVD player to be able to play it.

Additionally, the disc must have menus made so that the player and you can navigate around the disc and play the parts you want. The creation of all of this is the job of DVD authoring software. Corel DVD Movie Factory is an example of DVD authoring software and all these types of software must also be able to burn the DVD as well as write the structure.

DVD Editing Software.
Lots of people probably get frustrated as to why they can’t get an accurate result when they search for this. That is because the phrase itself is a little inaccurate. It is unclear whether the person wishes to edit the structure of the DVD (menus, movie titles etc.) or whether they are seeking to edit the actual video.

If you really want to change or edit the features or menus of a DVD prior to burning then either DVD copying software or DVD conversion software would cover this.

If you are wanting to edit the actual video contained on an existing DVD then DVD software is not really designed to do that. This activity has now crossed over into the field of video editing software. Having said that there still is a range of DVD software suites that do include this function as an added feature. Both Nero 9 and Roxio Creator 2009 can do this.

DVD Merging or Combining Software.
This one really suffers from the loose definitions of all of these functions. Most DVD copying or conversion software can take a few DVDs or more and re-combine the contents on to a new DVD. So you could say they merge or combine DVDs.

However there is another very specific action which is the merging of two, three or even four DVDs into one DVD but at the same time retaining the menus of the original DVDs. This is very often called for when a DVD camcorder is being used that records to 8cm DVDs.

People who re-use their 8cm RW DVDs or who wish to archive their recordings may want to transfer the contents of a few of those DVDs on to one full sized DVD and save some space. Just copying the files of the DVDs over to one full DVD would result in your losing the menus of the original DVDs. That would mean you would have hundreds of individual MPEG2 files on a disc and no way of knowing which one is which. Simply a sea of MPEG2 icons in a folder!

There seems to be only one software product available that can be truly described as DVD Merging software. It is called DVDRemake and has the ability to combine or merge up to four DVD discs into one DVD disc and retain the original menus. Great for DVD camcorder users.

Finally! DVD Disc Repair Software / DVD Data Error Correction.
As much as the manufacturers of DVDs, DVD burning software and DVD burners would have you believe that DVD is somehow perfect because it is digital that is very far from the truth. DVDs can get burned with errors, get scratched, or have errors “built in” because of glitches in the software being used or even the computer being used.

For these times we have this designation of DVD software. Generally speaking we are now getting down to some very specialised software that can correct existing errors in DVDs.

Of course when you get these errors you will get nonsensical and meaningless messages such as “no disc” (even though you can see one!), “disc error” (well duh!), “invalid DVD navigation structure” (my personal favorite!) and a whole range of others. Without going into the myriad of available specialist software for this it is interesting to note that Nero 9 now has a module within it to handle a great number of these problems called RescueAgent.

So, that got a whole lot more complicated than I intended but I hope at least it will provide you with a general guide to the various functions of DVD software.

How to use Online File Storage

Due to the huge files used these days, online file storage is an incredible assistance to your individual computers and commerce computers. In recent years, the average file size has become larger and larger and bulkier. Being invaded by video and song sharing calls for the want to have larger size both on hard drives and servers. In its place to wrecking your computers hard drive, crashing your computer, and maybe causing a total system restore, consider using online file storage.

Online data storage, the only choice to having online file storage is choosing to have additional hard drives to storeyour videos, mp3 files, photos, and other data. The failure of this choice is that you have got to stockpile the external hard drives in a cool, dry, place and hope that you do not spectate the hard drive failure message. One must order the hard drives, deal with them, and then one needs to perform a backup on each. Backing up the hard drives is very slow and can require a lot of work.

Here you may find many benefits of using online file storage:

• With online file storage, your data is securely backed up.
• Most e-mail companies limit the file size that you can send.
• Online file storage offers safety against computer hard drive system failures.
• Data storage backup is inexpensive and money saving.

How to use online file storage. Many reasons exist why you should use an online file storage web service. One of the reasons is the following: an online file storage software system provides freedom. What this means is that you are permitted the freedom to use an online file storage anywhere on the planet. This is obtained by the freedom the Internet provides one to have entrance to the Internet anywhere where there is a wired or wireless Internet bond. Once you have gained access to the Internet, you can acquire online file storage.

How to Make Vista Boot Faster and Optimize Your Computer

Some say Windows Vista boots slower than Windows XP. Others say it is a matter of opinion. What it really boils down to is the amount of your ram and the power of your computer. If you have a dual core computer, Vista is set by default to use just one core to boot up. You can change this by going to the start search and typing in msconfig and press enter. When the box comes up go into the boot tab, then advanced and use the dropdown to change the number of cores to 2, 4, or however many you have.

While you have this window open you can also go into start up programs and disable ones that you do not need to load up on startup like a chat program. You can also go to the services tab and disable services that you do not need to have running the whole time your computer is on such as the camera loader, a bit torrent program, or a peer to peer program.

Dual or Quad core computers are what today’s computers have in them, but often the computer is not configured properly for boot up to use all of the cores. The default is set at one core, you need to go into msconfig and go to the boot tab and go into the advanced tab and change the core to the proper number for your computer. It is a drop down menu. This will allow the computer to use both cores for boot up.

Another important thing to do is to keep your computer hard drive clean. Remove old outdated programs and files. Backup media files to disc or an external hard drive to free up room on your computer. Run the disk cleaner every few days, and be sure that cookies, temp folders, and caches are emptied as they fill up quickly and slow your computer down.

You should run a good registry cleaner. Always backup your registry before you run a cleaner. A large registry will slow down your boot up and also make your computer sluggish. You also need to defragment your system weekly to keep your computer running smoothly. This keeps your file system in check so that it is optimized.