Old Venting Thread

[VickiQ]

Thank you Babe and Laurie -this isn't the first time we have done renovations to this old house (rancher built in 1953) but, this is the first time I can remember sooo many things going wrong and we didn't even gut anything!!! I think I'm alittle more anxious about this project because it won't be finished before Jimmy's surgery (all kinds of reparation to the hip socket and it's cartilidge without being a full blown replacement and reduction of the femur).Back in March it seemed like a good project to take on to keep his mind off of things but, I guess it was stupidity on our part.There is good news- the new area rug arrived yesterday-holeless!!!Eventually it will be finished and we'll forget about all the delays and get ourselves into something else!!!Thanks again! Love and energy, Vicki

 

[LadyCook61]

I'm trying to burn my digital photos to dvd and the stupid software keeps giving me error message and therefore the dvd is wasted, it is a coaster! I really hate wasting dvds , they are not cheap. Once an error message shows up in the middle of burning the dvd, that is it, cannot burn further and it is ruined.

 

[LPBeier]

LadyCook, will your software let you save your project to your hard drive and then you can burn the DVD from there? I do this when I am burning several DVD's of the same thing and it goes faster. This might eliminate the error.

 

[LadyCook61]

LadyCook, will your software let you save your project to your hard drive and then you can burn the DVD from there? I do this when I am burning several DVD's of the same thing and it goes faster. This might eliminate the error.

The photos are on the hard drive. I rebooted the pc and it works okay now.
I usually back up all the photos to the hard drive, then to DVDs and to external hard drive.

 

[LPBeier]

I am glad it is working now. However what I meant was not just having the photos on the hard drive, but you can save "Project" or "image" (depending on the software) as it will go onto the disc so you don't have to keep dragging and dropping every time you want to make that same disc. It also helps speed things up if you have a lot going on the disc or you are making several the same.

 

[LadyCook61]

I am glad it is working now. However what I meant was not just having the photos on the hard drive, but you can save "Project" or "image" (depending on the software) as it will go onto the disc so you don't have to keep dragging and dropping every time you want to make that same disc. It also helps speed things up if you have a lot going on the disc or you are making several the same.

What I do is transfer the photos, using a card reader, from the camera into a folder to the desktop, then I burn the folder to the dvd, no dragging and dropping I understand what you mean. Thanks for your input.

LadyCook

 

[Fisher's Mom]

LadyCook, you might consider burning them to CDs instead of DVDs. The blank CDs are much cheaper than blank DVDs, but hold way less. So it would depend on how many pics you take and how big your jpegs are. Is your camera super high res?

Are you sure it's the software, also? I've noticed that certain brands of blank DVDs have more "bad" discs than others. I've noticed in particular that when I use Memorex (one of the least expensive brands), I almost never have a coaster. But I got a spindle of HP brand and I've had at least 5 or 6 out of the 50. I also noticed a higher fail rate with Sony, although not as high as the HP. I don't know if it also has to do with which brand of burner you have, too.

 

[LadyCook61]

LadyCook, you might consider burning them to CDs instead of DVDs. The blank CDs are much cheaper than blank DVDs, but hold way less. So it would depend on how many pics you take and how big your jpegs are. Is your camera super high res?

Are you sure it's the software, also? I've noticed that certain brands of blank DVDs have more "bad" discs than others. I've noticed in particular that when I use Memorex (one of the least expensive brands), I almost never have a coaster. But I got a spindle of HP brand and I've had at least 5 or 6 out of the 50. I also noticed a higher fail rate with Sony, although not as high as the HP. I don't know if it also has to do with which brand of burner you have, too.

I take hundreds of pics, my CF cards hold 4 gigs each . I use high res and sometimes tiff files. I use Verbatim dvd discs, bought at Sam's club.

 

[quicksilver]

Getting back to KADESINA, # 2455. I agree. Well said.

 

[B'sgirl]

My computer has been totally dead for almost a week and I have been cut off from the world! I never knew how much I rely on that thing--particularly the internet! My brilliant computer programmer husband has been working on it but waiting for parts, etc. His pride won't let him admit it's a gonner so I have to wait for him to eliminate every little thing before I can convince him to buy me a laptop. (Our computer is a monster because he insists on having so much memory--no desk space--can't take it upstairs to the kids rooms or my room). I have had to sneak a few minutes in the evening on his work laptop in order to make this post. But hopefully soon I will be back online.

 

[Fisher's Mom]

My computer has been totally dead for almost a week and I have been cut off from the world! I never knew how much I rely on that thing--particularly the internet! My brilliant computer programmer husband has been working on it but waiting for parts, etc. His pride won't let him admit it's a gonner so I have to wait for him to eliminate every little thing before I can convince him to buy me a laptop. (Our computer is a monster because he insists on having so much memory--no desk space--can't take it upstairs to the kids rooms or my room). I have had to sneak a few minutes in the evening on his work laptop in order to make this post. But hopefully soon I will be back online.

I wondered where you'd been, girlfriend. I was hoping ya'll didn't have another "poop" virus. Glad all is well and tell hubby to hurry cuz it's not the same here without you.

 

[Maverick2272]

On the subject of burning pics and video to DVD, it is often better to use a software program like Roxio or Nero (I prefer Nero and have a DVD plug-in that allows me to copy my DVD movies, handy with kids around losing originals and scratching them!) instead of the drag and drop method. Reason being, the software programs not only allow you to create menus so the pics can be viewed as slide shows and videos browsed on most any DVD player, but they also usually have a 'test' check box. By checking this box, the program will 'compile' the DVD image first, then 'test' to make sure it will burn properly without errors before actually burning the DVD. Doubles your burn time, but cuts way down on 'coasters'.

 

[Fisher's Mom]

On the subject of burning pics and video to DVD, it is often better to use a software program like Roxio or Nero (I prefer Nero and have a DVD plug-in that allows me to copy my DVD movies, handy with kids around losing originals and scratching them!) instead of the drag and drop method. Reason being, the software programs not only allow you to create menus so the pics can be viewed as slide shows and videos browsed on most any DVD player, but they also usually have a 'test' check box. By checking this box, the program will 'compile' the DVD image first, then 'test' to make sure it will burn properly without errors before actually burning the DVD. Doubles your burn time, but cuts way down on 'coasters'.

I use DVD Decypter for burning my "backed up" DVDs. Have you ever used it?

 

[Fisher's Mom]

Vicki, I too understand the renovation blues. We owned a "little fixer-uper" for seven years that turned into the Nightmare on Elm Street (actually it was 84th Avenue, but that doesn't go with the movie title very well).

My uncle calls his house "The Money Pit"! You gotta share some of the worst highlights of your Nightmare On Elm Street!

 

[Maverick2272]

I use DVD Decypter for burning my "backed up" DVDs. Have you ever used it?

Nope, I have Nero but for those DVD's that are 'copyright protected' I have DVDFab 4 which eliminates the copywrite protection and allows you to burn any DVD you want. It also will burn it into different formats like Media Player files for portability and compression on your laptop or even a mobile format for PDA's and cell phones, PSP formats, etc.
I currently have 2 gigs of music and 2 movies on my cell phone, LOL, in case I get bored or stuck in the ER (which seems to happen entirely too often!).

 

[Maverick2272]

My uncle calls his house "The Money Pit"! You gotta share some of the worst highlights of your Nightmare On Elm Street!

Ours is the Nightmare on 54th Ave, sometimes I think we will never be done fixing this place!

 

[Fisher's Mom]

Nope, I have Nero but for those DVD's that are 'copyright protected' I have DVDFab 4 which eliminates the copywrite protection and allows you to burn any DVD you want. It also will burn it into different formats like Media Player files for portability and compression on your laptop or even a mobile format for PDA's and cell phones, PSP formats, etc.
I currently have 2 gigs of music and 2 movies on my cell phone, LOL, in case I get bored or stuck in the ER (which seems to happen entirely too often!).

Yep, I'm using DVD Fab 5 which I like a lot. I was using RipIt4Me but then there stopped being updates available so it couldn't handle some of the most recent releases. Like you, I have lots of kids who are less than careful with DVDs so I make back-ups too.

 

[Fisher's Mom]

Ours is the Nightmare on 54th Ave, sometimes I think we will never be done fixing this place!

Well, you need to share, Buddy. I love hearing about DIY disasters and triumphs.

 

[Maverick2272]

Yea, DVDFab just asked me to update tonight to version 5 from something like 4.8. As far as DIY disasters, try the whole house LOL. When we moved in we had to put in all new wood floors, tuck-point and acid wash the brick, new windows, new furnace, and all new appliances as they took everything with them. And that hasn't even scratched the surface. The bathroom walls were covered over with cheap plastic stuff which is now falling off and revealing the mold and rot, and the cheap 70's kitchen cabinets have for the most part fallen apart and only a couple are left over. Not to mention all the rooms still need new wood trim, and the electrical is soo old I have everything on surge protectors or they might short out.
And all the painting we did when we moved in? Has to be redone (thank you kids!). Plus the wood floors which were supposed to have been done with a hard finish that should have lasted 15 years have to be redone 9 years later as in most places the finish has worn completely off!
DW could go on for days about how we spent three days just pulling staples out of the stairs so we could refinish them as the previous owner put carpet on them and stapled them to death! Oh, and the doors are all banged up and leak like a sieve in winter, this place was a rental before we bought it and one of their kids was allowed to run around the house with a baseball bat smashing doors and windows and trim...

 

[Maverick2272]

Sorry, forgot the plumbing! It all needs redone as well! And the attic space that had to be sealed up and re-insulated so the ceilings didn't get frost on them in the winter!