Free alternative to Nero

Hello everyone,

First of all, apologies if this subject has already been covered but I could not find anything recent on it. My pc came with Nero 7 installed but I don't really like it and hardly ever use it. I used the CD cover maker but have found that I can make better covers with OpenOffice that are a fraction of the size (I keep the artwork in case I want to reprint it). I have also used Nero to wipe re-writeable DVDs when Windows gave me errors. I like Win MovieMaker (the older full-featured version, not the dumbed down Win Live version) to make videos and slide shows and Win DVD Maker to burn to DVD.

The only reason I still have Nero is because I planned to burn a bootable disc image as my system did not come with a recovery CD. I haven't got around to doing that but would still like the option. However, I have long suspected that my Nero installation is just a dead weight on my system and probably buggy. When I tried to disable Nero Scout, for example, it gave an Initialization error and said to re-install Nero. My “burning” needs are quite simple but I would like to make copies of my own DVDs at some point.

So my 2-point question is: what is your current favourite (preferably freeware and available from MajorGeeks) program to burn CDs and DVDs and to create a bootable disc image? In fact, as I am very foggy about the latter procedure, can someone point me to a good tutorial? I've had a look at the Top Freeware Picks page but would really appreciate your recommendations. Many thanks in advance.

MayBee

Maxdata 1.87 gHz Intel Core 2 Duo 6300
1024 MB memory
250 Gb HD + 1 Tb External HD
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H42N ATA Device [CD/DVD drive]
Vista Home Premium 32 bit Service Pack 2 (build 6002)
Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome

 

I second this. I had Nero 7, primarily for making DVD movies. Now that I've found DVD Flick, I haven't bothered to install my copy of Nero on any PC.

 

i use Ashampoo Burning Studio 6 and it's free. There is a newer version, 7, i think, but it's only shareware.

 

Thank you, Halo, Just Playin and thesmokingun, for the recommendations and link. I will try CDBurnerXP, DVD Flick and Ashampoo Burning Studio.

Do you recommend uninstalling Nero before I bring the other programs in? When I updated Nero 7 last year, I remember it was a huge deal to remove it completely and it caused me a lot of grief. Better start fresh, I think. Thanks again for your help, it's exactly what I was looking for! :cool

 

Hi Halo! I will certainly give you feedback, maybe not immediately but eventually.

It's very true that sometimes different programs work better for different tasks. I use Audacity to edit home-made music and I noticed that if we use the Lame plug-in to produce an mp3 file, somehow the sound acquires an “under water” quality. By pure chance I discovered that YouTube Downloader (which I absolutely love above all other apps of that type) not only accepts wav files for conversion to mp3, but gives a much cleaner result. And now it even has a built-in video player!

Thanks again for your help, I'm off to depose Nero. :wave

 

Maybe you need no more suggestions but I'll mention a freeware burning program I use to burn bootable discs. It's ImgBurn

Generally, to create a bootable disc such a Linux OS, you need to download an "ISO" file and then just burn it to disc, using one of the burning programs suggested here. It will be bootable.

 

Very helpful thread, as I'm currently populating a new Win 7 installation and was wondering what best to do about burning etc. :cool

 

Not at all, usafveteran, the more the merrier! I usually do some research before installing anything on my pc but it's a huge help and time-saver to have a recommendation you can trust. MajorGeeks is the first (and usually the only) place I go and I have always received great advice. I had been wondering about ImgBurn, I'll take a look, thank you!

Halo, Monkey's Audio sounds fantastic! Especially the decompression capability as it does away with the need to choose between quality and size. Thanks again.