What CD DVD Burning Software To Use ? Frustrated . . .

Okay - I am frustrated. I needed a DVD/CD drive to replace my aging CD only drive on my desktop. I asked in the hardware forum for recommendations regarding good drives. I was directed to a great deal on an NEC 3550-A. I got a OEM drive for $30 from Newegg. I got quick replies on my posts.

Please keep in mind I am new to the PC DVD scene even though I am quite comfortable building, upgrading, troubleshooting, etc. PC's. My laptop has a DVD burner and software but everything came preinstalled which is typical. When the drive came, I installed it. Install went fine. I did not realize I would DVD software to write to DVD's and such. I assumed XP would handle everything fine. Of course I was wrong - it seems DVD burning is big $$ which is fine, I don't mind paying for the software.

I read some reviews and discovered a two major software titles. The first was Nero (which is on my laptop, seems to work ok) and the second was Roxio CD DVD Burning. I went with Roxio because it cheaper. I only need it to burn data to CD's and DVD's, I needed no bells and whistles. I read a few reviews and realized reviews are all over the place as far as ratings.

When I tried to install the software I kept getting errors. It seems my error is rare, and only supposed to happen on 98/ME machines. Regardless, I don't think a fix was ever found anyway. I tried a variety of fixes and none worked. I asked for advice here on the forums and got minimal response. I tried to register at Roxio's website with the intent of asking on the forums but I have no idea what is going on. I have received no email to validate my new account. I even tried two emails. Through my research I have concluded that Roxio support is a nightmare.

So, I am totally frustrated. I only want to burn data to DVD and CD's. This is turning out to be quite a nightmare. A simple thing turning out to be a soap opera.

So, with all of that said, is there any free or cheap dependable software that will allow me to copy files and data to DVD's and CD's in XP?

This particular post is the culmination of a series of posts on this topic as I mentioned earlier. I have received little response from the other Geeks here which is surprising.

For those who are interested here are the posts I made during my ordeal, in order from first to last:

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=97616

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=98345

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=98402

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=98469

Thanks for any software recommendations.

 

I own several NEC DVD burners, one of them is a 3550a, all OEM.
I use Nero 6 Ultra, the best burning software I've ever used, for data/video DVD/CD everything.

Roxio when I used preveously, version 5 er 5.5, It required a fix to work with XP, never cared much for it.

Here's a couple of free Utilities that should work great:
http://majorgeeks.com/DeepBurner_Free_d4055.html
http://majorgeeks.com/CDBurnerXP_d4242.html

For Movie backup other free stuff
DVD Shrink, very nice Utility which by default uses Neros burning rom
http://majorgeeks.com/DVD_Shrink_d4020.html

DVD Decryptor, DVD43free, youll have to google them

Here's some great Guides more on the video side
http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/
Some general Roxio reading:
http://www.afterdawn.com/search/search_results.cfm?hakusanat=Roxio+

 

Asus -

Thanks for the reply and the info. I downloaded and installed CDBurner XP. It seems to work wonderfully. And it is free. I am very appreciative to you and the author(s) of that freeware. I am very happy to keep my money away from Roxio. Their software, forum, and tech support were a trainwreck for me. Even though the Roxio install routine stated it did not install, I just discovered there is Roxio stuff on my computer I received a Roxio prompt when I inserted a blank DVD. That makes me shudder. I now have to scour my OS for all the crap.

A sincere thanks for your assistance.