Computer Gurus: question re DVD blanks

[GA Russell]

I recently bought a DVD from an Amazon UK Marketplace Seller, and it appears that I received a DVD-R. It's purple.

My understanding is that these decompose over time, and that it would be wise to make a copy by burning it at a slow speed.

I have never burned a DVD before, and am unaware of why I should expect to ever burn another in the future.

So I will have to buy a short spindle of DVD blanks.

Here's my question: Can I use the remaining DVD blanks to burn CDs?

[kinuta]

I recently bought a DVD from an Amazon UK Marketplace Seller, and it appears that I received a DVD-R. It's purple.

My understanding is that these decompose over time, and that it would be wise to make a copy by burning it at a slow speed.

I have never burned a DVD before, and am unaware of why I should expect to ever burn another in the future.

So I will have to buy a short spindle of DVD blanks.

Here's my question: Can I use the remaining DVD blanks to burn CDs?

I don't have any definitive answers but from what I know you could use the remaining dvd-r to burn about three cds per disc providing you first change the cd format to WAV. You won't be able to play them on your cd player but will have to use a dvd player.

When making a backup dvd-r I doubt the speed , slow or fast makes any difference. The default burning speed should be fine.

[Pete C]

While it's theoretically possible, there would be so many drawbacks to trying to create a CD on DVD and to play it back that there's no reason to do it. If you don't want to create a second DVD immediately, most programs like Nero & Roxio would allow you to back up the DVD image to a computer's or external hard drive, either in its original folder configuration, or as a single file (ISO image). Then if you need to you can burn that to DVD in the future. Since you have a DVD-R there should be no copy protection.

Edited September 14, 2012 by Pete C

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I would return a DVD-R to a seller. It's not as advertised.

In my experience, yes, DVD-R's do degrade with age. I don't know if I've had one DVD-R play cleanly after a few years. They seem far more susceptible to damage than CD-Rs.

BTW, if this DVD-R is a copy of a commercial release and the supplier included all the protections of a commercial release, a simple "copy" is not straightforward. You can't simply insert the disc in one drive, a blank in the other a press "copy". You'll have to use a hacker program like DVDDecrypter.

Kevin

[jazzbo]

I have DVD-Rs that have lasted for over 7 years . . . though I have had a few cdrs go bad, not yet have I had a DVD-R go bad.

[GA Russell]

Thanks guys!

I'll look into moving it onto my hard drive. I guess I'll just have to eat the cost of a short spindle of DVD blanks. It's not the end of the world.

By the way, the movie is out of print, and this was the only seller except for one who was very, very high. So I guess that explains it.