I'm not sure if this is the right section on the forum, but I have an HP Windows XP Media Center Edition. I can't even count how many CDs and DVDs have been wasted trying to burn with Media Center. I don't know what it is, but I've been trying to burn movies, and they just about NEVER work. I either get an error message when I try to use the DVD/CD, or it just will not finish. The one I just burned and tried to watch - the player couldn't even read it.

And then it never lets me put a decent amount of stuff on anything. I'll try to burn two 30 minute shows onto a 120 minute DVD, and it always says I have to take something off because it's too much. Or it asks me if I want to lessen the quality so it will fit - this never works. It just always messes up in the end. I recently put Nero software back on my computer because I got fed up with it. So, I was trying to burn through that & the same thing happens - the DVDs will not work. It lets me fill the DVD, but what's the point if I can't watch the thing? Oh, and today I noticed when I opened Media Center, it told me that I didn't have Windows Messenger on my machine and I should download it. Now, I would have though that was the problem but it can't be - this has been happening since I've gotten the computer. Don't get me wrong, I have burned some things with it, but it had to be 28 minutes on a 120 minute disc.

Could someone PLEASE PLEASE help me, I really would love to actually use my burner & watch a darn movie. Plus, I'm tired of tossing my money out the window by just crossing my fingers and hoping the burn will be successful the next time. And the next time. Any help would be greatly appreciated! If you need any more information, just ask. Thank you in advance!

---Kate

Check out this blog for the messenger error. It's caused by a recent microsoft update from a couple months ago.

Since you can't burn/watch movies with any program, it sounds like you need a new DVD burner.

Ah that stinks. Thanks man.

By any chance, do you have any good suggestions for a decent and free CD/DVD burner? Because I've looked around so many times & can't seem to find a good one.

I'm a fan of LiteOn.

My DVD is also flaky. You're getting better response then I am. I can't get ANY thing to burn. And now I can rarely getting anything to play without it skipping and garbling sound. It sounds like the best bet is to simply replace it. Does the LiteOn fit into the slot and is it a pretty simple swap out? Thanks.

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Sheila in Seattle

HPz558 & HP Pavillion 37" LCD

Yeah, they're all standard sizes. Pay attention to whether or not your drive is IDE or sATA. Some drives have both options on 'em.

thanks Mitch. My device is IDE so I gather using the one you recommended is fine. That says it's an E-IDE. I've taken apart a lot of computers and installed many kinds of drives. BUT... I've never taken apart this MCE. I've always had the impression it was better not to mess with it as it's all very tight in there. Hopefully I'm not opening up a can of worms to do this swap.

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Sheila in Seattle

HPz558 & HP Pavillion 37" LCD

The guts should be the same as any other PC, so I doubt you'll have any troubles. Just be sure to turn it off first :D. There might even be some diagrams of it if you search google. If the DVD drive doesn't work, I'd say it's worth a shot.

Here's the thing, it works sometimes. That's what I don't get.

Katee:
Have you updaded the ROM on the drive? I've tried to do that twice. I'm hoping that may've fixed it, too soon to tell. It's tricky to do as it wants you to burn a CD of the file anad then boot with it. It saves an ISO file to your desktop so I copied that to a thumbdrive then burned it to a CD on my other computer. When I booted using it I could see the files expand and load. Then it said to remove the CD and "hit any key". Well, I'm wondering if the wireless keyboard doesn't work during bootup because not only can I not hit any key and get a result, I also can't use F8 to boot into safe mode. At any rate, I ended up having to unplug the system to continue. But 3 different DVDs that wouldn't launch or would stutter all seemed to work. I haven't tried burning yet though.

Hope that helps.
Sheila

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Sheila in Seattle

HPz558 & HP Pavillion 37" LCD

Doesn't matter if it works sometimes. If it's broke, it can act funny.

Many HP machines run hot and over time this can degrade a optical drive. I had much the same happen with a DVD burner in a Z558. Put up with it for almost a year, then broke down and replaced it. I am angry that I waited so long. The difference was night and day. Replace it now.  Even a cheap $30 drive will be better than what you have now. Also, a failing drive can slow the computer down noticeably. The controller will spend time trying to communicate with a device that may or may not be reporting itself correctly, repeatedly, until the controller stops listening.

 If you don't need to burn dvd's, then just swap a dvd drive in so you can watch discs again.

This is one of the cheapest, simplest fixes that you can do on a computer. Go for it.

Heybiff

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Hp DEC Z558
XP MCE
Two yrs under the belt, only sent back twice!
New vid card, new DVD drive.