XP and CD burner

Since XP has native CD burning abilities, that means it's OK for me to skip installing the software that came with my Plextor drive, right? Because all I want to do is burn some custom audio CDs, nothing fancy.

Also my soundcard only has one hookup for each sound mode (digital and analog). Both are in use by my DVD drive. Does this mean that I'll only be able to use the DVD drive for audio playback, or can the CDRW somehow use the DVD drive's cables for audio playback if it's slaved to it?

 

You should be able to get by without installing any additional burning software. For your question about the cdrw, you should be able to hook it up to the auxillary input on the card. Have a look at the card. I believe it's marked "aux input ".

 

I don't trust 3rd party software. I'd rather trust XP's native program. I know it's basic, but so am I. Basic and barebones is how I like it. All I want to do is burn a few custom audio CDs. I'm not making data or VCDs, so there's no reason to install extra **** that'll take up hard drive space, drain resources and otherwise #*@& up my computer.

 

Hi Shadowhawk,

You're faith in MS struck me funny as well. This is the other side to the "BillyBob" coin (no offense meant to BB), who seems never to have met a MS app that he trusts.

BTW, I agree with you, if MS can do what you want, no need to add more software.

Regards - Charles

 

Well what I mean is, I don't trust 3rd party software to substitute for what's built into Windows. I won't use 3rd party disk maintenance tools because they seem to cause more harm than good. And since XP has its own burning software, why bother with 3rd party?

 

shadowhawk A lot of people purchase a lot of software that isn't as good as the Windows standard. There is also a lot of software that is free that works better than Windows standard.

If you got Nero with your Plextor, I'd install it. It won't hurt anything. It's just that if you install multiple burning programs, just install one PACKET writing program.

One thing Nero will allow you to do is to burn a slideshow out of Irfanview without having to know anything! But it requires Nero.

But Microsoft is into a lot of digital management stuff. You may find that it won't let you burn a lot of things.

The conflicts usually come with multi-media. I try to to allow any of them become default. That's when problems start.

 

Would the MS DRM keep me from burning my MP3s to CD? They're nothing fancy, just MP3s I got off Winmx.

 

shadowhawk BINGO!

 

But can't DRM be disabled?

 

I really don't know. I just use Nero and Roxio with no problems. When I install more than one program that can do the same thing, I make sure that neither starts at bootup.

 

Well I do have a Nero 5.5 CD lying around here somewhere. Maybe it's time I got my money's worth for it.

 

I've had no problems burning downloaded songs, but you need third party software to tag them. That helps if you use an MP3 player, or if you want to print a cd sleeve w/o retyping! XP doesn't always rip purchased cds well, either. I use MMJB for that because it "finds" commercial cds in its database and auto tags the songs.

Johanna

 

I use MMJB too but, you can use Media Player to edit tags too. Open the help file and search for tag. Although, the help file says something about the advanced tag editor is available in certain versions of windows. I'm using Pro, don't now about Home. Also, I'm using MPlayer 9.

 

Yes, WMP will tag them, but not as efficiently as other programs. I get frustrated entering all the info, and then, arbitrarily, WMP changes it all back to the original for me! I have Pro, too, and WMP ver 9, but I don't use it much, because I like to follow the KISS rule. I miss Easy CD- but it just isn't a dependable option anymore, after all the MS updates and SPs. It seems to fight with XP now, and I dumped it. It is the easiest to use, IMO. I have been playing with Ashampoo lately, and that seems to be another good alternative. Nero came with my burner, and it has never given me any problems.

Johanna

 

XP burning engine.

Hate to shatter your illusions, but the XP burning engine IS 3rd Party software! The burning engine is a stripped down version of the ROXIO EzCD burning engine with extra garbage added in for the digital rights management.

The Plextor software Rocked when I had mine back in the Win98 erra.

If you want to try a Roxio burning program that really rocks try WinOnCD 6. - Easy as Nero, without the lockups and burning rights issues.