A Simple Computer Problem

[Woodruff]

Ok, I've got a computer problem, and I know it's absolutely got to be something very simple that I'm a complete moron for overlooking. Despite all of my experience with Unix systems, I know very little (other than I dislike it) about Windows. Oh, I'm using Windows XP.

So anyway, here's the situation:

A couple of my cadets wanted some pictures of things we've done throughout their tenure as sort of a memento of their time with us. I thought it was a neat idea, so I made copies of the pictures I have and burned them to a DVD, by the drag-and-drop method. I then selected "Make Compatible", as it appears to be necessary to make the DVD readable for all drive types.

However, neither cadet could see the pictures on the DVDs. They could see that the disk had been formatted, and that it was labeled...but that was it. They're also using Windows, but I'm not sure of the version.

So, I decided to use a software package auto-loaded on my computer by the school called Roxio, to do the same thing (again selecting "Make Compatible" afterward). Exact same result.

Sadly, our computer technicians are out for the summer, so I am left to flounder.

I can see the pictures on both my school computer and my home computer. I took it down the hall and could see the pictures on one of the older machines that the school secretaries have, which is an Apple machine. The cadets computers are relatively new, though not state of the art by any means.

It seems like this should be a very simple process, to the point of being something that I couldn't possibly be stupid enough to screw up. Yet here I am. So what the hell am I overlooking?

[natty dread]

Windows.

Well, there's your problem right there.

[Army of GOD]

I would just email the pictures

[Woodruff]

I would just email the pictures

It took two DVDs to fit all of them, so no thank you. <smile>

[john9blue]

other than simply not selecting "make compatible", you could try burning them to an ordinary disc, or perhaps a flash drive or external usb hard drive

if all else fails, you could e-mail the pictures to them, or host them online using a site like mediafire or imgur

[Army of GOD]

yea, I would go flash drive

[Woodruff]

other than simply not selecting "make compatible"

I considered that. But it didn't make sense to me that this would be the actual cause of the problem, and so I didn't want to waste a DVD finding out. <grin> But I suppose I should at least eliminate it as a potential source of the problem.

you could try burning them to an ordinary disc

By "ordinary disc", do you mean CD? I can't imagine it would make a difference, for something as simple as pictures.

or perhaps a flash drive or external usb hard drive

I suppose I could go the flash drive route, but that seems like "the bandaid fix" to me (but would almost certainly work). My inner geek is saying "Dammit Jim, you're a computer geek, do it the right way!".

if all else fails, you could e-mail the pictures to them, or host them online using a site like mediafire or imgur

I don't really want to bother with the uploading aspect of hosting them online (it's a massive amount of pictures). Plus then they have to download them if they want a permanent set of the pictures.

[natty dread]

Get a 32G USB drive, those aren't too expensive these days.

Also have you tried compressing the images? If they're photos straight from a camera, and you're not planning to print them or anything - if you only want to view them on a computer - you can reduce the resolution to like 25% ... that is, you can get the size of the images to 1/16 of the original.

[Army of GOD]

nothing annoys me more when I face a software problem like the one you're talking about, so I know how you feel.

Like, the other day I pirated a movie and tried to play it through my Xbox because my Xbox and laptop are on the same network and that USUALLY works, but for some reason the Xbox wasn't having any of it. Then I tried putting the movie on a flashdrive and for some reason that didn't work either.

I'm only semi-computer literate (you know, compared to most of you guys...compared to the general public I'm like god damned Aristotle) so it sucks at times.

[natty dread]

you could try burning them to an ordinary disc

By "ordinary disc", do you mean CD? I can't imagine it would make a difference, for something as simple as pictures.

Actually, it probably would - CD is a far more straight-forward and less tricky format than DVD which is designed with all kinds of DRM crap in mind - and don't even get me started on blu-ray... shit just keeps getting worse each generation. However, you mentioned the amount of images required two DVD:s, so that rules it out - you'd need something like 10-20 CD:s to fit as much data as 2 DVD:s.

[natty dread]

nothing annoys me more when I face a software problem like the one you're talking about, so I know how you feel.

Like, the other day I pirated a movie and tried to play it through my Xbox because my Xbox and laptop are on the same network and that USUALLY works, but for some reason the Xbox wasn't having any of it. Then I tried putting the movie on a flashdrive and for some reason that didn't work either.

I'm only semi-computer literate (you know, compared to most of you guys...compared to the general public I'm like god damned Aristotle) so it sucks at times.

I'm not surprised in the slightest.

XBOX is made by microsoft. Microsoft loves DRM. Do the math...
They've probably designed a system where their XBOX refuses to play any movies that don't have some kind of digital signature or some shit.

[maxfaraday]

nothing annoys me more when I face a software problem like the one you're talking about, so I know how you feel.

Like, the other day I pirated a movie and tried to play it through my Xbox because my Xbox and laptop are on the same network and that USUALLY works, but for some reason the Xbox wasn't having any of it. Then I tried putting the movie on a flashdrive and for some reason that didn't work either.

I'm only semi-computer literate (you know, compared to most of you guys...compared to the general public I'm like god damned Aristotle) so it sucks at times.

I'm not surprised in the slightest.

XBOX is made by mikro$oft. Mikro$oft loves DRM. Do the math...
They've probably designed a system where their XBOX refuses to play any movies that don't have some kind of digital signature or some shit.

Spelling fixed.

[PLAYER57832]

Have you tried converting the files to Jpeg or some such? I have had similar problems and that is how I fixed it. In some cases, you have to have the same program that made the pictures to read them. BUT... I am an obvious computer-tech-idiot.

Or, to be specfic, I saved them from my camera program to my computer "my pictures" file. Usually if I could edit them, then it was in a form I could transfer. I usually had to play around with it quite a bit, though.

[Timminz]

or perhaps a flash drive or external usb hard drive

I suppose I could go the flash drive route, but that seems like "the bandaid fix" to me (but would almost certainly work). My inner geek is saying "Dammit Jim, you're a computer geek, do it the right way!".

Burning discs is the past. Just use a flash drive, like a normal person.

[natty dread]

Ok, if you want to burn DVD:s properly on windows, get a software called DeepBurner. Just google it and download it, then use that to burn your DVD:s - much more likely to work than if you use the built-in winsnooze tools.

[MegaProphet]

[Woodruff]

you could try burning them to an ordinary disc

By "ordinary disc", do you mean CD? I can't imagine it would make a difference, for something as simple as pictures.

Actually, it probably would - CD is a far more straight-forward and less tricky format than DVD which is designed with all kinds of DRM crap in mind - and don't even get me started on blu-ray... shit just keeps getting worse each generation. However, you mentioned the amount of images required two DVD:s, so that rules it out - you'd need something like 10-20 CD:s to fit as much data as 2 DVD:s.

Yeah, it would definitely be a lot of CDs. <sigh> I'd definitely go the flash drive route first. <smile>

[Woodruff]

or perhaps a flash drive or external usb hard drive

I suppose I could go the flash drive route, but that seems like "the bandaid fix" to me (but would almost certainly work). My inner geek is saying "Dammit Jim, you're a computer geek, do it the right way!".

Burning discs is the past. Just use a flash drive, like a normal person.

The cadets keep telling me that about my landline phone and my using email...they're both SO outdated! <grin>

(I don't carry a cell phone, so texting like they want me to is pretty much out of the question.)

[Woodruff]

Ok, if you want to burn DVD:s properly on windows, get a software called DeepBurner. Just google it and download it, then use that to burn your DVD:s - much more likely to work than if you use the built-in winsnooze tools.

It's worth giving it a shot (if the school will let me install it, of course <grin>). Thanks.

[Woodruff]

That is excellent.

[Woodruff]

I really thought there would be a "Look dumbass, you have to change a setting to this" sort of an answer. Darn.

[bedub1]

The answer is http://infrarecorder.org/?page_id=5

It's tiny, fast, reliable, works great. And open source!

[Woodruff]

The answer is http://infrarecorder.org/?page_id=5

It's tiny, fast, reliable, works great. And open source!

But would the disc then be readable by Apple machines, for instance? I need something that's reasonably universal, preferably.

[bedub1]

The answer is http://infrarecorder.org/?page_id=5

It's tiny, fast, reliable, works great. And open source!

But would the disc then be readable by Apple machines, for instance? I need something that's reasonably universal, preferably.

I've never tried it but it should be. After you burned your disks, did you put them back in your computer to see if your own computer could read them? Did you burn them as Data Disks?

[Woodruff]

The answer is http://infrarecorder.org/?page_id=5

It's tiny, fast, reliable, works great. And open source!

But would the disc then be readable by Apple machines, for instance? I need something that's reasonably universal, preferably.

I've never tried it but it should be. After you burned your disks, did you put them back in your computer to see if your own computer could read them? Did you burn them as Data Disks?

Yes, I created them as data discs. I could see them on my work and home computers, as well as on an older Apple computer our secretary has.

I'll take a look at the program you mentioned though...it's certainly worth a shot.