New v9.0 User Has Problem Burning to DVD

Hello All,

I have been using True Image v8 for some time, with no problems. I recently upgraded to v9 so that I could burn images directly to DVD. Sadly, I am having no luck in doing so.

I am running Windows 2000 Pro, with True Image Home 9.0, burning Taiyo Yuden 8X DVD+R media (YUDEN000 T02) on a BenQ DW1655 drive.

When I try to create an image, the drive spins up, but then spits out my disc; and True Image announces "I00640003: Please Insert the First Media."

So I re-insert the disc, and True Image tries again to start writing the image. But it stops almost immediately and announces "E00040003: Error writing the file. A possible reason may be poor media quality." I checked the disc with CD/DVD Scan, and it appears to still be empty; that is - True Image has apparently not started writing anything at all to it.

I've tried several discs, with no success. I suppose there actually COULD be something defective with my media; but these are first-rate discs, and I have had no trouble with this batch or any other batch of Yudens.

Has anyone had similar problems with this burner or these media?

Any ideas on possible causes for the results I'm getting? I'm really stuck here, and don't know what else to try (at least until I get out and buy some media of another type).

Forgive me if this question has been asked and answered already in this forum. I did a search, and couldn't find it.

 

Well you have the best dvd media and the best burner, IMHO. But do you realize how slow burning the image directly to dvd is? I think there are more people with problems burning to dvd than there are those who are able to do so. The majority of us here keep our images on external hard drives, some on internal drives or over a network.

 

Yep. At the job, where I have a wide range of applications configured on my hard disc (plus a lot of data), I use an external hard disc for saving my images. It would take a lot of DVDs to store an image of it.

At home (which is where I am trying to use this new version of True Image), my hard disc contains only about a dozen configured applications aimed mainly at ripping, burning, normalizing, etc. my audio collection. Seems a pity to buy a new hard disc just to back up this little puppy. The image fits on one DVD. So I bought TI 9.0 to be able to burn it directly, rather than having to do it in two steps. But I guess it just isn't meant to be.

I guess I'll have to spring for the hundred plus bucks to buy an extra hard drive. Too bad I already spent my $30+ for TI 9.0. I could have put it toward the new hard drive.

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

 

If you're in the USA, it isn't going to cost anywhere close to $100 for a hard drive to hold your backup image which, you say, would fit on one dvd. There are sales every week on hard drive. Plus if you buy the bare drive and then get an enclosure it will save you quite a few dollars.
Oh, btw, try this to burn directly to dvd - when you open the tray to put in the dvd, leave it open and let the imaging process close the tray when it is ready for it.

 

Yo, I am in the USA (Columbus OH). I guess I'll keep my eyes peeled for a good deal on a hard disc. I've never bought and assembled a HD enclosure, but I guess that can't be too tough. Is there pretty much one standard-sized enclosure, or do I have to find a certain size/shape to fit a certain drive?

I've usually used Western Digitals in the past? Are these still a good choice? Or is there something more reliable, or a better bang for the buck?

BTW - - I have tried every imaginable way to make TI 9.0 accept my DVD, but it just keeps spitting it out. But thanks for the suggestion anyway.

 

jaslane,

The enclosures come for either 2.5" or 3.5" hard-drive size. I would suggest a 3.5" model with its own power supply.

The 2.5" models take laptop size HDs an are typically powered through two USB cables, without their own power supply (a mobile solution). We had a report on this forum where the user fried all his USB ports after fitting such an enclosure with a fast spinning (power hungry) drive.

 

If you have room on the drive, either in the same partition or a different one, you can create the image and burn it with the 2-step method which IMO is a better way of doing it anyway. If you create the archive on the same partition as being imaged you have to ignore any warning messages and you certainly can't restore from the archive while it is in the partition.

 

Assembly is dead easy - two cables to connect and they can't be interchanged or put in upside down. You need a 3.5 inch encl. and a 3.5 inch internal hard drive. I bought this enclosure two weeks ago and put a 160-gig WD drive in it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817173019

A 160-gig capacity will give you the best bang for the buck - about $50 and if you catch it just right, there may be a rebate on top of that.
This one is not bad (from the same place as the encl.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148103
But I've found that the local sales for hard drives at the likes of CompUSA, Staples, Circuit City etc. will yield better deals because of the rebates.

I have two external drives put together this way for my True Image backups.

 

Thanks to all for your advice.

It looks like the two-step method is my only feasible option for burning images to DVD. And I'm used to doing it that way, since I've used TI v.8 for a couple of years. I'm just disappointed that v9 is advertised as a means to burn directly, and we pay money to get that, and yet it doesn't do it. (Or at least I haven't figured out what I'm doing wrong! ;-)

I'll definitely look into this hard-disc business. It looks like putting a drive into an enclosure is pretty straightforward, and an economical way to get the storage I need.

Ralphie, thanks for the examples at Newegg. I can use those as a basis for comparison. I've noticed that many more internal drives go on sale than external drives. So providing my own enclosure will give me much more chance of finding a good sale.

 

You might want to check this deal out at Buy.com:

They've had this sale going for some time -- with starts and stops.