I have an HP Pavilion Magnesium Gray Edition p6774y PC. I am using Nero 10 to burn video files onto DVDs.
During my last attempts at burning, though, my PC was making really violent grinding sounds, right when Nero 10 is burning files onto a DVD. Everything seems fine looking at what's on the PC screen, but the PC itself is raising hell! It was so loud that I had to unplug the PC to turn it off to stop all that grinding (canceling the burn in Nero was not fast enough to stop it so I unplugged the PC).
When I play a DVD in the same optic drive though, it doesn't make a noise and plays the DVD fine. So, is the problem with whatever part/parts that is/are involved in the burning process? Any way to check? Any way to fix it myself?
Thanks. I do have a tower PC. I have never worked on my PCs before so this will be a first. I've checked You Tube for some "how to install a DVD drive" videos.
Do all DVD writer drives come in the same size? Or do I need to measure my tower and make sure I order a drive with the same width?
To ground myself, where do you buy that grounding line that some folks use? Is that the only way to make sure I am properly grounded?
Then this thing about "slave" and "master" settings, how does that work?
And I need to figure out whether I have a SATA or whatever?
Also, when I buy the new DVD drive, what specifications should I be looking for?
Sorry for all the questions. Like I've said, I haven't done this before so I am obviously intimidated by the whole process. Actually, is there a tutorial on here that talks you through a DVD drive installation? The more detailed, the better. Thanks.
An internal DVD burner is 5.25 inches (doesn't include the plate on front).
It's the standard size.
Shut down and unplug the the power.
Once you get over the drama of removing the tower covers, touch any part of the metal chassis;as long as your not pawing the motherboard that's sufficient.
Look at the cables connected to the burner.
A SATA drive has two skinny cables connected to it.
The older IDE drive has an unmistakeable wide, flat ribbon cable plus the power.
In either case they are secured to the slot using four screws.
If you retained the docs for the chassis, you might find that the front of the tower is removable - makes it easy to slide the drive out the front instead of towards the back.
In any case, remove the screws and the cables and slide out the old burner.
Insert the new, secure the screws and connect the cables.
Choice of burner is any decent brand.I use LG - others swear that anything except the one they use is junk.
Originally posted by attar: An internal DVD burner is 5.25 inches (doesn't include the plate on front).
It's the standard size.
Shut down and unplug the the power.
Once you get over the drama of removing the tower covers, touch any part of the metal chassis;as long as your not pawing the motherboard that's sufficient.
Look at the cables connected to the burner.
A SATA drive has two skinny cables connected to it.
The older IDE drive has an unmistakeable wide, flat ribbon cable plus the power.
In either case they are secured to the slot using four screws.
If you retained the docs for the chassis, you might find that the front of the tower is removable - makes it easy to slide the drive out the front instead of towards the back.
In any case, remove the screws and the cables and slide out the old burner.
Insert the new, secure the screws and connect the cables.
Choice of burner is any decent brand.I use LG - others swear that anything except the one they use is junk.
Thanks for the detailed info, attar.
How about the slave vs. master set-up?
And while I was making a change, I'm thinking I would upgrade to a blu-ray burner. Are BR burners the same as BR players in that they can deal with DVDs as well? In other words, do they burn both BRs and DVDs?
If the old one is SATA and the new one is SATA - do nothing.
If the old one is IDE and the new one is IDE, compare the switch settings between the two;make them the same - plug in and boot up and see if it's recognized before putting the cover back;if it's ok, put the covers back on.
It would be a very slack bluray burner that couldn't read/write cd or dvd the specs of the burner will have the media it can burn
BR Player as you have put it is just that a player,personally if you get a burner for the pc getting a player would be a waste of money as you can use the pc as a media centre
Originally posted by scorpNZ: It would be a very slack bluray burner that couldn't read/write cd or dvd the specs of the burner will have the media it can burn
BR Player as you have put it is just that a player,personally if you get a burner for the pc getting a player would be a waste of money as you can use the pc as a media centre
I didn't mean to imply that I was thinking of installing a BR player in my PC, if that was what you were alluding to.
