Burning DVD's

Under Windows 7, I would do a burn of pictures and then pop the DVD in afterwards and get a slideshow of what the DVD had on it. I have a sister in law who doesn't have a computer, but could look at the pictures on a DVD player. In Windows 11, I have tried every available tutorial and several methods and the external DVD drive does what it should do, but the only way I can look at the pictures is through File Manager. I have to tell it to use large icons and then I have to double-click a file to bring it up and view it. The files are there along with an ini file, but when put in the drive, it spins it up and does nothing to display what's on it. I should mention that the DVD drive is an LG. It came with a DVD labeled as "CyberLink Media Suite". I don't know what I should be doing or using as I thought the stuff in Windows 11 would work like it did for Windows 7. My little pea brain thinks that something in that ini file is not causing my pictures to launch as they should. Thanks.

kodakjack said:

when put in the drive, it spins it up and does nothing to display what's on it.

Click to expand...

Right click on the DVD drive/file and open with Windows Media Player Legacy...

I hate to sound like an idiot, but from what screen did you choose the DVD drive and then right click for Open With? I don't see those choices you list. I get Open in New Tab or Open in New Window.

You will have to install 'CyberLink Media Suite' on a PC/Laptop with Windows 11.

That INI file will belong to and be used by that particular proprietary CyberLink application.

You cannot install that on a standalone DVD Player. It will only View the Image files with whatever slideshow App that is included.

OK, I guess that makes sense. From everything I've seen and read, it just sounded like business as usual with what already comes with Windows 11. Now, if I install the suite, do I then use something within that software to do the burning too? Thanks for the help.

I just downloaded the CyberLink software. I didn't know what I needed, so, I downloaded everything. After it was done, I inserted one of the DVD's I burned earlier and got nothing. I opened the suite and didn't see anything that lets me play/ see the pictures on the DVD. I don't even see anything that lets me see/ know what's on the DVD like File Explorer does. I'm right back to where I started. This shouldn't be this difficult. After jumping through the hoops, I'm still not able to pass on a DVD I burned to someone who can put it into a DVD player. It seems that this is a Windows 11 "feature".

I can't explain why you're having difficulties. It sounds like you've just burned a data disk, rather than one formatted for use with a CD or DVD player.

I tested it. I inserted a blank DVD. I then sent 72 JPEGs to it. I burned the disk with the "CD/DVD player" option. (The other option was "like a USB flash drive". That's the wrong choice. Worse, it sounds like packet writing, which could have compatibility issues across devices.)

I tried the disk in my player (Panasonic DP-UB820, which is a 4k BD player). Selected the "Pictures" option. Worked well, if a bit slow. (45 megapixel images.)

The Windows 11 burner is pretty basic. Maybe it'd be worthwhile trying a freeware utility, or even an inexpensive paid one. (I have Ashampoo Studio 22. Not their latest. They also offer a free burner.)

I guess it depends on what the definition of basic is. Yes, it burned pictures to a DVD, but, if it doesn’t load and play with the same DVD burner/ player it was made on, then even the basic functions aren’t worth much. If the files are there, then wouldn’t the problem be the ini file? If I stick an audio disc into the drive, it plays using Media Player.
I downloaded the software disc that came with the drive. I suppose I can keep downloading programs, but, ….

kodakjack said:

I guess it depends on what the definition of basic is. Yes, it burned pictures to a DVD, but, if it doesn’t load and play with the same DVD burner/ player it was made on, then even the basic functions aren’t worth much. If the files are there, then wouldn’t the problem be the ini file? If I stick an audio disc into the drive, it plays using Media Player.
I downloaded the software disc that came with the drive. I suppose I can keep downloading programs, but, ….

Click to expand...

Can you confirm that you used the correct settings to burn the DVD? The obvious conclusion is that you did not. "Obvious" isn't the same as "true", though.

Burning and Viewing works fine with WMP Legacy...



but yes..., you have to choose the CD/DVD option...



Plays fine on my Sony BD player.

Well, if I knew exactly what I should be doing, I wouldn’t be asking for help. What kind of “settings” am I supposed to be using? I told the program I wanted the DVD to be played on a CD/ DVD player. The only speed is 8. I have burned using the File Manager method, the selecting the drive and going through the burn routine, etc. Again, the files are on the DVD along with an ini file. It just won’t launch - at all. Everything I’ve read says pictures are burned as data, correct?

I typed wmp into Search. It opened Windows Media Player Legacy. Try as I might, I could not get it to go to the folder I wanted to burn. It gave me pictures by date but I could not get it to go to the folder. How do I get it to go where I want it to go to even try this method?

kodakjack said:

Well, if I knew exactly what I should be doing, I wouldn’t be asking for help. What kind of “settings” am I supposed to be using? I told the program I wanted the DVD to be played on a CD/ DVD player. The only speed is 8. I have burned using the File Manager method, the selecting the drive and going through the burn routine, etc. Again, the files are on the DVD along with an ini file. It just won’t launch - at all. Everything I’ve read says pictures are burned as data, correct?

Click to expand...

Sounds correct.

The DVD I burned has a UDF file system. It shows a lot of free space, which suggests that the disk wasn't finalized.

The JPEGs show up as regular data files in File Explorer. I can choose to view them as Extra Large Icons.

If I did something differently from what you did, I don't know what it was. My BD player has no difficulty displaying the images.

I downloaded the CyberLink software and it seems to have a nice way to burn pictures to a DVD. It lets you choose between different content and there is one choice that is photos. I can go to the folder I want to burn (300 pictures), hit Control and A and it highlights all of them. I then hit a button that says add to the list and it does. It does not ask me to change the title, but I do anyway. When I tell it to burn, it doesn't like one of ITS own file names!! I can't burn a DVD, but they want to sell me a $40 upgraded version. At least I didn't lose another DVD because it never did anything with it.

Bobkn, you seem to get what I've gotten, but it will only work on a computer where File Manager can be used. That's not a bad thing, but it will not work by just inserting the DVD in the computer I burned it on or any other player. It will not bring up the images to view in full screen unless I double click every single one individually = a PITA.

Helmut, I could not get the program to do a burn. It doesn't like a file that it tries to add from the program itself. It comes back saying the file, which goes all the way back to the C:// blah blah file, in its own program, has a wrong file name that isn't appropriate. It looked promising, but, ....

I tried a few DVD burners and finally got what I wanted, all in one package, from ArcSoft MediaImpression 2. It is easy to use and guides you through the whole process. Again, thanks for the help.