When it comes to burning DVD discs on Windows 7 it is important to note that the type of disc you create and what type of blank DVD you use is important for the desired outcome. In this article I will identify many reasons for burning a DVD and what the best format to use is and what type of blank DVD you should be using for each type of project.
But first a short introduction to the different DVD formats you may or may not be familiar with. There are two standards when it comes to DVD formats: DVD- and DVD+. DVD- (dash) was developed by Pioneer in the late 1990′s, while DVD+ was developed by the DVD+RW alliance which includes Sony, HP, Ricoh, Yamaha, and others. Just note that all DVD burners now produced support both formats, which makes it easy for the consumer.
File, Formats, and Discs
With all the different types of multi-media files now available including data, audio, and video it is important to burn a DVD disc correctly. I will list common file types, the disc format they should be created in, and the type of blank disc to use for best results.
- Home Videos (from a camcorder or downloaded video) should be created with an Authoring software such as Windows DVD Maker in a DVD-Video project and it’s recommended to use DVD-R media.
- Digital Photo files can either be backed up using a better DVD burning software as a data project or be created as a digital photo slide show by using a compatible software using DVD-R media.
- Recorded TV shows from Windows Media Center should be Authored with Windows DVD Maker in a DVD-Video project and burned to DVD-R media.
- Music or audio files can be burned to blank CD-R discs using Windows Media Player. However there are two ways to go about this: First you can create a standard Audio CD which usually holds 74 minutes of music by creating an audio project or you can burn mp3 files as a data project to get more music on a disc. (Just make sure you have a mp3 disc player for proper playback)
- Disc Image Files or ISO files require Windows Disc Image Burner to burn the format correctly on either a blank CD-R or DVD-R disc (Just depends on the file size)
Recording Home Videos to DVD
By utilizing the free Windows DVD Maker already included in Windows 7 installs you can simply and easily create home movie discs from your videos. The software will not make a Hollywood type film but will get you creating a DVD movie that you and your family can enjoy on your TV sets in the living room. You simply start the software, load in some video that you captured off of your camcorder, create a custom DVD menu and burn away. You now have a DVD movie disc that you can watch on any standard DVD player.
Recording TV Shows to DVD Disc
If your Windows PC came with a TV capture card you can hook up your cable line or satellite tv box and watch TV on your computer screen. If you use Windows Media Center you also have a built in DVR where you can record the shows you want. The best part is that you can also now burn them to a DVD disc and watch them on your TV set just like it was intended. To do this in Media Center all you do is insert a blank DVD, then click BurnCD/DVD and choose the Video DVD option. Then select a title name for the project and select the video clips or TV shows you want to burn from your media library and click the burn button. Media Center will handle the rest and give you a DVD disc that is properly formatted.
Sharing Digital Photos the Easy Way
One of the easiest ways to preserve, backup, and share your digital photos is to back them up to a blank CD-R or DVD. You can easily accomplish this by using Windows Explorer and choosing the Mastered format. All you do is insert a blank CD or DVD and on the AutoPlay box choose the “Burn files to disc using Windows Explorer” option. When the burn a disc dialog box opens choose a Disc Title and tick the With a CD/DVD player and click Next. Then simply browse to the digital photo folder you want to backup/burn and drag it into the empty disc folder. When ready to burn click the Burn to Disc box and you are good to go.
Burn a DVD From an Image File
If you download .iso files like I do then you will most likely want to burn that image to a CD or DVD to see the contents in the file. Since .iso is a container for a file structure you need to extract it and by burning it to a disc will accomplish this. In Windows 7 you can use Windows Disc Image Burner. This is as easy as right clicking on the .iso file and choosing Burn Disc Image, yes it’s that easy now in Windows 7.
Hopefully this article pointed you in the right direction for creating proper DVD disc in the correct formats.
About the Author:
Rob Boirun is the lead writer for www.burnworld.com which is an industry website for DVD Burning and the Optical Disc Industry. You can follow us on Twitter @burnworld
Rob Boirun is the author of www.burnworld.com which is an industry site around DVD and Blu Ray burning technologies. After working for GEAR software which makes a burning API for vendors such as Apple, Symantec, and others I decided that the web was missing out on some useful information around the optical recording industry, thus the site was created. The industry is shifting the way users receive digital content and I will be shifting the focus as well into more digital streaming, cloud storage, Blu-Ray, etc… You can follow Rob on Twitter @burnworld.Rob's Google Profile
Hello Rob
Thank you for sharing this wonderful piece of information. Its really great, I have trouble with movie burning after I change my windows from XP to W7. I find your post very helpful.
I’ll start burning some movies now, thanks.
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Hi Rob, thank you for a useful info. It’s always good to know this things
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Thanks for wonderful tips Rob! Especially the one about burn a dvd from an image file, very helpful to me!
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Thanks, I love to learn new ways to use what I already have, you simplify the whole thing.
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Do people still burn DVD’s I mean it’s alot easier to copy on to usb hard drive and play using playstation 3, xbox, any cheap £30 media playing device that you connect to your tv, or using online storage to get access to most common things.
I guess Computer Repair Hackney has a point. It is a lot easier to just download movies and just have it on the usb hard drive. Much convenient.
Really Interesting I like to see that
i have some informative content in blog
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DVD/video formats are one of the most confusing IT related things for me. Thanks for sharing this, I will be using it as a reference point.
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um, well… recorded video, burned via win7, my dvd player refuses to play.
disc is dvd-r, player is compatible.
any clues?
or do i have to install more software?
i just thought, i can get rid of 3rd-party-software…
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Twitter: burnworld
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Try updating the firmware on your dvd burner first. That may address the issue.
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I actually don’t have the talent of dvd disc burning. But I want to give it a try. Your post is very informative and helpful. Thanks.
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I’m glad you found it useful Kevin.
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Twitter: bestpcutility
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There are really too many different kinds of formats, and even a Tech geek like me too get confused sometimes. It will be great if you could list out the CD and blue-ray burning formats too!
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Twitter: burnworld
says:
Luckily for CD there is only CD-R and CD-RW and for Blu Ray there is BD-R and BD-RW. Only one format for both of those.
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Ok. Now I understand what my key problems. Thanks a lot
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Hi Rob,
This is really an informative post. I tried burning a DVD and it seemed to work on my laptop. But it wasn’t playing on a DVD player. I hope I can work it out with the help of your post. Thanks!
Twitter: burnworld
says:
This may be due to the DVD player not supporting the type of DVD media that you are burning to. Make sure your player supports either DVD-R or DVD+R. Also if you were using -RW or +RW it may not be supported since those are re-writable formats. It just comes down to what the player supports.
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Hey Rob,
I’m not very techy so I sent your link to my brother and we’re enjoying a DVD marathon at home now.
Its always fun to watch from a television than a PC especially if you’re with your family or friends. 
Anyway, thanks Rob!
Very glad you posted this. I’m not super familiar with windows 7 yet but I want to do this. Great steps to follow!
Well you would be well put to take some time and get to know it. It is a life saver.
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We just had to re-image our computer and figuring out ISO was a pain in the neck! I hear nero makes things go faster but I hate shelling out money for software when there are so many free options out there.
Some great options for ISO files are daemon tools and I believe there is a free version. Makes reading and making ISO files a breeze…
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Daemon tools is great and can create dummy disk drives to run multiple iso files on so that your computer thinks it’s loading a cd or dvd in an optical drive. Works great.
Interesting post. Disc burning is more complex than i thought.
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Burning TV programs on DVD players with writer was the best thing the ever happened. Now I get to watch my favorite series even though I always come home late.
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Today, multiformat and dual-layer dvd-rw have became the standard releases in new pcs and laptops. And it has become cheaper to burn dvds than store your files in external drives.
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I found that burning ISO images to DVD’s is one of the most useful steps to any computer repair technicians toolbelt. It allows you to use a variety of hundreds of useful programs and boot-time programs from around the internet with just a pack of $50 blank DVD’s. Wonderful post, thank you.
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