Philouis Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 If I should remove my CD Rom burner from my PC tower, and replace it with a DVD burner, would this replacement DVD burner still operate with CD roms as before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob T Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 if you mean will the new dvd burner burn and read cds as well as dvds the answer is almost certainly. Check the specs of the dvd burner and you will see what discs it will handle. For example see hereDanny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre ZFP Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 If the CD read/writer is not broken, why not have the DVD as well? There will be a spare plug on the cable to allow you to do this and it will make copying CDs (non-copywrite, for personal use blah, blah) so much easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onion van man Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 Assuming that your old drive and new drive are IDE interface types you will need to set the 'jumpers' to suit your set up. Disks that were 'burnt' using your old drive might not be readable in the new drive if they were not finalised in the old drive.Depending on your 'burning' software you might need to obtain a new license for it to work with a new drive. (If it was Nero and supplied with the Drive then this is the case)I would fully recommend Pioneer drives for superior compatibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philouis Posted September 27, 2007 Author Share Posted September 27, 2007 Thanks to Onion man, Pierre, Danny, Bob and J & T, for your info. I know now what I have to do.Press on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 If you chose to simply add the DVD burner, try and leave a space (drivebay) between the two, something to do with air circulation (probably!).Changing the jumpers is a doddle, there's a little diagram on the back of the thing and all you do is move a little piece of plastic.Slave or Master, primary or secondary, all just jargon for burner 1 and burner 2!If you burn video files (film or whatever) choose the slowest speed available (x8 or under) for better results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onion van man Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 [quote user="Bones"]If you chose to simply add the DVD burner, try and leave a space (drivebay) between the two, something to do with air circulation (probably!).[/quote]There is no point in doing that, unless you want a gap between the drive drawers. [quote user="Bones"]Changing the jumpers is a doddle, there's a little diagram on the back of the thing and all you do is move a little piece of plastic.Slave or Master, primary or secondary, all just jargon for burner 1 and burner 2![/quote]It's actually alot more involved than just 'burner 1&2' IDE interfaces were designed for more than just a CD/DVD burner. If you know what your doing you can actually speed up or slow down the data transfer rate.[quote user="Bones"]If you burn video files (film or whatever) choose the slowest speed available (x8 or under) for better results.[/quote]Or alternatively just buy good quality disks with Taiyo Yuden dye and burn them at full speed with success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 The gap thing was something a PC builder taught me: I can't see it being all that crucial either, but it can't do any harm: especially if you have overheating issues in summer (as I do).Changing the jumpers is a doddle and I was trying to simplify things for the original poster, otherwise they might employ someone to come and do it for them. You're quite right about disk quality, having said that I wouldn't burn an avi to any disk at x16, best to buy good Japanese disks and burn as slowly as possible. Most people will buy their disks from Leclerc and not find a Taiyo Yuden disk. I go down to Andorra and buy 100 Sony dvd-r for about 20 odd euros. [;-)]Actually, I've recently bought a divx player with a usb key in it for 30 euros and so far so good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onion van man Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 I agree Bones. An average person with a modicum of sense could do most upgrades to their own PC's or build a new tower from parts.Something most people don't realise when it comes to DVD's is there is only something like 10 manufacturers that make them and there is hundreds of different branded disk's! I would recommend SVP for media they ship to most EU countries too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philouis Posted October 3, 2007 Author Share Posted October 3, 2007 As the poster who originated this thread, I have now purchased a Samsung DVD burner from Leclerc. The instructions for fitting are a little vague. It seems daunting to open up the tower to fit the burner as this is almost unknown territory to me. (I did once fit an additional hard drive!) But although as some suggested in an earlier posting, I would like to keep the original CD rom burner, I cant see how this can be done, as there are only two drawers!So if anyone could give me a blow by blow description how to go about this task, I would be very grateful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 try looking on the net - there are lots and lots of guides see this one for starters - http://www.dvd-recordable.org/Sections-article4-.phtmlIf you dont have spare drive bays then you wont be able to keep the CD drive in there!Danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 If you've already fitted a hard drive then you can easily fit the DVD drive.However, you don't have the requisite free bay: so that's the end of that then!I suppose you could have purchased an external drive. I wouldn't worry about it, I fitted a dvd burner and kept my original cd writer but never use the thing. The dvd burner can do everything the CD burner can do and faster too.From memory, you just rip out the cd burner, delete its existence from my computer, replace it with the dvd burner. I think your hard drive will be your primary ide device and the dvd burner a secondary device but to be honest I can barely remember: it will no doubt be in your instruction pack!http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/fp;2;fpid;10005;o;0;id;612699979That's a video guide free on the net.[:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onion van man Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 Provided you can find the screws that hold the case covers on. The drive usually has two small screws holding it on either side (some cases have special brackets or springs).Most Pre-SATA motherboards have two IDE connectors Usually marked as IDE-0 & IDE-1 you can connect two devices to each connector using cables with 3 plugs. If you connect two devices to one cable make sure one has the jumper set to master and the other to slave. It is not a good idea to have a hard drive on the same cable as an optical drive - it can cause a data transfer speed reduction on the hard drive(not always but, sometimes it happens) If you are replacing an existing drive then just set the jumper to same setting as the drive you are replacing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracteurtom Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 Assuming you are using XP and both the old CD drive and the new DVD drive are the same type (ie IDE devices), just swop them, it really is as easy as that. Then on first boot up you should see the new device named in BIOS - if you dont then, you need help !There is little point in keeping the old CD drive, not unless you rip loads of CDs.Keeping an air gap between drives is good practice, but not essential. If you have a large case then OK, if not, dont worry ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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