CPU usage is at 8-10 percent. I looked at Norton briefly and didn't see any activity going on...how do I go in and exclude a program from it? it is Norton Systemworks basic edition, just renewed (online subscription). I'm on Windows XP. WME has been "encoding the first pass" since last night. I'm assuming I did everything right, since there were no instructions for newbies of WME. I selected my MPG file, selected WMV as the output type, DVD quality for video, and CD quality for audio. The choices did say "VBR" or "CBR" which I didn't know the difference of...so I chose CBR.

Does your PC have software to play DVDs? What operating system does it have? If it's Windows, it probably has media player, but it may not recognize that it should launch for the DVD. I prefer vlc media player, which is a free download. It does a lot more than just DVD playing, but it does a good job with DVDs. Here is a link that might be useful: VLC home page

Loralee, regardless of the software you will eventually settle on, you will need to use multiple DVD's unless you opt for an external hard drive. I suggest that you take an afternoon and use a disk burning application (I can't stand Roxio, more on this later) to back up the files and folders of your choosing. If your DVD writer is capable, use double layered DVD-R's as they are 8.5 GB each. Then, get in the habit of backing up new files to dvd on a regular basis. A real simple solution would be to buy an external USB or Firewire hard drive and copy over your precious files, though I would still make DVD's and put them away. Most, if not all, external drives come with some sort of "back-up" software. As Ravencajun suggests, Trueimage is pretty good. I do not recommend anything by Roxio as their software has proven to conflict with hardware drivers and also creates problems when installed with other software. It doesn't play well with other software. I have made many repairs to friends and family computers that Roxio has caused. There are many other cd/dvd burning software solutions available, I am partial to Nero. I also suggest Total Commander as a file manager. It far exceeds the capability of Windows Explorer and once you use it, you'll never look back. If you get an external hard drive and use total commander, you'll be done in no time at all. Good luck.

If you have a 16x DVDRW it must have the capability to write to both +/- formats. Only very old models had compatibility problems with the two formats. Can your DVD drive recognize any disk at all? Try any movie or software application. If the drive recognizes the disk then it's either a software setting (is smartstart looking for the correct drive, it could be set to 'virtual' drive, which you don't want) or the problem is with the media. Is the disk already used? What brand is it? Have you ever successfully copied files onto a dvd with this drive? If so, was it using this brand of blank media? What format are the files from your camcorder in? Do they need to be converted? How big are they? I suggest you get the full Nero Burning Rom over the free Smartstart. You might want to include the full specs of your computer with your reply. It may make diagnosing the problem easier if we know what your are working with. Klaa2