[Soundbuff]

I recently purchased Nero and tonight had error after error when backing up CD's, ruining about 5 or 6 blank CD-R's. I still had problems even after installing updates and reducing writing speed to 32x.

I am using an Asus CD/DVD reader and a Plextor 712A CD/DVD writer.

Plextools did the job with zero errors...did I waste my money buying Nero? What does Nero do that Plextools cannot?

Why would anyone want to buy Nero? Does it have anything to offer for backing up CD's/ripping/burning or anything else that you can't get with Plextools?

 

[kalzone]

it's hard to say if you wasted your money. i bought nero and i love it. i've never had any issues with it: every CD that I have ever burned using nero has been flawless.
as for plextools, since they only work with plextor drives and are bundles with plextor drive i cannot tell you what you're getting with nero that you aren't with plextools.
anyway, Nero is a great piece of CD burning software in my opinion. i have never used anything better.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soundbuff I recently purchased Nero and tonight had error after error when backing up CD's, ruining about 5 or 6 blank CD-R's. I still had problems even after installing updates and reducing writing speed to 32x. I am using an Asus CD/DVD reader and a Plextor 712A CD/DVD writer. Plextools did the job with zero errors...did I waste my money buying Nero? What does Nero do that Plextools cannot? Why would anyone want to buy Nero? Does it have anything to offer for backing up CD's/ripping/burning or anything else that you can't get with Plextools?

Soundbuff,

Plextools only works with Plextor drives - and no other brand.

However, portions of the Plextools software bundled with Plextor drives in the US - Roxio's EZ Media Creator, namely - is available in a full retail version. (The bundled version is usually crippled so that it works only with the drive that it's bundled with.)

 

[GokieKS]

I've been using Nero since my first CD burner (a 4/4/24 by Smary & Friendly that costed $250 back then), and I've never had any problems caused by the program. Can you elaborate on what kind of problems you're having? You say backing up CDs... what kind? And are you doing it on-the-fly?

I have a Plextor PlexWriter Premium (touted as possibly the best IDE CD-RW ever made), which comes with PlexTool Pro... it's nice, and necessary to take advantage of some of the special features that the drive features, but for normal tasks (burning an redbook audio or data CD, for example), I still prefer using Nero.

~KS

 

[stevesurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GokieKS I've been using Nero since my first CD burner~KS

Same here. I switched from Direct CD/Roxio CD Creator and have not looked back...Maybe Nero does not support your writer - this is a common issue until a major update comes out.
Nero is FAB

 

[NiceCans]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soundbuff What does Nero do that Plextools cannot? Why would anyone want to buy Nero? Does it have anything to offer for backing up CD's/ripping/burning or anything else that you can't get with Plextools?

Seems you put the apple-cart before the horse . . . . . .
These questions had value if asked prior to purchasing Nero

 

[Mith]

I use Stomp RecordNow Max v4.5. I have been very happy with it. Too bad the product was discontinued. If you are willing to go through certain... illegitimate methods this wonderful program can be obtained.

 

[Sinbios]

instead of tell him our good experiences with nero, why don't we try to solve the problem instead?

what errors are you getting?

 

[gloco]

Are you getting bad burns with both drives using nero?

 

[Soundbuff]

I'm using the "Copy CD" function of Nero. I de-selected "Quick Copy" so that the CD is copied to an image file on the hard drive first, and selected the Asus drive as the source and the Plextor drive as the writer.

No other settings were changed...I am using Maxell CD-Rs, and I wonder if those are poor quality and part of the problem...I'm going to try to find some better quality CD-R's and see if that makes a difference.

The Asus drive may be contributing as well...when I use the Plextor as both the reader and writer, I have not had problems with Nero (yet). I'm thinking about maybe getting a second Plextor drive to replace the Asus, but Plextors drives tend to be full-featured and expensive. I don't believe Plextor makes a simple DVD/CD read-only drive that could be used as the source - I'd probably have to buy another reader/writer like the 712A.

The error messages I get are "Writing failed at 48X or 32X" type messages...upon which I toss the CD-R's in the garbage. Why they fail with Nero I don't know...but I have not had any problems with Plextools with the same CD-R's.

The question I have is: why would anyone want Nero, if Plextools can backup CD's as well or better? What are the features of Nero that really make it worthwhile to have? DVD-backup? Photo editor, etc? I believe Amazon allows returns of software (at least partial credit)...so I need to come up with a reason to keep it...so far Plextools looks better to me, but maybe Nero can do some things that Plextools can't.

 

[GokieKS]

I don't have any personal experience with the ASUS drive, but if you can backup discs properly using the Plextor as both source and destination drive, it doesn't seem like Nero, the program, is causing these problems. Try reducing the read speed of the source drive (the ASUS) to something like, say, 16 or 24x, and see if that helps.

I've used Maxell CD-Rs before, and they didn't strike me as "great" quality, but seemed to be decent. And if the Plextor handles it fine, it shouldn't be an issue.

As for Nero, it does much more than just back up discs. Honestly, if that's all you want to do, even a diehard Nero-fan like me can't recommend that you spend the retail price for it. But if you need to create things like mixed-mode CDs, bootable discs, or others which require "advanced features", Nero is great. The reason I like it is because it does just about everything you want a disc-mastering software to do, and it does all of it very well (not necessarily the best, but always competent).

~KS

 

[Sinbios]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soundbuff I'm using the "Copy CD" function of Nero. I de-selected "Quick Copy" so that the CD is copied to an image file on the hard drive first, and selected the Asus drive as the source and the Plextor drive as the writer. No other settings were changed...I am using Maxell CD-Rs, and I wonder if those are poor quality and part of the problem...I'm going to try to find some better quality CD-R's and see if that makes a difference. The Asus drive may be contributing as well...when I use the Plextor as both the reader and writer, I have not had problems with Nero (yet). I'm thinking about maybe getting a second Plextor drive to replace the Asus, but Plextors drives tend to be full-featured and expensive. I don't believe Plextor makes a simple DVD/CD read-only drive that could be used as the source - I'd probably have to buy another reader/writer like the 712A. The error messages I get are "Writing failed at 48X or 32X" type messages...upon which I toss the CD-R's in the garbage. Why they fail with Nero I don't know...but I have not had any problems with Plextools with the same CD-R's. The question I have is: why would anyone want Nero, if Plextools can backup CD's as well or better? What are the features of Nero that really make it worthwhile to have? DVD-backup? Photo editor, etc? I believe Amazon allows returns of software (at least partial credit)...so I need to come up with a reason to keep it...so far Plextools looks better to me, but maybe Nero can do some things that Plextools can't.

paste the log for us.

 

[Shift]

I've only had errors with Nero on bad blank CDs. In my 50 pack spindle, the bottom 10 are nearly all bad. Opened up a new spindle and everything went fine.

 

[Tech2]

This may sound like a stupid or obvious suggestion, but I'm not familiar with PlexTools. Is there a conflict between the two burning suites? Do you have both of them installed? I'm asking this because, IIRC, Roxio (EZ CD) used to run all of the time in the background. I believe it was called DirectCD. If PLexTools does the same thing, it may cause a problem with Nero.

Did you try un-installing PlexTools and then running Nero? Or if there's an icon in the system tray, did you right-click on it to shut down any PlexTool items that may be running?

Again, I don't know if any of this applies, just curious.

 

[stevesurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tech2 Roxio (EZ CD) used to run all of the time in the background. I believe it was called DirectCD

Right on. Once those Roxio applications get installed, you have to uninstall (not recommended for OEM packages) or use Selective Startup (recommended). Go to "Start" "Run" "msconfig" choose "Selective Startup", click the "Startup" tab and deselect any Direct CD or CD Creater application there.

-As stated before, lower the writing speed
-choose "Disk at Once"
-choose "buffer underrun protection"
-"Read Options" "Fast Copy Settings"="Data CD"
-"Ignore Read Errors"
-"Burn" "Simulation"