How do I burn a DVD ?

[Flocci]

I have bought a camcorder which uploads to my PC beautifully but as well as having it on my PC I want to burn the clips to DVD. My PC has a slot for discs with the DVD logo but I don't have any software - how do I do it? Do I have to buy a programme from somewhere to enable me to do this?

[nannynick]

Rosieglow - the discs are different formats. Some DVD drives can write to both formats, while others can only write to certain types.
DVD-RW was developed by Pioneer
DVD+RW was developed by The DVD+RW Alliance.

For backup purposes, you may wish to buy DVD+R or DVD-R discs - they can be cheaper, and are NOT Rewritable, meaning that you can't erase your photos. They are typically a Write Once medium... so you need to collect your photos together, then write them to the disc in one go.

Flocci... I've not experimented with writing video to a DVD disc, for playback on a standalone DVD player. You may need to experiment a bit with software to get that working perfectly.

Nero software I think is quite popular, often bundled with drives. 15-day Trial version (185MB)

Xillisoft DVD Creator is a lower cost option.

ImToo DVD Creator is another, with a free trial version - so you can try before you buy.

Fox DVD Creator has a 30 day trial.

I would suggest downloading one of the trial versions, and seeing if it works, before parting with your money.

[Rosieglow]

Sorry to hijack - but can I ask a related question & hope nannynick comes back?

I want to back up photos onto discs and when I went to buy them they are coded either DVD +RW or DVD -RW. What's the difference & how do I know which to buy?

Flocci, sorry I can't help - as you see I'm not techi!

[Flocci]

It has the logo DVD R/RW so I am sure I can do it, but can't see any sign of software. have just looked st realplayer which I use to burn music CDs and that is offering to sell me DVD burn software for £19.99 so I guess that is what I will have to do?

[nannynick]

The drive itself will need to be able to write DVD discs. If it does that, I would have thought you would have software to do it.

My drive has various logos on it. For writing you are looking for logos like
DVD+R DL, DVD+ReWritable, DVD R/RW