Copied DVDs Don't Work!

[giicx07]

I am using a VHS to DVD converter player to copy VHS tapes onto DVDs. I am using DVD-R's and the DVDs work fine in the player. However, when I tried the DVDs in a regular DVD player and the computer, they would not work. Any suggestions on what might be wrong?

[romko]

welcome to the (not so) wonderful world of dvd!

have you finalised the discs?
many dvd players /recorders are fussy about which media ( dvd +, - , rw etc) and even which make.

try another brand.
and in any case be sure to keep the original tapes -I have many discs which have, over time, become unreadable and unrecoverable.

[Buenchico]

Without knowing exactly how your recording device works, it's hard to be certain as to how you can fix the problem, but I hope that this might help:

DVDs often need to be 'finalised' before they can be used with all devices (rather than just with the one that recorded them). Until a disk is finalised, you can add extra content to it. Thereafter, the disk appears to be full (even if only a small amount of content was actually added to it).

Read the handbook for your recording device to see if it mentions finalising disks. Also, if you're given the option to make a 'multisession' disk (which allows you to add more content later on), ensure that this option is not selected when you make your recordings.

Chris