Duplicating CD to DVD

If you try to duplicate a data CD to a blank DVD, it won't work using Sonic RecordNow Data 2.0.4. This is surprising since DVD has more capacity than CD. In terms of cost per MB, DVD is more cost effective than CD. As such, people will buy blank DVDs rather than blank CDs.
The solution is to create a ISO image of the CD and then burn the image to a blank DVD. In Sonic RecordNow Data 2.0.4, you can do that by using save and burn image. Similar options are not available in Nero Essentials 7.9.6.4.

Ashampoo Burning Studio 2008 Error

I tested Ashampoo Burning Studio 2008 from the CD of Personal Computer World December 2007. It burned a data CD successfully. But, when I tried to add more files to the same data CD with more than enough free space as shown, it failed with an error. On the other hand, Nero Express 7 works fine on the same DVD writer and laptop running Windows XP SP2.

AVS DVD Player 2.4

Since I couldn't install Nero Showtime, I went online and searched for other DVD players. Found AVS DVD Player which is free and have no problem installing it on Windows Vista. It works great and even has the option to customise the aspect ratio. Most DVD players will show black bars at the top and bottom of the screen when viewing full screen due to the wrong aspect ratio. My LCD screen resolution is 1440 x 900 so I can customise it to 16:10 to maximise the whole screen.

Disappearing Nero Showtime Option During Setup

I tried to install Nero Express 7 and Nero Showtime 3 from the Nero 7 Essentials 7.9.6.4 CD of my new optical drive but during setup there is no option to select Nero Showtime in custom setup as shown. But, the same CD can be used to install Nero Showtime in the retail shop. This really baffles me as my computer has Intel Core 2 Duo 1.66 GHz processor wth 1GB RAM and 20GB free disk space. The requirement to install Nero Express Essentials is only Intel Pentium III 1 GHz processor with minimum 256MB RAM and 1GB free disk space.

Nero SecurDisc

I bought a LG 20x internal super multi DVD rewriter (Model GH20NS10). This optical drive is special because it comes with SecurDisc technology. With SecurDisc, you can

• protect your confidential data with password protection on all media & file format
  
• ensure data integrity with checksum verification on all media & file format
  
• Increase data reliability with redundantly stored data all media & file format
• Verify the origin of data with digital signature verification all media & file format
• Limit the ability to view copied PDFs with copy protection on DVD+/-R(W), DVD+/-R DL, DVD-RAM
  

To run SecurDisc, you need LG optical writer and Nero software. Once the media is created by SecurDisc, you can access it on any optical drive with Nero InCD Reader 5. SecurDisc Viewer is used to view copy protected PDF.

I read in the Straits Times today that a massive security blunder in Britain has left almost half the country's population at risk of identity theft and bank fraud. The risk arose after two computer disks containing the names, addresses, dates of birth, national insurance numbers and, in some cases, banking details for 25 million adults and children went missing in post. If Britain's tax and customs service has enforced similar technology, the security risk will be mitigated.