Hey, gang--
Speaking of "burning" a down-
load to a DVD disc, how is this
done anyway? I recall this being
discussed before, but this was
some time ago.
Any suggestions on how to do
this?
Thanks, everybody!

Aser

You purchase the media you want to use - DVD or CD - decide whether to use re-writeable media or not and use your burning software to copy the file to the media.

Which CD or DVD Format Should I Use

How to actually burn the data to the CD or DVD depends on what software you are using. If you have Windows XP or later, you can use that to burn files.

Question, Draclvr.

If a game is too big to fit a DVD-R, do you just pop in another disk when the first one is full?


Gil.

Jenny has given some instruction here on how to break up a large file, but I don't remember where it is.

Drac,

You-don't-know-everything?
Oh, dear, I have to go lie down.
The shock....

Gil.

I'm simply very good at Googling, Gil! And sorry for being so abrupt, but hubby needed me to help shuck a wagon full of sweet corn!

I'm fairly good at googling, too, Drac, but the answers I find are not always that great, or maybe I should say easily understood, so I took a shortcut and asked The Expert.

Gil.
Waving her battleax at the heavens.
Lotta good it will do.
They say if it rains on St. Swithin's day it will keep on raining for forty more.
I now believe it.

Ah, but now my secret is out! I'm busted!

If a file is to large to fit on a DVD, you can always use a file splitting utility to divide it into two or more smaller files and burn those to DVD's. You can get a file splitting utility from a site like tucows or softpedia. This one might be good
http://tucows.com/preview/196049/KFK?q=file+splitter
or you could get it here
http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/File-Management/KFK.shtml


However I've never downloaded a game installer file that was more than 2GB, and two of those will fit on a DVD. Usually sites like GOG will divide extremely large game files into files of no more than 2GB.

There may be a DVD burner program that automatically splits files for you, so all you have to do is insert the DVD's when prompted. But I use a free one that doesn't have that capability.

Thanks, Jenny, I appreciate the answer.

So, if I do have a very large file from GOG but it's in a couple of dozen .bin files (mostly), I just continue from one disk to another?
I know, I'm dense but I want to get it clear.

Gil.

I'm with you, Gil... I'd like to know for sure too.

Get yourself a good Blu-ray burner, you can store up to 25GB on a standard single layer disc. The price of blank media has come way down lately - although it's still no where near the price of DVD's.

What is 'blank media', Inland? I gather it's not a DVD so what is it?

That's why googling doesn't always do it, Drac. People assume I know things I don't.

Gil.

Blank media is "ready to write" - it can be CD, DVD or Blu-ray.

I'm sorry to be so obtuse, but if by "the price of blank media has come way down but it's still nowhere near the price of DVDs", yet a DVD is blank media, I'm not following you.
Did you mean Blu-ray's price has come down?

Gil.

Yep, I was talking about the price of Blu-ray media.

I see no one answered your question directly. Your guess is basically correct.

This is the biggest single game file set I have from gog and it fits on a single dvd.

Book of Unwritten tales

Files (BOUT)

Windows installer, English pt 1 of 4 2mb
Windows installer, English pt 2 of 4 2GB
Windows installer, English pt 3 of 4 2GB
Windows installer, English pt 4 of 4 108 MB
Universal Update English 1MB

The above are all the ones needed to install the game

Additional files not needed to install game

Wallpapers 11MB
Avatars 1mb
Artwork 1mb

As you can see the entire GOG file list will fit on a single DVD.

When burning this on DVD The best result when you want to install your burned files would be to copy the collection from your DVD and paste it on your hard drive.

Make sure to make a new folder name it anything you want don't put anything else in that folder. Copy all installer files from the DVD and paste them into the new folder. install from the hard drive, not the DVD. The install will be faster from the hard drive than from the dvd. You must do it this way if using more than one dvd to store the game

To install the installer files have to be in the same place because installer 1 looks for installer 2 to continue and so forth. they need to be in the same place so the process can locate all files.

If you were to encounter a file collection larger in total to 4.5 gigs you can burn files that do not fit on a single disc to another disc. Just remember the entire set must be pasted to your hard drive in the same folder.

There are also Double Density DVD-R and DVD+R disc that hold 8.5 gigs. They are most used for hollywood movies your burning program generally will read them. Warning not all disc burning programs recognize double density disc. I have been using a burning program from Ashampoo for many years. Their thirty dollar burning program recognizes double density disc. some programs do not. Ashampoo allows free trial downloads of complete program without restrictions. If you are interested. Presently they are offering a free copy of a burning program that has been discontinued. It is version 6 many years old and they want to sell you version 12. I am using version 9 and am very satisfied with it. Version 9 also works with lightscribe disc and will print graphics and text on lightscribe disc.

Ashampoo


Here is a link to get an idea for a price on Double Density disc. Not that expensive but more than reg dvd

Super Media Store

oldmariner, thank you.
Your explanation is very clear and I'm keeping it.
At the moment, Ashampoo does a good bit more than I need but I'm keeping that link, too.
I really appreciate your taking the time to be so thorough.

Many thanks,

Gil.

That's usually the case -- most games will fit on DVD. However Night of the Rabbit will not:

Windows installer, English (part 1 of 5) 1 MB 2.0.0
Windows installer, English (part 2 of 5) 1.5 GB 2.0.0
Windows installer, English (part 3 of 5) 1.5 GB 2.0.0
Windows installer, English (part 4 of 5) 1.5 GB 2.0.0
Windows installer, English (part 5 of 5) 723 MB 2.0.0

My bonus content:
wallpapers 7 MB
avatars 1 MB
artworks 8 MB

So here's an example where the game is about 5.2 GB in size and won't fit on a single DVD:

In the case of Night of the Rabbit, you'd need two DVD's (unless you had a dual-layer burner and dual-layer DVD's, which most people don't). So in this case you'd burn the first three files to one DVD and the rest of the files to the 2nd DVD.

In order to install the game, you'd first have to copy all the installer files from both DVD's to a folder on your hard drive.

The "bonus content" is optional and not needed for the install, however it is very small at only 16 MB total and you may want to back it up.

Note I'm saying "DVD's" even though they're actually DVD+R's or DVD-R's -- or possibly DVD+RW's or DVD-RW's. If you have dual layer DVD's, they are DVD+R DL's or DVD-R DL's. There are also DVD-RAM's which can be dual or single layer and need a burner capable of using them. Usually people use DVD+R's, or occasionally DVD-R's.

Something else to keep in mind, the blank DVD/CD will have to be formatted before anything can be put on it. I can put things on a DVD-RW that is being formatted as those things are written to disk. This may not be the case for all the software used to burn DVDs/CDs.

I've never had to worry about formatting a blank DVD or CD. Maybe some DVD burning programs ask you what type of formatting you want. Mine just burns at whatever is the default. You just open the program and click the appropriate buttons.
http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=screenshots

I've never had to format one either - I always assumed the burning software did the proper formatting.

I believe formatting only becomes a question if you want the disk available for adding additional files in the future.
I think that requires a different format from the standard music or movie disk.

That's the case, Robert.

I put a blank DVD/CD into my DVD drive and a window opens giving me the option of using the disk for regular files, movies, or music. Because I don't create movies or record music I always chose the flash drive style option. The burner program then starts formatting the disk for read/write regular files, and will burn when enough space has been formatted. It does all this on its own without my input.

Homer- Just logged on- haven't
read all of the info on this sub-
ject but notice you've had ex-
perience with this procedure--

Can you tell me, once I've down-
loaded a game to my PC, what I
would need to do to transfer it
(or burn it) to a DVD in my DVD
drive?

For instance, if I have a game on
my screen now and the DVD in my DVD
drive-- what next, Homer? Do I need
certain software to do this?

I'm not as tech-savvy as some of
the gamers here, I am WAY behind on
experience. But I would really appre-
ciate a step-by-step explanation if
you have the time.

Thanks, Homer!

Aser