Help me........help me

[n8dagr8]

Sorry for the Jerry Mc. rip off (sorta of)

Attached is an image of my task manager while burning a DVD from my HDD. I am wondering is there something I can do to make other apps. run faster? For instance, I have to wait for the letters here to catch up before I start the next sentence (to check for errors). It doesn't appear that it is "maxing" out the resources that I have.

3.0GHz P4 (w/HT - which I thought would help with stuff like this...guess it's dual core that I'll be wanting)
1GB RAM
2 HDD (160 and 250 GB SATA)
Windows XP Pro
BenQ DVD burner (burning at 8X)

[Mark Holtz]

This may sound like a stupid question, but are your drives using the DMA mode?

[n8dagr8]

Not a stupid question...not sure what DMA is (will in a second though - google makes me so smart). I only use the 160GB HDD. The other is just kinda hanging out.

[olgeezer]

What is the file type in the hard drive?

[n8dagr8]

NTFS

both are SATA - FWIW

[RichW]

Just a guess, but I suspect that burning a DVD at 8x requires a lot of non-interruptible cpu time even though the cpu itself is not doing anything but waiting for the next command to send data. This is to prevent buffer under-runs which can turn a DVD into a drink coaster.
What software do you use to burn?

[DonLandis]

I agree with RichW on this. But I don't think the software you're using matters.

I do quite a bit of media work here. edit video, rendering, and DVD mastering/burning. One thing I know is that when burning a DVD, dedicate the box to that task. Supposedly a dual CPU should work and improve things as long as the hard drive for the accessed file for the DVD burn is also a separate drive from your C drive. This is why I have 4 computers at this work station. I also keep my media on USB2 or 1394 outboard drives I can hot swap between the CPU's for moving the tasks from machine to machine. I may be rendering a DVD file from authoring software on one, burning a DVD on another, editing a video on a third and then need to log into the internet or do some spreadsheet on this computer. I use a single keyboard/mouse/monitor but multiple computers for different tasks. Once I tried a dual P4 system but it seemed to me that the cost was out of whack for the benefits and a better approach was a completely separate CPU box for different tasks. The downside to this was that three of the media boxes required additional site licenses for the software keys. That really hits the wallet when upgrade time rolls around but it is, for me, a business expense I just need to live with. More important is the fact that I can continue to work on stuff when a computer has to go into rendering or DVD burning mode.

[n8dagr8]

Thanks guys...I usually let this thing run in the evening when I'm watching TV or out. I noticed it this time because I was doing other stuf while it was burning.

I use Nero to burn.

I might start putting the files on the empty HDD and then burn from that. Think that will speed things up?

[CoriBright]

You should also be able to right click on the Process concerned and Prioritize it.

Personally I don't do anything else on my desktop while burning DVDs... I just walk away and let it do it's thing and use another PC. You do seem to have one of the hyperthreads working much harder than the other. Try and equalize them a bit.

The only thing I would check is that you defrag and do a Disk Cleanup before each and every DVD burning. Use a utility like Perfect Disk (www.raxco.com) rather than XP's own defrag.

[n8dagr8]

Alright, thanks guys...I was afraid I was going to get the answer I got...my DVD burner is a memory whore.