How to: Getting around DVD copying problems

Q I bought an expensively specified Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) system in January and everything is fine, except that I can’t burn DVDs that will play on a standalone DVD player. I tried telephoning technical support but was told discs burnt in this way were only for viewing on MCE PCs. 

With the help of PCW I found that MCE records in the dvr-ms format. I then bought Sonic Primetime Deluxe which could transcode these files to the proper DVD format. The results have quite good video quality but the sound sync is unacceptably poor.

I then discovered that there’s a file called Sonicencoders.msi which could do the same thing, but it’s not on my computer. Where can I get it and does it work any better?
Peter Backlog

A You’re right that Windows XP MCE records video in its own dvr-ms format and that its standard option for writing DVDs simply copies this file directly. It’s hardly useful for anyone wanting to write a DVD that will work in a normal player.

Sonic has two solutions for MCE systems. One is a file called Sonicencoders.msi which is optionally licensed by the company that assembles the PC. Many PC companies don’t license this file, but it’s worth asking. Sadly it’s not sold to end users.

The official route for people who don’t have the Sonicencoders.msi file pre-installed is to do what you’ve done and buy a copy of Primetime or the more recent MyDVD Studio.

This has worked better than the Sonicencoders.msi option in our own tests so you may wish to contact Sonic about your sound sync options – and it’s also normal for the transcoding process to take some time, especially if you’re trying to squeeze on lots of shows.

There’s a patch available via Windows Update that improves the performance of systems which have the Sonicencoders.msi file installed.