Several month ago, I bought an external CD/DVD burner. It came bundled with Nero Essentials. I have been happy with the combination in terms of how it does the job of burning disks.

However, it turns out that one of the background processes of Nero Essentials is ALWAYS running and is using 50 - 54% of my CPU resources. I discovered this in trouble shooting why my new Logitech video cam used in Skype was freezing my whole system after 2 - 15 minutes on a video call.

(BTW, the CSR at Logitech was excellent!)

So now I have removed Nero essentials. CPU usage is less than 5% with the camera running and while I am online. Problem solved, I hope.

Question: what CD/DVD burning software to get that does not take over my system when I do not have the application open, that is not such a resource hog?

I also had some issues with shutting down with other Nero complications.

I've been happy with ImgBurn.

Also, are you sure the problem wasn't Nero's stupid Scout application that can be removed without taking out the whole system?

I've got a copy of Nero that I use for AVI to DVD conversions, on installation it installed that stupid scout stuff, I promptly removed it without discovering that it was a hog.

Find an old version of Nero. The new stuff is just plain stupid, and they keep adding stuff nobody wants. I wish they'd get back to their roots and deliver a solid app that does what it is supposed to do.

FWIW; I've heard decent things about the current Roxio burning software.

I am curious as to why one should have/need a special app to burn CDs? I've always found the native XP "write to CD" function all I needed.

Ummmm ... because I am ignorant?

Seriously, where do I find that function in Windows and does it apply to DVDs, too? Thanks in advance!

Either use the help function of XP to look up how you can burn CDs or just simply drag&drop the files you want to burn on your CD-recorder drive in the Windows Explorer. XP will tell you what to do next. I'm not sure XP supports burning of DVDs natively.

About Nero. The reason why it takes system resources is probably some instant burn feature. A lot of burning programs offer to use CDs like "ancient" floppy disks. Maybe Nero has an option were you can turn that off.

IMGBurn. It's free and, if you're burning dual layer, has one of the best controls over that.

Also, not a resource hog like Nero.

Nero is still a good product if you turn off all the extra services and things it installs. Like everything else, they want to basically index your hard drive looking for media files if you allow it to, and by default, that's what you get. All you need is Nero Express, actually, or maybe Nero Buring ROM.

-David

If your OS is Windows XP, you can run
C:\WINDOWS\pchealth\helpctr\binaries\msconfig.exe
and select the Startup tab and uncheck all the crapware from Nero and Real and everything else that was installed to run automatically at startup.

I really like Any DVD from Slysoft. Its not free but I have had it for a couple of years and the updates have always been free. It is very easy to use.

My staff loaded InfraRecorder on my laptop and it has been great for me.

just hit <windows key> + R and type in msconfig in the "Run" text box..

I use different programs depending on the type of disc I'm burning. If I'm burning a non-critical data disc (CD or DVD) I often use Windows' built in tool. For critical data discs (i.e. closed session, closed disc) I often use Nero 8 (soon Nero 9). For DVD Backup I use DVDShrink (which uses Nero's burning core) along with AnyDVD. For authoring video discs in either DVD, HD-DVD, or AVCHD format I use ULead Movie Factory 6. For converting .MKV files to AVCHD discs I use tsmuxer and ImgBurn. Each program/process has its benefits for the particular task at hand. If I HAD to consolidate to one program it would probably be the most recent Nero 9 because of its ability to handle advance-codec video files... though optimizing system performance might require disabling some of the default install settings to minimize background processes.

Clone CD/DVD and AnyDVD is the best combo ever in my opinion.