I recently bought an LG 16x External Super Multi DVD/CD Rewriter. Everything works fine until I try to play the burned DVD on a DVD player (I've tried two so far, and an XBOX). I have tried using Nero and the software LG provided: Cyberlink Multimedia Launcher. The files I have tried burning are .avi files. When I put them in the DVD players they say the disc cannot be read. Am I doing anything wrong is there a defect?

If I'm not mistaken, avi files won't play on most DVD players. I did a google search and that's what I came up with. Hopefully my advice will help you...Please post back with your results....thanks

G'day Jon, .avi files have to be converted to DVD format which will make .ifo,.bup and the actual movie files, .vob files and can [but not always] take up an entire disc [4.7gb] depending on the TV format [PAL or NTSC] and how long the movie is. Generally a 90 minute movie on an .avi is about 700mb and converted to DVD format could be as big a 4gb or more [or less]. I've done nearly 4x55min [4x688mb .avi files] episodes of something, with a menu, in PAL format on a 4.7gb disc...came out great ! You will have to also get codecs such as the latest version of DivX [most popular] and Xvid and the Ac3 filter for audio. These can be found and downloaded easily and they should be free, you might not need any others. Without these you will get no sound or no picture or no both. They are needed for encoding by most DVD authoring programs. If Cyberlink has DVD Producer that is what you should use to start with but I never liked that program anyway. There are many other encoding/converting programs available on the net, some free, some not, some good, some bloody awful. I'll let others recommend what they feel is best for you. I do also wish that someone would come up with a simple set top .avi file player for the tele ...perhaps it's on the drawing board somewhere already.

Thanks for both of your replies. I downloaded "CuCusoft AVI to VCD DVD MPEG Creator Pro" and successfully got the .avi file to change to DVD format and it played. A few other questions though... CuCusoft works fine but it automatically burns the file after you convert it... from what I can tell you can't convert it and burn it with a different program. I'd like to use Nero because it's one of my favorite programs. I have some codecs already and there was sound with the dvd. It was a bit grainy and choppy though, don't know why. Also, do I have to convert MPEG video files as well? Can anyone reccomend any other free program that can convert AVI's and other file types? Cucusoft puts the video tag in so you can't watch the whole movie without a big sticker in the middle of the screen. Thanks Jon P.S. - how can I add a menu?

The 'big sticker' sounds like a watermark that many programs embed unless the program has been paid for. A good freeware program that I constantly use is DivxToDvd, this will convert .avi,.mpeg,.wmv and many others but no menu support and you can save the finished movie to your hard disk to burn with what ever you like, I use DvdSanta for that. DivxToDVD is now dead anyway but might still be available from some software sites but it has been upgraded and renamed to ConvertXtoDVD and you can make a basic menu with this. It is not free but you might get a full working version from 'other sources' [don't ask] if you set your mind to it. You may have to do some searching around many software sites to see what's available. Try 'DVD authoring tools' or similar in your search. Making movies on your PC will bring many hours of joy...and many, many more of frustration, cursing and a collection of expensive coasters too. Good luck

I tried searching " dvd authoring tools" with no success. Suggestions