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Request Guidance/Advice Proper Upgrading from PD8 TO PD9.
AllenChicago [Avatar]
Senior Member Location: Chicago (USA) Joined: Jan 28, 2010 22:06 Messages: 151 Offline
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Dear PD9 Users,

For the past 11 months, I've enjoyed using PD8 for burning HQ-DVD's from family movies shot with my Canon HG10. I tried to do some basic editing like adjusting the color hue, and brightness, but then it takes almost 3 hours to burn 5.5 gigabytes to a Dual Layer 8.5 gigabyte DVD. Without editing it still takes over 1 hour for this task.

From what I'm reading on the Cyberlink website and in this wonderful forum, Power Director 9 will not only let me see the preview in High Quality, but will burn the DVD's faster on my 64-bit / Windows 7 / 8gb RAM / ATI HD-4350 machine. Now I'm drooling!

But I wish to draw upon your experiences, so as to not screw up anything when upgrading from PD8 to PD9. What are the proper steps for upgrading after the package is downloaded? Can I keep PD8 and test PD9 for a few days to see if it really speeds things up as advertised? Will I need to have some kind of code available to prove that I'm an upgrader, or does Cyberlink scan my system to confirm that PD8 is installed? Any advice to make this upgrade go smoother is appreciated. Thank-you in advance!

-Allen in Chicago
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Allen;
During the upgrade you will be prompted to remove PD8...both will not exist on the same system. oh yes...don't forget to make a "restore point" just in case!!

I suggest removing PD8, Smartsound and PhotoNow ahead of time and rebooting before you install.

PD9 is a great new product, optimized for 64 bit and many PD8 powerusers "hammered" it during Beta testing to address as many issues as possible. All your PD8 projects will load and run just fine in PD9.

Not sure about the validation for upgrade. I think you are asked during the purchase process to verify ownership, but someone else will have to chime in on that.

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at Nov 21. 2010 00:20

Cap'n Kevin
Senior Contributor Location: Chebeague Island, Maine Joined: Dec 26, 2008 20:22 Messages: 2011 Offline
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I just had to add this:

From what I'm reading on the Cyberlink website and in this wonderful forum, Power Director 9 will not only let me see the preview in High Quality


With Power Director 9 you have two more preview quality selections not availalbe in Power Director 8:

HD Preview Resolution and FULL HD Preview Resolution.

The higher the quality setting the more PC resources it is gobbling up....but the Preview quality is exceptional!

Regards,

Kevin
Check out PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials and more! Over 5,000 Subscribers.
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Kevin....Allen said he has 8GIG on a 64BIT so resources should be OK, no? He didn't say what CPU speed.
He does have an ATI HD-4350 (maybe 512MEG?) and although that may be small..I think he will love it..how about you??

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Nov 21. 2010 00:38

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oops..double post

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Nov 21. 2010 00:37

AllenChicago [Avatar]
Senior Member Location: Chicago (USA) Joined: Jan 28, 2010 22:06 Messages: 151 Offline
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FredB, thanks a million for the tips and advice. I shall remove PD8, PhotoNow and SmartSound re-boot and run CCleaner to ensure that all traces are gone. Hopefully Cyberlink will add instructions on the Upgrade page to help and to ease concerns of fellow upgraders. A "Here's How You Upgrade" instruction-set would would-be upgraders enter the process more confidently and ease the burden on technical support, on the back end. Thanks again Fred!

Kevin, one of the things that frustrated me when I first bought PD8 in Jan 2010 was that the Preview of clips in the TimeLine was horrible. Forum members explained how to view them in HQ, but they were still poor. Now, from what you and Cyberlink are saying, I can choose to view them at even higher quality...with is great. I don't have a cutting edge system, but before Jan2010, I'd never used any sort of software to make a Video DVD. So any help I get with understanding the nuances of this art is appreciated greatly. Thank-you.
-Allen

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Nov 21. 2010 00:50

Cap'n Kevin
Senior Contributor Location: Chebeague Island, Maine Joined: Dec 26, 2008 20:22 Messages: 2011 Offline
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I hate to jinx anything

But I think he will be fine...I think he will Love it!

And don't forget one of my favorite things to try when creating your masterpiece that is NEW......

With PD9 you can place TITLES on ANY track....don't limit yourself to placing them on the Title Track on the Timeline. You can NOW use transitions placed inbetween the multiple titles you may be laying down on the timeline. This can create some really cool effects as one title transitions into your next title....You have lots of choices to pick from in the Transition Room.

Kevin
Check out PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials and more! Over 5,000 Subscribers.
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I have NEVER run CCcleaner or any other registry cleaner during upgrades. Many times I let the NEW installer prompt me to remove the old product (just to make sure it works). I have done MANY installs and removals. Always goes well for me. Never had a problem. Besides...the jury is out on whether or not Windows 7 even NEEDS a registry cleaning...ever !! Crossing fingers here to prevent Jinx!!

Cap'n Kevin is right, there are many new things to try. Enjoy!!

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Nov 21. 2010 00:49

AllenChicago [Avatar]
Senior Member Location: Chicago (USA) Joined: Jan 28, 2010 22:06 Messages: 151 Offline
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I read all the time in this forum about Titles, Tracks, PIP's, etc.., but I've never tried to learn how to use any of them. In fact, I probably waste 99% of the Power Director's potential. While I have hundreds of hours of HD Family videos stored on Terabytes of Hard Drives, I only use Power Director to transfer Basketball Game Footage of my 11 and 14 year old's games to DVD for the coachs to use in training the players. I attempt to adjust hue, brightness, contrast, but that's about all. My goal with upgrading from PD8 to PD9 is to make this simple process FASTER.

When I'm burning the HQ-DVD's, the 4 CPU Cores run at 65 to 70 percent, but the RAM useage never goes over 22%. At computer idle, it rests at 16% on average. From what I'm reading in the forum, PD9 will utilize more RAM and CPU to get the job done FASTER, which is exactly what the doctor ordered.

I'll look forward to reporting the results in a few days...after the next basketball game.

Fred, based on your advice, I will NOT use any registry cleaner during the upgrade process. But CCleaner does a good job of removing obsolete entries, temp files, etc.. in Windows 7. Never had a problem.

-Allen

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Nov 21. 2010 01:05

Robert2 S
Senior Contributor Location: Australia Joined: Apr 22, 2009 05:57 Messages: 1461 Offline
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Quote:

Kevin, one of the things that frustrated me when I first bought PD8 in Jan 2010 was that the Preview of clips in the TimeLine was horrible. Forum members explained how to view them in HQ, but they were still poor. Now, from what you and Cyberlink are saying, I can choose to view them at even higher quality...with is great. I don't have a cutting edge system, but before Jan2010, I'd never used any sort of software to make a Video DVD. So any help I get with understanding the nuances of this art is appreciated greatly. Thank-you.
-Allen


Using both PD7 & 8 in Vista 32 bit worked find and it was not until I upgraded to Win7 64bit that I had the problem of videos on the timeline being pixellated. Interestingly though after my video is produced and I go back to the timeline the video no longer pixellates. Also playing the video from the media room was also fine even from the start.

I now use PD9 and videos on the timeline are no longer pixellated, so I would say you should be fine when you upgrade.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Nov 21. 2010 01:30

AllenChicago [Avatar]
Senior Member Location: Chicago (USA) Joined: Jan 28, 2010 22:06 Messages: 151 Offline
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Thanks for relating your experience and for the reassurance Robert. I'm confident that PD9 will work well, if the upgrade goes properly. I just want to make sure that all proper precautions are taken and procedures followed accurately during the upgrade process. You and the other contributors to this thread are appreciated. Cheers!
-Allen
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