One thing that has stuck me about those who have real problems with Power Director 7, is how they've been answered by users on here that don't have these problems with comments such as, "Hey, I NEVER had any problems. It's not the program's fault," or words to this effect. The posts usually then go on to blame the user for having junk on their computers, not having good hardware, etc.

The reality of the situation is that people ARE having problems, and it isn't reassuring, let alone helpful, to new users with these types of remarks. Saying that you don't have problems with the program doesn't mean that there isn't a problem with the program. Capisce?

First off, contrary to all those who say that it isn't the software, this is wrong. While PD7 is a remarkable program, and is truly head and shoulders above anything that I have used so far, it does have issues, bugs, and incompatibility problems. Be honest here, a program which has so many reported issues with it logically has to do with the code.

Alright, now to the "solution." There's some good news and some bad news.

On a previous post, Dreven offered up the solution that my DVD burners were "cheap." Although this wasn't true, and my DVD burners were of high grade and popular during the time of purchase two years ago, he had me thinking. "What would happen if I swapped out one of the drives with one of my newer ones?"

I have been experiencing DVD burn problems after I upgraded from the trial version of PD7 to the full retail version of PD7. That's when all the problems started with being able to burn DVD menus to my DVD projects. During the trial version, no burning problems were present at all. Which leads me to confirm that it is a problem with the PD7 full retail version of the software.

THE GOOD:
I decided to swap out one of my Samsung DVD burners to a late model HP DVD SATA burner on my computer. I loaded up the test project that would never burn with DVD menus and always seemed to crash at the 92% level, in addition to screening up an error message and shutting PD7 down. I put a blank disc into the HP burner, saw the progress bar inch towards the 92% mark...and proceeded to finish the burn successfully!

It burned quickly and flawlessly in much less time than it took to go through the process of trying to burn a project with a DVD menu through another burning program.

THE BAD:
What this means is that the code for PD7 is incompatible with some of the DVD burners out there. A fact, I believe, that has never been mentioned to users or purchasers of the full retail edition by Cyberlink customer service, and rightly so. The reaction to this news wouldn't go over well for sales or users thinking about purchasing Power Director 7. However, the trial version shows no such behavior in exhibiting error messages when you burn DVDs. And this is why I purchased the full retail version, thinking it would work also.

THE UGLY:
It would seem that PD7's code routine causes some DVD burners to crash. Even if you have a DVD burner that isn't that old, if your burner isn't one that can operate successfully with Power Director 7, you will need to upgrade your computer to a newer DVD burner or a different model that will work.

Which DVD burners work? That is a question that will be needed to be answered by all those PD7 users who can burn their DVDs with menus successfully and a list of DVD burners from all of you who cannot burn or encounter errors when you try to burn your DVDs with Power Director 7.

I propose that a database be set up for this very purpose so that users will be able to see at a glance, which DVD burners will work with Power Director 7 (full retail version), and those burners that do not.

CONCLUSION:
I have spent the past week and a half throwing out DVD disc after DVD disc in a search to figure out why PD7 would not burn my DVDs. I have been given quick support from customer service, but the advice has always been to check my drivers, clear out temp files, reinstall, update to the latest version. All these I have done and more...even in installing service pack 3 to XP, which I was trying to avoid, and even afterward, with the same results...Power Director 7 refused to burn...until I swapped out my DVD burner for another brand.

This DVD incompatibility problem is at the center of why people have been having so many problems with burning DVDs, I believe. Somehow, the trial version of PD7, which works well and burns DVDS, does not work when you go to the retail version of PS7. Something, some code, has caused this malfunction in some of the DVD burners you are using out there.

In the meanwhile, a news release from Cyberlink on this incompatibility issue with some DVD burners is highly advised as this will save untold hours of frustration for buyers, bad reviews, and complaints of this product.

Until a fix is offered for these DVD problems from Cyberlink, it seems that your only recourse is to buy a new DVD burner that is compatible with the program...something that Cyberlink has not alerted its PD7 users to do.

Thanks to Dreven for getting me on this track of thinking. I also affirm my belief that having to upgrade your DVD burner to make PD7 operate successfully is an unacceptable solution as your everyday dedicated PC user doesn't know how to to this.

The solution? The Cyberlink programmers have to figure out where, in their code, why PD7 crashes some DVD burners and not others.

PowerDirector is a fantastic video editing program now that it is fully functional for me. I can only hope that this issue of DVD incompatibility will be made public and be addressed.