Lazy guy doeasnt want to drag each file separately into burning software

June 3, 2008 10:09 AM

I need some help choosing the correct software to burn DVDs of my 40GB mp3 collection.

WHat I would like to find is an app which would allow me to just drag the entire directory into the app and it would take care of filtering out the occasional file other than mp3 and would split the directory into DVD sized portions for easy burning. Does such an app exist?

posted by buggzzee23 to computers & internet (13 comments total)

I forgot to mention the files are stored on a computer using Windows XP
posted by buggzzee23 at 10:13 AM on June 3, 2008

If you happen to be using iTunes, it does this (File/Back Up to Disc).
posted by jamaro at 10:20 AM on June 3, 2008

I've never used iTunes, will it work on all mp3s? Or does it only work on files purchased via iTunes?
posted by buggzzee23 at 10:29 AM on June 3, 2008

There's no app that does that from the outset. The only way would be to either export the files which are contained within a database of mp3 files as jamaro said, or, you could alternatively work within the file-system by doing a search within your mp3 folder for "*.mp3" which would only display mp3 files for you.

I don't understand why you need a program to sort out DVD "portions" for you, when you can easily select files that equal ~4.7GB by hand (the status bar in Explorer can be configured to show you the size of selected files)?

The only way to do this besides manually, would be to use an archive tool which would archive all songs, and then split the archive into segments - each segment being DVD sized. You can even use Winzip to do this.
posted by tybeet at 10:30 AM on June 3, 2008

Yeah, definitely iTunes.

It'll work on all MP3s, MP4, WAV… anything it can play. Just make sure to select 'Data CD/DVD' in the burning preferences if you have anything other than MP3s there.

If it's only MP3, select 'MP3' as the option.

Check this out for more info
posted by mhz at 10:35 AM on June 3, 2008

Just a note, though, if you haven't used iTunes before, make sure to read every dialogue when first installing and starting, and check your preferences BEFORE you import your music.
posted by mhz at 10:37 AM on June 3, 2008

seriously? 40 gigs, that's like 10 dvds. it would only take a few seconds to divvy up the files into dvd sized chunks. just use any dvd burning software, e.g., nero, et. al. add files till it says more than one disc is needed, delete as necessary to get it on one disc, rinse, repeat.
posted by sero_venientibus_ossa at 11:11 AM on June 3, 2008

...and only 5 DVD±R DL. OP, you'll spend more time setting up Itunes and importing your mp3 collection into it's library than you will doing this by hand. Hell, you probably would have already been done by now ;)
posted by bizwank at 11:35 AM on June 3, 2008

iTunes is the right answer.

And 40 gigs is only FIVE DVDs if they're DL.
posted by rokusan at 11:45 AM on June 3, 2008

(But yeah I would have just dragged them by now, too, that's not very many. The iTunes advantage is that you can do it anytime without bothering to think about how many discs or how to divide them, etc. One menu command and it pops out and asks for next disc as needed.)
posted by rokusan at 11:46 AM on June 3, 2008

One of the tech gurus I know says that the free version of Ashampoo Burning Studio does this. The current version is version 7, the free version is version 6. Download the free version from here . Note: I've never tried this software myself.
posted by planetthoughtful at 6:30 PM on June 3, 2008

You should also use par2 to ensure that you can recover the data when parts of the discs go bad.
posted by polyglot at 7:20 PM on June 3, 2008

Thanks, everyone, for all the great choices. I already had winzip installed on that machine so that was the way I went this time.
posted by buggzzee23 at 11:08 PM on June 3, 2008