PC Solutions -- Handling CD-R Buffer Underruns

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phone: (607) 735-0466 (800) 246-2002
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Handling Buffer Underruns

While using CD-Recorder drives, Buffer Underrun errors are annoyingly common. There are a couple of changes you can make and precautions you can take to prevent them.

Buffer Underruns occur when the memory buffer in the CD-Recorder drive empties out. This is caused by an interruption in the flow of data from the source (hard drive or CD-ROM drive) to the buffer. This interruption is generally caused by another application using system resources during the recording process.

Enough of the technical explanation -- here's what to do...

First of all, make sure your system resources are high enough. To check your System Resources, restart your computer. After it is done starting, right-clink on the My Computer icon. A small menu will pop up, click on Properties. In the window that appears, click on the Performance tab. You'll see a listing for system resources. You want that number to be around 85% or higher.

When it's lower, that usually means there are too many applications running in the background automatically when your computer starts.

Click on Cancel to get out of that window.

To see what is running in the background on your computer. Hit the

Ctrl | Alt | Delete

keys on your keyboard -- all at the same time (and only once).

In the window that appears, you will see a list of every program that is running in the background. You need to get this list down to the bare minimum.

To prevent unneccessary programs from starting up when you turn your computer on, you need to find what is causing them to start.

In Windows 98, the simplest place to do this is in the System Configuration utility. Click on Start, then Run, and type in

msconfig

and hit Enter.

In the window that pops up, click on the Start Up tab across the top. By removing checkmarks in front of items in that list, you can disable them from starting automatically. You will need to restart your PC after making changes. If disabling something in this list causes problems, you can always come back and enable it.

After getting that to the bare minimum, there are a couple of other things you can do. Before recording a CD, restart your system to refresh it's resources. Also, disable your virus protection -- this will prevent it from scanning each file that you record.

Good luck !! -- Happy Burning.

last update: 23 april 2000
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