Create DVD with Windows DVD Maker

In Windows 7, there is a new tool called Windows DVD Maker. Using this you can create a DVD containing your pictures and video. This tool gives lots of options on the DVD menu styles. Windows DVD Maker creates a DVD compatible with PAL or NTSC format and can be played on any standard DVD player. Here is how :

  1. Open the Run dialog, by pressing the key combination Windows Logo Key + R. Type DVDMaker.exe in the Run dialog and press Enter. This will open the Windows DVD Maker window. Alternatively, you can click Start Menu, type DVD Maker and when the Windows DVD Maker appears in the search list, click on it to run Windows DVD Maker.
  2. The first window of Windows DVD Maker, you have to add your picture or video files. Click on Add items in the toolbar to browse and add media files. If you want to remove the files later, select on a file in the list and click Remove items. If you want to change of the order of media display in the final DVD, select a media file by clicking on it and click on the up arrow or down arrow icons in the toolbar.

    As soon as you add media files, you would see the pie chart in the bottom-left corner change to reflect how many minutes of media has been added. You can a total of 150 minutes of the media. You can also change the DVD title in the text box at the middle bottom.

  3. Click on Options link on the bottom-right to change various DVD options like PAL or NTSC, aspect ratio (4:3 or 16:9) and the DVD burning speed etc.
  4. After you are done adding media files and are satisfied with their order of appearance, choose a DVD burner drive from the top-left corner (if you have more than one DVD burners). Click Next to continue to the next step.
  5. In the second step you can change the DVD menu style. You can choose a menu style from the list in the right side. You can change the menu text by clicking on Menu mext in the toolbar. You can customize the menu text and button style by clicking on the Customize menu.

    If you are creating a picture DVD, click on the Slide show in the toolbar and choose various transition effects and add music to be played when pictures are being shown.

  6. When you are done, you can look at the preview of your DVD compilation by clicking on the Preview button in the toolbar. Click OK to close the preview window.

  7. Finally insert a blank DVD in your DVD burner drive and click on the Burn button.
  8. After the DVD is burned, you would see a Your DVD is ready window. You can create another copy of the same DVD by inserting a new blank DVD and clicking on Make another copy of this DVD.