How do I make a universally playable DVD from a Sony Handycam with Hard drive storage only?

All you need is a simple bit of software, such as this one. It’s free to try, and after the trial period, it’s $35US

I got one for Christmas…
It came with a USB cable and Software for Windows, and on my mac I have iMovie as part of the iLife software suite that works with it seamlessly. The cable is a universal size, so you should be able to get it anywhere, and maybe you can get the software from Sony.

I think that once it’s on your PC’s hard disk (you know how to copy it there, right?) you could even use Windows’ generic MovieMaker. I’ve only used it a couple of times, but it seems fairly easy to make movies out of that. And if my memory serves me well, it gives you the option of burning everything onto a bootable DVD afterwards (though I’m not 100% sure about this, may have been a different programme that I was using).

There are several freeware/shareware titles out there that can do simple things like that. And I think Nero has that option too.

Yes I’ve managed to copy the files to my PC.
I’m assuming the files have to be converted before burned to the DVD so that is sort of where I’m stuck. Will a DVD player read a DVD with MPEG files?

I have DVD Decrypter, DVD2One and CopytoDVD software but I have no idea if these will do what I need. I also have Nero 7 essentials.

No, you need to convert them to VOB files. ConvertX to DVD. That’s the software I use to convert any video file to DVD.

some DVD players actually do play MPEGs, as well as AVIs, as well as anything at all (I have one like that). But most, especially older models, don’t. And you might as well go into the trouble of making something that will play on everything.

@aprilsimne
I got the trial software in your first response and it converted the files. It wouldn’t burn though. Anyway I did manage to burn the file to a DVD but I have no idea if it will play on anything but a PC. The GM is returning to India today so I didn’t have much time to mess around. It is all good information for me to have though for when I want to do this with my own movies. I think the Handycam we bought has the software to do this for me though. It wouldn’t work with his model however.

Thanks for the help!