i have searched but still have questions. i know im a newb and hope not to get ripped but i just got into dvd backups and my first back up had freeze problems towards the end only on a reg dvd but on the same drive using power dvd it worked fine. i usded dvdxcopy to burn. i was thinking of trying dvd shrink but i dont know if the program is the issue. i use memorex dvd-r Product Number:314453 8x media.
is their something im doing wrong?

Howdy newb Don't worry, you ain't gonna get ripped just for asking- we were all newbs once and the people round here are generally real friendly.

As far as your problem, my first instinct is that it's a burn quality issue. Often, error rates rise exponentially as you near the end of a disc (especially when burned at 8x, but also at 4x sometimes)- which can cause the freezing problems you describe. Your PC DVD drive reads it fine because DVD drives generally are better at reading marginally burned discs than standalone players (which I assume is what you meant by a 'regular DVD' player).

What you need to do is find a media type that works really well with your particular drive model. Also, find out the media code of your discs- the brand name doesn't really mean anything since they all contract out the manufacturing process. You can browse deeper in these forums to drive-model specific forums and look around at what works for other people with similar hardware.

As a more precise test, try using Nero CD/DVD speed to measure reading speed and/or error rates (or use KProbe if you have a Lite-On drive).