MPEG-2 in Encore 2 is compliant; CS4 says no

Question

Hello all,
I am a long-time Encore 2.0 user. Recently, the old computer bit the dust, and I got a new computer (Windows 7) and installed Encore CS4. I had purchased CS4 for my Vista laptop a few years ago and could still install it.
Problem: MPEG-2s that always came into Encore 2.0 as "don't transcode" now come into CS4 as "untranscoded." This is driving me nuts!
My workflow has not changed. I use a Toshiba DVD recorder to record and make a DVD (converting home videos). Decrypt the VOB from this disc in DVD Decrypter. Then edit sections from this VOB as needed in Womble DVD Video Wizard (mostly to remove blue screen). So I wind up with a timeline that is, for example, six clips taken from the same VOB. I save the timeline as an MPEG-2 and bring it into DVD Encore. With my old version, 2.0, these MPEG-2s always came in as "don't transcode." I believed that my workflow of recorder-Decrypter-Womble-Encore was perfectly compliant. I was able to quickly add a menu and create a DVD.
Now, using CS4, these MPEG-2s (literally the same files) come into Encore as "untranscoded." Encore CS4 simply doesn't like something that is embedded in these files--but why did they pass through v. 2.0 without a problem? (Like I said, driving me nuts!)
The only thing I read on these forums is that Encore does not like MPEG-2s with open GOPs. But that doesn't make sense. Open GOPs give better quality, and that is the apparent default on my DVD recorder and in Womble. I don't want to re-encode all my MPEG-2s to be closed, just so they work in Encore--that's a little ridiculous, and clearly didn't have to do it with v. 2.0.
I have tried resaving the files in Restream with a few different options checked, but nothing has worked so far.
And one last note: I HAVE been able to load some MPEG-2s into Encore CS4 as "don't transcode." These are files that did not have any edits made in Womble; they were simply a straight single DVD file (although the start and end of the VOB had been snipped off). So I am guessing that Encore is choking on something involving the cuts made in Womble, and how Womble writes an edited-together MPEG-2 from the timeline. My theory has been that the GOPs are the problem (since resaving the GOPs as "closed" also fixes it). But I have put the MPEG-2 through Womble's GOP Fixer and it didn't make a difference.
I can't believe that a newer (and presumably improved) version of Encore would be so much more restrictive and hard to use. If I could install v. 2.0 on my Windows 7 computer, I would do so--believe me!--but installation failed.
Does anyone have any advice for what I can do to make Encore CS4 read these MPEG-2s as compliant--as it easily did in v. 2.0? Thanks.

Answer 1

Thanks for the assistance.
There is nothing more frustrating than this statement (above): " Something in the files you're making isn't perfectly compliant, and CS4 knows it, where as CS2 didn't."
Yes, but WHAT??!! I am happy to fix it or at least try to figure it out...but how in the world do I do this? If Encore would at least tell me why an MPEG-2 needs to be transcoded, that would be helpful. I understand why an AVI or other file needs to be transcoded. But when you bring an MPEG-2 into Encore, it should be complaint--or have a tool for telling you why it's not.
In any case, over the past week, I have figured out the solution. As much as I would love to blame Encore, the problem lies in Womble Video Wizard DVD. I had upgraded to Womble 5.0 when I got the new computer (along with Encore CS4). Previously, I had been using a 2007 version of Womble. MPEG-2 files that had been edited and saved in the 2007 Womble imported fine into CS4. It's the MPEG-2 files that are edited and saved in Womble 5.0 that are causing a problem. (And not all of them. Just enough that it's a real problem.)
So the glitch lies in how Womble 5.0 saves MPEG-2 files, compared to Womble's 2007 version. But I could not begin to guess what it is! The two program versions are extremely similar, so it must be something very technical "under the hood."
And I know from experience that it's no use telling Womble about this or asking for their help. A few years ago, I asked them why Encore choked on a few files their program creates. (On occasion, Womble created artificial bitrate spikes at some edit points, which Encore flagged.) All they would tell me is that it was Encore's fault, not their program. They denied up and down that their program created these spikes--even though it was obvious via a quick check of Bitrate Viewer!
Anyway, I am now using the older version of Womble, and so far, all my MPEG-2 files sail through Encore CS4 without a glitch. So problem solved, and that's all that counts. Sad that sometimes it's easier to use older software, though!
Thanks again for the help.