Physical Damage

[Skimmel]

Now that I know how, I'm working my way through my DVD collection making back-up copies. When I came to Lilo and Stitch I found that the DVD looked like one of the kids had been trying to eat it. After several tries I was able to get it cleaned up enough to make a back-up copy. I'm a bit afraid of what some of the other DVDs will be like.

Has anyone come up with a reliable way to repair physical damage to a DVD that will work long enough to make copies?

[redwudz]

If the scratches are just in the plastic coating over the actual data surface, probably the best way is to use a polishing kit for cd repair that you can get at most music stores. If there is any damage to the data surface, about all you can do is to use recovery programs that will ignore the missing data. Some forum members have had luck using car wax or the like to fill minor scratches for temporary repair.

[Gazorgan]

Warm water, your fingers , and toothpaste work for smudges and small inperfections. I've spent 20 minutes resurecting some disks. If that doesn't work, you want a green machine, it polishes the disk smooth (looks terrible but ti works). Looks like a big green wheel, available at most stores that sell DVD's. Alternately some stores will polish your disk for a few $$$.

[garryheather]

Stating the obvious, try a different drive if you've got one.

My writer will read... albeit slowly... most discs that my DVD-ROM drive rejects. It doesn't work all the time, but it's worth a shot if you have access to a second drive.

Word of advice with Disney movies if you back them up... get rid of their bloody ads at the beginning and / or remove those damn user prohibitions while you're at it ! Don't kids just drive you nuts with their incessant whining about wanting the new releases ?!

[K(c)offee]

I assume because you do own a version of the movie. Granted its not a perfect version but was at one point you could just go to your local movie rental store and just rent working versions to back up. That would be what I would do. Is it legal? I dont know but if its not it should be.

[garryheather]

Actually, that's given me an idea... get in touch with the distributor / Disney and ask if they can replace it for you.

I did a similar thing with a CD many years ago that cracked after being dropped onto its edge, and the company concerned charged me a couple of pounds to replace just the disc. What they charged me covered the postage and maybe £1.50 - £2 for the CD itself. All they wanted was the old one back. It was certainly cheaper than paying to replace it.

If all else fails and you want to be sure of being legit, see if you can source a replacement from their customer services department. I'm sure kids trash discs all the time.

[Skimmel]

Tooth paste and car wax hadn't occured to me. Thanks for the suggestions.

As to the data recovery program - is there one you've had particularly good luck with? Obviously I would prefer one that costs less than buying a new DVD.

[garryheather]

I've been able to recover some DVD-R's before now using ISObuster, HOWEVER that will not work with originals IIRC because it does not have DeCSS capability.

[andydd]

Course sandpaper works quite well