35 "VR Mode DVDs" made years ago-- need to finalize/make viewable

[Swarup]

Several years ago I had a stand-alone Sony DVD burner which had a VCR player in it as well. I had made 35 DVDs from material on VCR tape. I no longer have the VCR tapes, or Sony machine. Because the DVDs were made in VR mode and not finalized, they are not viewable in computers or usual DVD players. I need to finalize the DVDs to make them viewable. How can this be done? My goal is to make the DVDs viewable; so if there is some other technique of achieving this besides finalizing the DVDs (such as retrieving the material from the discs and placing it in another media), that is also fine.

[MOVIEGEEK]

You could try to recover the video with IsoBuster, if you are using XP then also install UDF Reader.

[Baldrick]

If you tried search for finalize you would have found that some had success using ISOBuster Pro to restore the video.

But best would be to find someone that has a similar sony dvd recorder to finalize them. You can't finalize them on a computer.

[Swarup]

Since posting the thread, I have been reading the threads that were recommended. Several people wrote that they had tried many times with ISObuster and it hadn't helped. One such person wrote that NeroVision was more effective. Any experience with this one?

If as you say they cannot be finalized on a computer, then I don't have much hope of finalizing them. Because when I called Sony tech support, they said only the exact same model standalone Sony machine will finalize them. And I do not know the model number of the machine even.

When you say "restore the video", does that mean "make the DVDs viewable", or extract the data from the DVDs and make it viewable on another medium?

[Baldrick]

When you say "restore the video", does that mean "make the DVDs viewable", or extract the data from the DVDs and make it viewable on another medium?

It means that you must extract it and make it viewable on another medium.

[Swarup]

In my home office here I have computers running Mac, Ubuntu (Liinux), Win 7, Vista, and XP. Whichever of these OS's has access to the best software for the job, I can use. Is your recommendation for ISObuster then, or perhaps something else?

[Swarup]

If purchase Isobuster, is it usable on only one computer or can I install it on more than one computer?

[usually_quiet]

The only data recovery programs like ISOBuster that I know of are for Windows. I do not know if the license allows installation on more than one PC per user. You should contact ISOBuster support for licensing information.

There is a way to use ISOBuster Free for extracting the video from unfinalized VR mode discs. The video and audio can be extracted from the.tao file and can then be edited and re-authored to make a new DVD. I have done it. The process involves a number of steps. For a basic idea of the process see https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/310357-Unplayable-DVD-because-it-wasn-t-finalized-properly.

Using the paid version of ISOBuster will be likely more convenient than the free version since you have 35 DVDs to recover. However, the free version will let you see what files/tracks the paid version will find, so try that first to see if your video is recoverable.

[Swarup]

I read your link and much related material, and it seems like quite the complex process to use the free version for my work. But still I am confused as to whether to just pay $30 for the product, or to pay an extra 5$ for two years of downloadability, or an extra $15 for the CD. If I just pay $30 for the product, and the system crashes sometime or I need to reinstall the OS, then do I lose the product?

[MOVIEGEEK]

I have IsoBuster Pro and they will email you a product key that is good for life, just download the free version and try it.

[Swarup]

Thanks very much. I'm buying the pro version now.