Damaged disc help

[efiste2]

I have a DVDr that i need to RIP to my PC but it wont go past 88% due to what im assuming is a scratch etc etc. I have tried NERO and SHRINK but it still wont work...........are there any progs that may be able to help me out in ripping this disc..

[Dv8ted2]

You could try isobuster or isopuzzle.

[hech54]

DVDDecrypter is worth a shot too....never know. DVDFabDecrypter?
Hell....hit all the free ones.

[AlanHK]

Isopuzzle is good. It keeps trying and retrying till you tell it to stop. After a failure instead of crashing like many other disc copying apps, it just backs off and tries again.

If it peters out before 100%, you can take the disc out and give it a polish with Brasso.
Yes, it's an abrasive, but with care you can rub out scratches and get a readable disc.

Rinse and dry it clean before retrying -- Isopuzzle can add bits it retrieves from successive reads to the ISO file it builds till it's complete.

In my experience Brasso does remove gross scratches and leave a slightly less glossy surface, which is nevertheless readable. Use when you have nothing to lose.

If Isopuzzle reaches 100% you can just burn the ISO to a new DVD with ImgBurn, or open the ISO file in Winrar, ISObuster, etc.
You may be able to salvage files even with less than 100%.

[JohnnyBob]

First, try washing it with liquid dish detergent using your fingers under warm water from the faucet. Blot dry (don't rub) with paper towels.

Sometimes just removing and reinserting the disk and retrying several times will finally get a good read. I've occasionally got a marginal/damaged disk to read after 25-50 tries.

I have Lite-On and LG burners installed. The Lite-On is frequently unforegiving of damaged or dirty discs and quits with CRC errors. Almost always, the same disc will read OK in my LG burner.

Try DVD FAB HD Decrypter, which may help if it's copy protection rather than disc damage. You can also try RipIt4Me and DVD Decrypter, both out of date but sometimes they'll rip a disc which nothing else will.

After trying to rip a damaged disc, your system may go into a non-standard state. In that case use this utility and restart your computer a couple of times:
http://winhlp.com/node/10

[jman98]

If this is a region 1 DVD, it may not be damaged but simply using ARCCOS for copy protection. You will need DVDFab HD Decrypter in that case. If it is not a region 1 DVD, the odds are much higher that you're not dealing with ARCCOS or something similar, but it's not impossible.

In my experience DVDFab HD Decrypter will keep trying on damaged discs until it rips it to completion, even if it takes many hours. DVD Decrypter will give up after so many errors and you have to tell it to continue. So whatever your problem really is, see if DVDFab can fix it for you.

[bevills1]

I had a similar problem with a CD that I was able to fix by just copying the CD to a hard drive folder using Explorer, make an ISO of the files in that folder using Nero and finally using Nero to burn ISO to CD. This will probably work if Explorer can read all files on the disk, but it likely won't work if Explorer gives any read errors.

[JohnnyBob]

...In my experience DVDFab HD Decrypter will keep trying on damaged discs until it rips it to completion, even if it takes many hours...

I don't recall that ever happening with Fab with my LiteOn or LG burners. I've had several over the years, currently Liteon-DH20A4P and LG-H55N models. What burners do you rip with?

For example I recently tried to rip a damaged DVD and Fab quit within about 5-10 seconds, saying it couldn't read the DVD. This was in the preliminary stage where it scans the DVD quickly, i.e. ripping hadn't started yet. I don't remember the error message, but it was typical. In this instance the DVD looked OK at a quick glance, but holding it up to the light at the right angle showed it had a small dent in the playing surface.

I recall another recent DVD which had a tiny crack near the outside edge, almost invisible, which gave the same result. This one was pretty serious and threw my system out of whack for awhile (apparently lost DMA mode, etc).

In the past I've had quite a few DVDs where Fab started the ripping process, ran for several minutes, but couldn't complete it (aborted with an error message). Nothing else could rip these DVDs either. In these cases the cause is never for 100% certain unless there's a visible surface imperfection - it could always be a new kind of copy protection.

[SCDVD]

Sounds like bad media. That's about the point on the disc that it becomes virtually unreadable especially a few months after it was recorded. What brand of media is it?