PC does not recognize DVD

[duffer]

I recorded Digital 8 tapes with a Sony Handycam. Later I converted them to DVDs on a JVC dvd writer.
Now I'm trying to edit the DVD but Windows 7 does not recognize it at all. Under properties: 0 bytes used.
I checked and I have windows set to see all files including hidden. I have 3 different video editing programs and non will recognize it.
The DVD plays ok in an external player and my PC's DVD drive works.
Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated

[smrpix]

Sounds like you authored the DVDs instead of just copied the files. That means your files are in a vob container. Copy the vob files from the video_ts folder of your DVD to the hard drive of your computer and use those if you can. (Trying to edit directly from an optical disk is an exercise in frustration.) What three video editing programs did you use?

If my guess is correct you've already thrown away most of your quality. The proper way to do this is to transfer from the tapes to your computer via firewire. If that's still a possibility I highly recommend it. This also makes for much smoother editing.

[mike20021969]

Try a different DVD reader if you can.
Just because it plays on an ordinary player doesn't mean it'll play on a PC.
Some brands of disc even are simply incompatible with some readers.

I've never had a problem with Vertabim (+ or -) discs, so I use them exclusively now.

[hech54]

I recorded Digital 8 tapes with a Sony Handycam. Later I converted them to DVDs on a JVC dvd writer.

JVC makes DVD RECORDERS....never seen a JVC DVD "writer".
If this is a recorder, did you finalize the disc in the recorder?

[duffer]

I used Memorex blanks. Neither my desk top or laptop recognize the contents. The DVD plays ok in two stand-alone players.
I cannot see vob files, or ANY files at all. I tried Lightworks, Windows Movie maker and another I already deleted.
Please note I'm a newbie

[duffer]

My JVC is a recorder. I don't even know the difference between writer/recorder, but I believe it automatically finalized at the end.(It's been 12 yrs ago)

[hech54]

Memorex are crap but you still need to look in the menu or the manual for finalizing(or some other term like "close" or "make compatible") instructions just to be sure.

[orsetto]

If these dvds play on standalone dvd or bd players, odds are they were finalized and aren't corrupted (tho as hech54 noted, that's always a possibility with Mem-O-Wrecks). DVDs made on the older pre-2006 JVC recorders, some Sony DVD/HDD recorders, and ALL Pioneer DVD recorders, do not load correctly in Windows 7 and are not recognized by many PC software dvd players. They also are not recognized when copied to some media players like WD Live. (Strangely, Apple's Mac OS has no trouble at all with these dvds: the issue occurs only with Windows and some media player devices.)

Simplest workaround is to purchase and install the CyberLink PowerDVD software player on your PC. This is the only software player I have tried that recognizes and plays JVC-Pioneer-Sony dvds with missing "First Play PGC" data. The price these days is a bit ridiculous, and it is bloatware, but if you have a large collection of JVC-authored dvds it may be worth it for the convenience.

The PC playback problem is due to the weird out-of-spec manner these recorders finalized their DVDs: the discs have no "First Play PGC" (info most software players require to even recognize/play a dvd). "Real" standalone DVD and BluRay players will recognize these dvds after you press their Play or Menu buttons, but software players just sit there unresponsive.

The solution for Pioneer and Sony dvds is to copy the entire VIDEO-TS folder to your PC hard drive, then open it in a utility like pgcEdit which will automatically add the missing "First Play PGC" info. Save the change and copy this modified VIDEO_TS to a new dvd, and the new dvd will open and play normally in both PC and standalone players.

Unfortunately this trick does not work with JVC-authored dvds: my pgcEdit v9.3 will pop up an alert that it cannot repair JVC dvds because it can't properly read some additional off-spec issues embedded in the old JVC dvd format. Perhaps an updated version of pgcEdit, or another similar utility, would better address JVC dvds (I haven't tried any yet).

ADDED: Older JVCs could record on DVD-RAM discs. So you might want to look closely at these DVDs to be sure they are DVD-R or DVD-RW. If they have the DVD-RAM logo, that could be your issue. DVD-RAM is just plain not readable if your desktop or laptop drive is not specifically compatible with DVD-RAM (many were not). It is possible both your standalone players are DVD-RAM compatible but your computer drives aren't. If thats the case, you'd need to replace these drives, or bring the DVD-RAMs to a service company that can copy them to standard DVD-Rs for you.

[duffer]

Thanks to all for comments. Need to do more homework.

[r0lZ]

Unfortunately this trick does not work with JVC-authored dvds: my pgcEdit v9.3 will pop up an alert that it cannot repair JVC dvds because it can't properly read some additional off-spec issues embedded in the old JVC dvd format. Perhaps an updated version of pgcEdit, or another similar utility, would better address JVC dvds (I haven't tried any yet).

I didn't know that. I'm interested in an ISO of a DVD created with a JVC recorder (containing a very short clip). I would like to have a look. Send it to pgcedit at gmail dot com, or if it is too large to be sent by email, post it somewhere on a file hosting site, and send me the link. Thanks in advance.

[orsetto]

Unfortunately this trick does not work with JVC-authored dvds: my pgcEdit v9.3 will pop up an alert that it cannot repair JVC dvds because it can't properly read some additional off-spec issues embedded in the old JVC dvd format. Perhaps an updated version of pgcEdit, or another similar utility, would better address JVC dvds (I haven't tried any yet).

I didn't know that. I'm interested in an ISO of a DVD created with a JVC recorder (containing a very short clip). I would like to have a look. Send it to pgcedit at gmail dot com, or if it is too large to be sent by email, post it somewhere on a file hosting site, and send me the link. Thanks in advance.

Unfortunately, I no longer own a vintage JVC recorder: all of mine broke down and were scrapped. So I cannot create a new "short" dvd sample for you to examine. I do have a great many standard-length (approx 4GB) examples made by those recorders, I will look into a file host that can accept such a large file and PM you if/when I manage to get it uploaded. Or, PM me with your full mailing address (if international, please show me correct format) and I would be happy to send you a couple of these DVDs directly.

[r0lZ]

I'm not sure it's so important, but I sent you a PM anyway. Thanks for your help!

[r0lZ]

Orsetto, I have received your DVD, so it's time to revive this thread.

Unfortunately, the DVD you sent me can easily be fixed by PgcEdit. The First Play PGC is missing (like with many other DVD recorder), and PgcEdit creates it. When it saves the DVD, the FP-PGC is correctly written to VIDEO_TS.IFO. There are no other warnings or error messages, and according to what I see, the navigation commands are perfectly normal and rather simple. The DVD should therefore be playable without problem on any (standalone or PC) player.

Of course, the problem originally reported by Duffer in the first post of this thread can be caused by other things, such as bad disc, non finalized DVDs, or DVD-RAM not playable in the PC's drive, as mentioned earlier. The fact that Duffer cannot see the content of the disc (the VOB, IFO and BUP files within the VIDEO_TS folder) seems to indicate that it's an hardware problem. But the navigation itself is not the culprit, and should work fine in all DVD players, at least after having added the missing First Play PGC with PgcEdit.

Note also that the FP-PGC is theoretically optional. All players that hang when trying to play a DVD without FP-PGC are therefore buggy! If the FP-PGC is not defined, the first title on the disc should be played immediately when the DVD is inserted. (It's what PgcEdit does when it creates the "missing" FP-PGC: It adds a single command to jump to Title 1. It's a workaround for the buggy players, and for PgcEdit itself, because it assumes that the FP-PGC is always defined, but it should never be mandatory to create it.)

Anyway, I can't help more. For the problem of "incompatible" DVD recorded by old JVC players (and assuming that the example DVD has really be recorded with such a player), I can't see anything abnormal. And for the problem of the DVD not recognised by the PC drive, I can only recommend to try it on another PC with another DVD drive.