DVD-R disc unrecognizable in DVD drive on PC

[NLP]

Hi guys

My 2 PowerDisc dvd-R discs recorded 20 years ago, which have been watched dozens of times, are no longer reading or being recognized as dvd discs.

I took my disks to a specialist in dvd polishing and recovery, he checked the media and found nothing wrong with it (no scratches on 2 sides, no stains and no warping).

They were tested on 5 PCs with different brands of dvd and several desktop dvds without success
Tested with Nero, ImgBurn, CdRoller, IsoBuster and RecoveryToolbox to no avail.

Forcing the scan with ImgBurn locks the dvd and only by turning off the PC does it restart the hardware.
Unfortunately I no longer have the vhs.

Thank you

[betwixt]

Before giving up, try GENTLY washing the disk surface with liquid detergent and thoroughly rinsing it. Dry it by GENTLY patting with tissue, try not to rub the surface.
It has worked for me several times. It seems some disks develop a fine film of something (mold?) on the surface, it is almost impossible to see by eye but enough to scatter the laser light and block the data. It may not work for you but it doesn't harm the disk so you have nothing to lose.

Brian.

[Subtitles]

If the content is not something private, there is a good chance that it available for streaming or downloading on different platforms like Netflix or Amazon just google the title.

[DB83]

A few Q.'s

1. What is 'PowerDisc' ? A brand (never heard of it) or a title.
2. You then mention '2 sides'. Does that mean 1 side each for 1 disc or two sides ie a double-sided single disk. If the latter I did not think that such blank media ever existed.
3. Have your EVER played these disks in a PC drive or just the recorder that created the disks in the first place ? If the latter (and I may be wide of the mark here) is it possible you NEVER finalised the disks and if so they will NEVER play in a PC drive.


Just asking.

[dellsam34]

Double sided discs blank media existed I have a pancake of them right here, But they were not that popular because you have to flip the disc over to play/read the other side, When dual layer discs became popular and came down in price double sided discs lost attraction, They do hold more data than dual layer though, 9.4GB for double sided discs and only 8.5GB for dual layer.

[DB83]

^^ Thank you. Although have have been 'burning' for more years than I admit to I repeat that on this side of the pond I do not recall the availabity of double-sided media. I have several commercial 'flippers' and even today I am still confused as to which is 'side 1'

But I still wellcome the OPs replies to my Q.'s

[cholla]

Nero Disc Speed should tell you if a DVD is closed.

ImgBurn should also do this.

IsoBuster will usually show information but it does not also read the disk.
Where the disk can be ripped anyway.

I have used IsoPuzzle to read dvds that were hard to read.

I also had a DVD recorder that would do a format called -VR & those DVDs did not read well if at all.
They were able to be read with Windows XP & older OS's.
I doubt your DVDs were done in that format.

If A regular settop DVD player will play them.
You may need to get a settop DVD recorder.
Then play on the player connected to the recorder & make copies that way.
Making sure they are closed or finalized.

[NLP]

Before giving up, try GENTLY washing the disk surface with liquid detergent and thoroughly rinsing it. Dry it by GENTLY patting with tissue, try not to rub the surface.
It has worked for me several times. It seems some disks develop a fine film of something (mold?) on the surface, it is almost impossible to see by eye but enough to scatter the laser light and block the data. It may not work for you but it doesn't harm the disk so you have nothing to lose.

Brian.

hi Brian
Sorry for the delay in replying, I had to change my dvd recorder from the PC
I tried your tips, but it didn't work
My disks are not recognized by the windows 10 and 7 operating system.
I contacted IsoBuster support and they got back to me:
The drive/hardware must be able to see the disc
I believe that my only way of accessing the disk
would be through Florense software that skips the operating system and goes straight to the data.
Thank you very much for your help


Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

[NLP]

A few Q.'s

1. What is 'PowerDisc' ? A brand (never heard of it) or a title.
2. You then mention '2 sides'. Does that mean 1 side each for 1 disc or two sides ie a double-sided single disk. If the latter I did not think that such blank media ever existed.
3. Have your EVER played these disks in a PC drive or just the recorder that created the disks in the first place ? If the latter (and I may be wide of the mark here) is it possible you NEVER finalised the disks and if so they will NEVER play in a PC drive.


Just asking.

Hi
Sorry for the delay in replying, I had to change my dvd recorder from the PC
1. my disks are of the PowerDisc brand
2. my disks are 1 layer 4.7GB, I said 2 sides because if there was a scratch on the top it would deflect the laser
3. my disks have been sealed and play on all types of dvd
My disks are not recognized by the windows 10 and 7 operating system.
I contacted IsoBuster support and they got back to me:
The drive/hardware must be able to see the disc
I believe that my only way of accessing the disk
would be through Florense software that skips the operating system and goes straight to the data.
Thank you very much for your help


Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

[NLP]

Nero Disc Speed should tell you if a DVD is closed.

ImgBurn should also do this.

IsoBuster will usually show information but it does not also read the disk.
Where the disk can be ripped anyway.

I have used IsoPuzzle to read dvds that were hard to read.

I also had a DVD recorder that would do a format called -VR & those DVDs did not read well if at all.
They were able to be read with Windows XP & older OS's.
I doubt your DVDs were done in that format.

If A regular settop DVD player will play them.
You may need to get a settop DVD recorder.
Then play on the player connected to the recorder & make copies that way.
Making sure they are closed or finalized.

Hi
Sorry for the delay in replying, I had to change my dvd recorder from the PC
My disks are not -VR formats
my disks have been sealed and played on all types of dvd
My disks are not recognized by the windows 10 and 7 operating system.
I contacted IsoBuster support and they got back to me:
The drive/hardware must be able to see the disc
I believe that my only way of accessing the disk
would be through Florense software that skips the operating system and goes straight to the data.
Thank you very much for your help


Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

[cholla]

I do not know if this will work but there is a chance.
You need to buy an older IDE optical drive.
If you can install in a computer that has an IDE socket.
Since you probably can not do that.
Buy an external enclosure that can use an IDE optical drive.
You will probably need to buy a used IDE optical drive to get an older one.
Preferably one that has never had the firmware flashed.

I feel the problem is reading the codes on these older & unusual brand DVD-R discs.

If this turns out to be wrong & the discs still will not read.
Then regardless of what the specialist stated the dye in these DVDs has degraded & will no longer play.
Maybe this specialist in recovery is not as good as you believe & you should try a different one.
IMO If there is nothing wrong with these DVDs the specialist in "recovery" should be able to recover them.

[Subtitles]

I asked before if the content on the disc is private?
Instead of trying to recover what is on the disc which seems mission impossible at the moment, if it is not a private recording then there is good chance that you can find it by searching the internet. Also ask on Italian forums perhaps someone has a copy.
Good luck.

[NLP]

I asked before if the content on the disc is private?
Instead of trying to recover what is on the disc which seems mission impossible at the moment, if it is not a private recording then there is good chance that you can find it by searching the internet. Also ask on Italian forums perhaps someone has a copy.
Good luck.

Hello
I'm sorry, I forgot to answer you
My dvd disks contain videos of my children when they were little, so it will be a great loss for me.
Thank you very much

[NLP]

I do not know if this will work but there is a chance.
You need to buy an older IDE optical drive.
If you can install in a computer that has an IDE socket.
Since you probably can not do that.
Buy an external enclosure that can use an IDE optical drive.
You will probably need to buy a used IDE optical drive to get an older one.
Preferably one that has never had the firmware flashed.

I feel the problem is reading the codes on these older & unusual brand DVD-R discs.

If this turns out to be wrong & the discs still will not read.
Then regardless of what the specialist stated the dye in these DVDs has degraded & will no longer play.
Maybe this specialist in recovery is not as good as you believe & you should try a different one.
IMO If there is nothing wrong with these DVDs the specialist in "recovery" should be able to recover them.

Hello
I'll run your good tip
Thank you very much for your great help

[Subtitles]

I asked before if the content on the disc is private?
Instead of trying to recover what is on the disc which seems mission impossible at the moment, if it is not a private recording then there is good chance that you can find it by searching the internet. Also ask on Italian forums perhaps someone has a copy.
Good luck.

Hello
I'm sorry, I forgot to answer you
My dvd disks contain videos of my children when they were little, so it will be a great loss for me.
Thank you very much

Thank you. Yes these are precious memories that you need to restore at any cost.
By the way, were the discs finalized?
I ask this because a friend of mine has 15 minidiscs of his grandchildren but he made a mistake (well he didn't know) that he should have finalized them so that he can watch them on a standard DVD-Player. When his cam recorder became faulty, he wasn't able to watch them any more.
I used IsoBuster to retrieve everything and put them all on a portable SSD Drive with USB connector. You should have seen how happy he was.

[NLP]

I asked before if the content on the disc is private?
Instead of trying to recover what is on the disc which seems mission impossible at the moment, if it is not a private recording then there is good chance that you can find it by searching the internet. Also ask on Italian forums perhaps someone has a copy.
Good luck.

Hello
I'm sorry, I forgot to answer you
My dvd disks contain videos of my children when they were little, so it will be a great loss for me.
Thank you very much

Thank you. Yes these are precious memories that you need to restore at any cost.
By the way, were the discs finalized?
I ask this because a friend of mine has 15 minidiscs of his grandchildren but he made a mistake (well he didn't know) that he should have finalized them so that he can watch them on a standard DVD-Player. When his cam recorder became faulty, he wasn't able to watch them any more.
I used IsoBuster to retrieve everything and put them all on a portable SSD Drive with USB connector. You should have seen how happy he was.

Hello
Yes, they were closed and watched on several desktop DVD players.
but I have some mini-discs from friends that haven't been closed.
And thanks to your tips I know how to solve it with IsoBuster.

Thank you very much for your great help

[Subtitles]

Thanks for the update. Glad I was able to help.