Small cracks in the transparent center of DVDs?

[SammyTBull]

I have two DVDs with small cracks in the transparent, no-data areas in
the middle of the disc. The first one I received in such a state (second
bonus disc of "Die Hard III", specifically, though how it happened is
anyone's guess, since it was in that a big, sealed box the trilogy is
in, and the package was tight and protected); the second one I cracked
myself, trying to fish it out of a moronically designed box with a
"novel" push latches that did not respond to pushing. The cracks do not
reach the data areas, but I'm worried that they might, due to taking the
discs out, handling them, etc... Is there any (recommendable) way of
fixing it somehow? I was thinking of simply spreading a very tiny amount
of glue on top and beneath, or into, those cracks, with a pin - and then
giving it a single wiping movement to make sure the glue wouldn't form
anything protruding after drying, but I don't want to try that unless I
know of possible consequences... Anything to try?

[Snakebyte1]

Hi...

Cracks in DVDs or CDs that emerge from the centre and radiate out tend to grow over time. The DVD spins at high speed and this causes the cracks to grow. Eventually the disc could shatter in the player. I've had CDs which had cracks that grew until it could not be read, never had a disc shatter though.

I once purchased a DVD but put it aside for many months before opening it. When I did open it, I saw it was damaged and it was too late to return to the store. It was released/distributed by Anchor Bay and I checked their web site and they had a return policy. I shipped the DVD back and in no time had a replacement (and it only cost me shipping one way, a couple of bucks).

I would check and see if you could return the DVDs to the distributor for a replacement before making your own repairs.

If the industry is so hell-bent on stopping copying etc, then they should allow people to return damaged media for replacements.

D.

[offline]

The cracks do not
reach the data areas, but I'm worried that they might

As Snakebyte1 says, they get worse - quickly. A friend who works
for a video store has told me prevention is the only cure. They now
only use the quick release kind of DVD cases and re-enforce the
DVD with hub labels.

[tkamin]

best solution would be to make a backup copy of your dvd... that would save you the fuss of returning...
I wouldn't try putting anything on the dvd itself such as glue, lables or anything that isn't the dvd itself... your player is worth more... you can see that there's a big debate on labels in the media forum... but it's generally not recommended....