Peeling labels off of RITEK G04 = damaged disc? Plz advise.

[BlizZ]

Weird problem here:

I have a bunch of discs that I want to backup. They are homemade DVD-R's with adhesive CD labels on them.

So, I tried to rip them, and couldn't get all the way through without getting SOME sort of error in any program I used.

I decided to use Goo Gone and take the label off of one of the discs.
I was able to rip it and burn a copy with no problems.

Anyway, I had a few more discs that were in the same boat. Labels obviously causing a problem, making them unable to be ripped all the way through.

I took the labels off these discs using the same method as the first (Goo Gone) and popped them in one of my DVD drives (BenQ DW 1620) and loaded up DVD Decrypter. Uh oh. It says the disc is blank. I pop it in my other DVD-Rom drive (Samsung SM348) and try to play the disc using PowerDVD, and it plays back fine. Then I load up DVD Decrypter and start ripping the disc as an ISO.

It took about 35 minutes on a drive that usually takes less than half that to rip a DVD. Rip speed is hovering at around 1.6x--1.7x.

So I burned the ISO and the new DVD plays in both of my drives just fine.

Now, I have a few other DVD-R discs that I took the label off of -- they are all Ritek G04's.

My BenQ drive thinks all of them are blank. My Samsung will read them and also rip them, but ripping is going very slow (1.6-1.7x)

I've searched the forums a little and most people seem to say that peeling the label off of a disc won't hurt it.

That was the case with the first one I tried (not sure what brand media that was off the top of my head) but for these Ritek G04's it seems to be bad news.

Luckily it looks like I'll be able to salvage the discs because I can still rip them (albeit slowly), but it's going to take me awhile since ripping speed is dirt slow. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

[chunkT]

No suggestions but just another case where labels are bad.. mm kay. :P

[ricky1756]

take one of the plastic covers from dvd spindles, turn upside down. put isopropyl alcohol in it. put in dvds you want to take covers off. let soak about 15 minutes. works great, and the alcohol doesn't have any effect on plastic.

[BlizZ]

Thanks for the tip. I will have to give that a try. So I guess it's safe to assume that the problem here was the Goo Gone messing with the DVD-R somehow?

[ricky1756]

yes, i used to be a painter, goo gone was used to remove dried latex paint, which is pretty close to plastic.