Slightly cracked dvd how to recover. Please!

[boristhespie]

Have a dvd backup which has cracked.

Unfortunately lost the originals in recent fire.

However the dvd has cracked across the centre hole.

Problem is that the crack has "just" made it onto the data surface in the centre, about a mm.

The computer does not recognise the disc and thinks it is not there.

Tried Isobuster and CD recovery but both don't see the disk.

This disk has years of work.

can I save it ?

[edDV]

Try other DVD drives. If one reads the disc, copy immediately.

[TimA-C]

Use a program like ImgBurn and drop the read speed as low as possible to lessen the chance of it shattering and taking out the drive as well.

[hech54]

If DVDs burn from the inside out, and assuming there is lead-in data(or something similar - not sure exactly) that tells the drive what it is....and that data is damaged....then that thing should be a lost cause right? I mean, without that data you might as well be sticking that clear protective disc that comes in the cake boxes in that drive.
Hate to be a party-pooper but...that's how i see it.

[hech54]

I wonder if one of those older LG Roms (like the LG GDR-8161b) would read it since they run or read backwards?....the drives they use to read Wii discs?

[Kerry56]

I think its dead, but you can try ImgBurn and in Settings-->Read, put a check mark in the box to ignore all read errors. Don't think it will work, especially since ISOBuster failed, but its worth a shot.

[jagabo]

Use a program like ImgBurn and drop the read speed as low as possible to lessen the chance of it shattering and taking out the drive as well.

I agree with this. Reading at high speeds may cause the DVD to shatter. The lower speed may also make it easier to read.

[AlanHK]

Try some superglue, apply on the non-reading side. Wait a few hours to be sure it's set. May hold it together long enough to copy.

As for software, try Isopuzzle. Though if the drive can't recognise a disc is inserted, it won't allow any program to try to access it.

And then just retry to "load" the disc. When my old drive was failing I had to retry more and more times before it would finally read a disc. 20 or 50 times sometimes.

[boristhespie]

Files showed up on works computer, unfortunately the computer cant handle my Sandisk Cruizer U3 USB. Drive letter same as server. Copied some files across. WIll try and get more tomorrow

[PuzZLeR]

If any of this advice doesn't work for you, then you may want to consider a data recovery company. They have special tools and are capable of doing some "surgery" on discs that can pull the data for you. I've heard of success stories similar to your case.

They are not cheap though. However, a couple of hundred Euros/Pounds/etc may justify itself to recover years of hard work, especially if it's your only hope.

Good luck.