Is there a fast way to test a store bought DVD for scratches

[Yankee666666]

I want to test some older DVDs I have before making a copy of them. I see they have some visible scratches, but I have watched DVDs before with scratches that didnt affect playback. Is there a way to test this without watching every movie the whole way thru?

[andyp1]

DVD Shrink rips a disc in about 15 mins. If the disc is damaged , the prog will probably crash or freeze . If it rips to the HD ok , The film should be ok.
DVD Burners tend to be more tolerant of scratched and damaged discs so it may be better to rip from that drive.

[Yankee666666]

DVD Shrink rips a disc in about 15 mins. If the disc is damaged , the prog will probably crash or freeze . If it rips to the HD ok , The film should be ok.
DVD Burners tend to be more tolerant of scratched and damaged discs so it may be better to rip from that drive.

I dont have a DVD-ROM so I can ONLY rip from my Burner. Also I use DVDDecrypt to rip not Shrink, do you know if scratches would freeze up that program as well?

[Scottie]

Take the DVD disc and flip it around (make sure you have some light ) and look.

[jeex]

DVD Shrink rips a disc in about 15 mins. If the disc is damaged , the prog will probably crash or freeze . If it rips to the HD ok , The film should be ok.
DVD Burners tend to be more tolerant of scratched and damaged discs so it may be better to rip from that drive.

I dont have a DVD-ROM so I can ONLY rip from my Burner. Also I use DVDDecrypt to rip not Shrink, do you know if scratches would freeze up that program as well?

if dvd decrypter can rip it, the disc is fine. although some dvd players may not read the original disc, your dvd-rom/burner may because it has a more powerful laser.

[Yankee666666]

Take the DVD disc and flip it around (make sure you have some light ) and look.

very funny smart ass. I ALREADY know its scratches, but like I said that doesnt mean it wont play perfectly and wanted a way to test it without playing the whole thing.

[andyp1]

What can I say , If it was me I would take the worst looking disc and try it. If it rips ok try burning to a RW to test it , then get on with the others.

Worst Case Scenario = 30 minutes + 1 coaster.
30 mins + No coasters if RW used.

In my experience some discs can look really bad and play fine and some hardly look marked and just won't work.

Good Luck

[nufan292]

I say just let dvddecrypter do its thing, if it can't, it can't. But if you feel like adding an extra step, you could use dvdinfopro to see if there are any read errors.

[Yankee666666]

What can I say , If it was me I would take the worst looking disc and try it. If it rips ok try burning to a RW to test it , then get on with the others.

Worst Case Scenario = 30 minutes + 1 coaster.
30 mins + No coasters if RW used.

In my experience some discs can look really bad and play fine and some hardly look marked and just won't work.

Good Luck

How is it only 30 mins? If you rip and burn it how do you know that the backup wont freeze up at some point from a scratch on it? Or do you mean basically if it rips and burns then its more than likely fine?

[andyp1]

Yes If it rips it should be fine .

How is it only 30 mins? If you rip and burn it how do you know that the backup wont freeze up at some point from a scratch on it? Or do you mean basically if it rips and burns then its more than likely fine?

Why would the back-up have a scratch on it ? Burn it to an unscratched blank disc .

There is no 100% way of knowing . If you use poor media to burn onto , you may well successfully rip the original and end up with a disc that plays perfectly until near the end. If you use something like Ritek G04's you have a better chance than with a crappy Princo .
This could happen with a perfect new DVD.

This thread talks about testing your burnt DVD-Rs . It may help.

[Yankee666666]

Yes If it rips it should be fine .

How is it only 30 mins? If you rip and burn it how do you know that the backup wont freeze up at some point from a scratch on it? Or do you mean basically if it rips and burns then its more than likely fine?

Why would the back-up have a scratch on it ? Burn it to an unscratched blank disc .

There is no 100% way of knowing . If you use poor media to burn onto , you may well successfully rip the original and end up with a disc that plays perfectly until near the end. If you use something like Ritek G04's you have a better chance than with a crappy Princo .
This could happen with a perfect new DVD.

This thread talks about testing your burnt DVD-Rs . It may help.

IM the one who authored that post! lol how funny. I do use Ritek G04's and you misunderstood, im not using scratched blanks, but rather scratched original store bought DVDs to copy FROM.

[andyp1]

I didn't notice it was your post. I just thought it would help when you had burned a disc .

I have not misunderstood a word , I beleive I have given you good information .

And I think you should take posts like Scotties with good humour as they were intended ( He wasn't being a ' smart ass '
I think you want to lighten up a little pal.
Here endeth my contribution to your thread.

[Yankee666666]

I didn't notice it was your post. I just thought it would help when you had burned a disc .

I have not misunderstood a word , I beleive I have given you good information .

And I think you should take posts like Scotties with good humour as they were intended ( He wasn't being a ' smart ass '
I think you want to lighten up a little pal.
Here endeth my contribution to your thread.

How could he NOT have been a smart ass when I started out saying the disc has visible scratches and he tells me to look at the DVD and make sure there is some light.

[andyp1]

Its called HUMOUR , it was obviously not a serious post.

Lighten up .

.

[Yankee666666]

Its called HUMOUR , it was obviously not a serious post.

Lighten up .

.

When im looking for humor I turn on Seinfeld. Sorry I just didnt find it funny. I took it more like a smart ass coment. No harm done either way.

[sacajaweeda]

Get off your high horse, noob.

[FulciLives]

I want to test some older DVDs I have before making a copy of them. I see they have some visible scratches, but I have watched DVDs before with scratches that didnt affect playback. Is there a way to test this without watching every movie the whole way thru?

Run a READ ERROR test with DVDInfoPro

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Yankee666666]

I want to test some older DVDs I have before making a copy of them. I see they have some visible scratches, but I have watched DVDs before with scratches that didnt affect playback. Is there a way to test this without watching every movie the whole way thru?

Run a READ ERROR test with DVDInfoPro

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

Thanks that sounds good. Have you ever had it pickup errors on a disc that had some problems?

[FulciLives]

I want to test some older DVDs I have before making a copy of them. I see they have some visible scratches, but I have watched DVDs before with scratches that didnt affect playback. Is there a way to test this without watching every movie the whole way thru?

Run a READ ERROR test with DVDInfoPro

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

Thanks that sounds good. Have you ever had it pickup errors on a disc that had some problems?

You should get no read errors if it is a good clean disc. Even if you do ... you may not have playback problems.

My guess is most commercial made DVD discs in good shape have no read errors or at least very few.

Funny I've never thought about it with commercial DVD discs ... I only run it on discs that I've just burnt ... to make sure everything is A-OK

But now that I think about it ... sounds like a good idea ... especially since you only have a short window of time to return a store bought DVD should it be defective.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Sabro]

Maybe an investment into one of those DVD disc repair kits? I hear the ones that actually grind the surface are a tad bit better then the ones that use the paste. Since you stated you have noticed some visible scratches on some of your disc, maybe in the long run this would pay itself off with saved original disc(s).


Just a suggestion.

Sabro

[Yankee666666]

Funny I've never thought about it with commercial DVD discs ... I only run it on discs that I've just burnt ... to make sure everything is A-OK

But now that I think about it ... sounds like a good idea ... especially since you only have a short window of time to return a store bought DVD should it be defective.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman[/quote]

I was thinking about it more for older DVDs that I own to make sure they are ok before backing them up.

[jcook5000]

Holy crap, this thread should not be this long! Yankee, rip the dvd, burn it, put it in your standalone, and watch the damn thing. If it doesn't work, then you still have the original to try again. Unless you are doing something illegal and trying to copy a scratched up rental, then this should not be such a big deal. Sorry for the rage.

[andyp1]

Well said jcook5000 , the guy just wont shut up and take the advice he is given . It's like he wants someone to go round and do the stuff for him .

Yankee 666666 stop fannying around just do it !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jcook5000]

Making backups for the first time is nothing but guess, test, and revise. I read many articles when I first started and tried them all. Now, I have the software I like and I just do it. People like Yankee just needs to throw caution into the wind. DVDR's are cheap now.

[Yankee666666]

Well said jcook5000 , the guy just wont shut up and take the advice he is given . It's like he wants someone to go round and do the stuff for him .

Yankee 666666 stop fannying around just do it !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bite me. I look at all the advice given and I use what looks like it will work best for me. Im glad for everyone who replies, except for you that is so feel free not to reply to anymore of my posts. Everyone ELSE thank you very much for your input.