Help recovering bad dvd

[EricM]

Hello,

A few months ago i burned two 4GB files to two DVD-Rs.

The discs did work because i used them a few times, they were kept in a spindle and they are in perfect condition, there is not a scratch or even a fingerprint on them.

But the discs are now unreadable

I was able to recover one of them using CDCheck, which took about 20 hours but i was able to recover the file and repair it.

The second dvd was even worse, its been recovering in CDCheck for 5 days and only got 500MB so far.
Now my PC crashed, so i have to start over but now the dvd is competely useless.

When i put in the disc its detected as a blank dvd.
So CDCheck wont recognise it.

How do i get my data back from this dvd?
Please help.

Thanks,
Eric

[redwudz]

What DVD media did you use? Sounds like a media problem. Have you tried playing it on a different player? Some players (or burners) do a better job of reading problematic discs. At least that would tell you if it's a reading problem.

If it's still unreadable, that may be the way it will stay. I've only seen that on really bad media. Normally a DVD doesn't deteriorate, at least in the short time.

Do you see any blotches or irregularities on the burned surface?

Beyond that, the software you are using to recover it seems OK. I've used DVD Decrypter and ISOBuster with some success, when they are set to ignore errors. The problem is they will end up skipping over large parts of the video and what's left will be fairly fragmented.

[Wile_E]

Sounds like the same thing that happened to me awhile back. I had some Memorex CD-R's made by CMC. I burned and verified them. They were okay. I put them in a CD wallet in my closet and then brought them out about a year later. Guess what, several were unreadable! The dye in the discs must have degraded. Never again will I purchase CMC or any other media that is known to be cheap.

You may want to check out LordSmurf's website on media quality and learn which media to buy. Unfortunately if you are in the USA, this good media is getting difficult to find in retail stores. Even Fry's Electronics in my area doesn't carry any good media anymore. I am now forced to order it online.

http://www.nomorecoasters.com

[EricM]

From cdcheck

Disc type: 2 (DVD-R DL)
Unrestricted Use Disc: yes
Manufacturer ID: OPTODISCR004
Manufacturer: OPTODISC
Reflectivity: 45%-85%
Dye type: Organic
Capacity: 4.38 GB (4,707,319,808 bytes) / LBA: 231280h

I dont know why it says DVD-R DL because its not a double layer disc.

Its not a movie, its a dvd with one big 4gb data file.
Im reading it on BENQ dvd rewriter.

The problem is that its detected as a "blank dvd" so none of the dvd copy programs will do anything with it.

There is no blotches or anything, it looks perfect.

[oldandinthe way]

Recovering bad dvds can be hell for a drive.

Have you been able to recognize other CDs or DVD's since your crash?

Recovering a badly scratched DVD I took out of the library caused my writer to fail to recognize any DVDs. I then read a CD and my writer recovered its ability to recognize DVDs.

I suspect the laser lens was caught out of position as a result of the heavy retry activity, and reading a CD changed its position.

A user on CDfreaks claimed that lubricating the rails on his drive allowed him to recover from a similar problem. I am going to try it when I have the leisure to have my machine in pieces.

[EricM]

Well now that you say that the disc would not eject until i powered off the computer and powered back on.

But yes I can read other dvds no problem.
I also burned a disc today and it was fine.