ISOBuster help

[mcf57]

I have some personal DVDs I am trying to copy. I was using Imgburn software to copy them & everything was going great until I realized that one of the DVDs I am trying to copy has a small crack on it. It's on the inner portion of the DVD near the little hole. Its not very large at all, but just enough that my computer's DVD drive can't read it.

I have asked around about a possible solution on how I can get most of the data off it. Most seem to think the DVD is trash since this crack is located on the inner part of it. Some suggested either using some scotch tape on the label side in order to maybe get it to read enough to then be able to make an ISO of it.

Others have suggested ISObuster. Would this program be possible to help recover most of the DVD? Does it maybe get all that info off it that is located AFTER the crack? I'm gonna try the scotch tape since I don't have much to lose at this point, but just wondering if anyone has had any luck with ISObuster for recovering DVD data and if it can do what I want (recover the other 98% of the disc).

[hech54]

I think you can set up DVDDecrypter to ignore the errors and continue until it finds good data.

[mcf57]

Actually, I was using DVD decryptor for some of the DVDs and then switched to Imgburn. I didn't realize DVD Decryptor could possibly do what I need. Will have to give it a try again.

Will I be able to do this even though it can't initially read the disc and/or it won't show up in 'My Computer'? Or does it first need to read some initial disc info before it can proceed with anything? While the crack is very small, it does go into the DVD's data area near the center hole. I initially didn't specify this in my original post so I wonder if this makes a difference.

[hech54]

Will I be able to do this even though it can't initially read the disc and/or it won't show up in 'My Computer'?

That may require the "professional" help of ISOBuster or CDRoller....but you will need to pay for MPEG2 retrieval I believe.

[LIGHTNING UK!]

ImgBurn can ignore read errors in exactly the same way DVD Decrypter can/could.

Is the broken disc even visible to ImgBurn? If the drive just reports 'Medium Not Present' (shows up in ImgBurn's statusbar), no software will help you.

At that point, you'd have to keep trying the disc in various other drives until you find one that can initialise it and make it available to software.

edit: oops, I've just seen you said you have managed to get most of the data off it... so obviously the drive can initialise it ok

Try IsoPuzzle, it's pretty good with retrying failed reads a million times

[hech54]

Thank You Lightning UK.

[mcf57]

Actually no. I have not gotten ANY data off the disc yet. Rather, I stated in my original post about trying to find "a possible solution on how I can get most of the data off it". I have been unable to get the PC to read the DVD disc at all. ImgBurn and DVD Decryptor have indeed stated "Medium Not Present". I suppose I should of made that clearer in the original post.

Can I still maybe use DVD Decryptor or ISO Buster to read & extract the data in the area of the disc that is not cracked? I'd say 98-99% of the disc & data is fine. It's the small 1-2% of data near the center hole that has a crack in it.

It had a DVD menu too. Is this DVD menu info stored near the center of the disc? Will I most likely lose this menu even if I am somehow able to get the rest of the DVD data off of it? Or am I pretty much screwed all around with this?

[hech54]

The DVD menu can be anywhere on the disc....it's the data that you never see that is corrupted by the crack(Lead-in....Lead-out data for example). As Lightning UK (the maker of DVDDecrypter and ImgBurn) said....if his two programs can't recognize the disc you will need the other pay software and even that is no guarantee.

[LIGHTNING UK!]

If a drive just reports 'medium not present', there isn't anything *any* software (paid or otherwise) can do about it.

Any attempt at accessing the disc will just end with the drive saying - 'medium not present'.

Having a collection of unreable sectors on a disc is very different to having a disc that cannot be initialised by the drive period.

Once/if you manage to find a way of getting your drive (or any drive) to initialise the disc (so it reads the TOC etc ok and no longer reports 'medium not present'), THEN you'll be able to start messing with various programs to try and read all the remaining good bits off the disc.

You do have to be careful with cracked discs though... if spun fast enough, they can explode in your drive

[mcf57]

Yea, it looks like I'm screwed. I tried several programs and nothing worked. All of them basically reported 'medium not present'. Basically, it wouldn't initialize & I couldn't get anything to work. Oh well.

I probably learned at least one lesson here though; try no to use DVD cases that use the center 'claw' to grab & secure your DVD in the case. Or at least be sure to properly take the disc out of the case properly. While I'm not 100% sure, I think the DVD might have been damaged due to pulling it from the case instead of pushing down on the center 'claw'. This would fall in line and explain the reason there is this small crack from the center hole & going outward. Its unfortunate that the crack had to leak into the data area. Granted, it was very small within the data area, but just enough to make the whole disc useless. Live & learn.

[DTV Student]

mcf57

You might try to use a very small amount of super glue to repair the crack... Be sure not to over do it. I think you were talking about that part of the DVD nearest the hub. Hopefully the crack does not extent up into the data area.

Good Luck