store bought dvd won't play in laptop or pc, can't copy

[ghola]

Hello. Noob here.
I'm having a problem copying a dvd with dvdshrink. It's an, ahem, adult dvd . It's not new, say 4 years old. It's #3 in a series of 6.
I mention this because all the other titles in the series play in both my laptop and pc. I have also successfully copied the others with dvdshrink (not sure if I have the latest version... IIRC it's v 3.2?)
This particular one will only play in a dvd or bluray player.
My pc and laptop both recognize it as a dvd and even display the title but cannot play it (it just spins forever but never opens)
Freemake and dvdshrink both cannot open it.
I'm considering the free trial download of anydvd but was wondering is there a newer version of dvdshrink? Even though I'm not sure which version I have I know it's older than this dvd.

[hech54]

DVDShrink has been dead for a long time....don't bother looking for a newer one.
Try DVDfabDecrypter. There is a FREE portion of the program inside the program.....hard to explain....you'll find it.

[KBeee]

Just an off chance, but have you tried cleaning the disk?
A thumbprint can cause untold troubles

[ghola]

Just an off chance, but have you tried cleaning the disk?
A thumbprint can cause untold troubles

yes, a thumbprint.... right...
no I cleaned it and took it out of my laptop and put it in the bluray player.
it played fine.
what's weird to me is that the other titles play fine in the laptop and pc.

[hech54]

There have been quite a few reports of "those type" of DVDs having strange copy protections on them.

[Hoser Rob]

+1 on DVDfab HD decrypter. The free part. I let the trial part lapse with no regrets whatsoever.

Set output to DVD-9. Then use the resulting video_ts folder as input to dvdshrink. That's my preferred way of ripping to DVD-5 even if DVDshrink will decrypt it.

It sounds slower but it isn't (though there's obviously an extra step). The copy protection removal part doesn't take much horsepower.

Doing the encoding/compression, which does take up the power, from Hdd rather than the optical drive really speeds up things. Sounds weird but I swear it works.

And dvdshrink, while it's abandonware, has excellent video filters like sharpen/soften. DVDfab or any other ripper I know don't have anything like it. Deoends on the video but they're great with long movies.

[ghola]

DVDfab didn't work either
It kept giving me error messages while trying to read the disc.
Oh well that's that.

[jman98]

The disc could be defective. Or you may simply need to try it on another drive. Examine the disc carefully for scratch marks as I've seen some on Netflix rentals that caused major playback problems on my PC. It's unlikely that the 3rd disc in a series has some special kind of copy protection that DVDFab can't handle because it's never seen it before, but I can't rule that out with 100% certainty.

[ghola]

The disc could be defective. Or you may simply need to try it on another drive. Examine the disc carefully for scratch marks as I've seen some on Netflix rentals that caused major playback problems on my PC. It's unlikely that the 3rd disc in a series has some special kind of copy protection that DVDFab can't handle because it's never seen it before, but I can't rule that out with 100% certainty.

I agree it's odd but there it is.
The disc is clean: I have scrutinized it several times in bright light. No smudges or scratches.
It plays fine in my LG bluray and it played fine in a cheapo Apex dvd.
It is recognized but refuses to play in my laptop or my pc.
I have no other dvd burner to test it in.
It's not the end of the world (obviously) but it is annoying.
Thanks everyone who chimed in.

[Ethlred]

Clean the drives on the desktop and laptop. Or at least the desktop because if you screw it up you can replace it cheap.

Occasionally I find my drive getting finicky with some DVDs working and others not. Opening it up and cleaning the lens has helped. Sometimes a lens cleaning disc will help.

Warning danger.

You can wreck the lens if you aren't careful. If you use compressed air you can damage the drive.

I have used compressed air but I was careful to control the amount released. I have cleaned the lens after that by breathing on the lens and then using a cotton swab. I have found that to work better than lens cleaners, at least for the final step. I have a lot experience cleaning lenses from when I worked in a photo lab so you will have to be careful or be prepared to buy a new burner. Of course it might be time to buy a new one anyway.

The first time I did that it was either worked or I was going to have to replace the drive anyway. Turned out there was a speck on lens about a 16th of inch across.

Ethelred

[ghola]

But if the lens on either drive was dirty wouldn't that mean NO discs would play?
And dvdshrink gave me a message like "cannot copy protected disc" which seems to me not to indicate a dirty lens.
But I do have a lens cleaner... I forgot all about it!
I will give that a shot- can't hurt.

[Ethlred]

But if the lens on either drive was dirty wouldn't that mean NO discs would play?

Some disks are more perfect than others. Kind of like the animals in Animal Farm.

But I do have a lens cleaner... I forgot all about it!
I will give that a shot- can't hurt.

Sometimes they work sometimes they don't. That is why I suggested that you might want to try to opening it up and doing it the less safe way. It isn't all that unsafe, with a desktop drive, IF you don't get careless. I have never tried it with a laptop drive and they are not so easy to replace.

A lot of adult DVDs don't have any protection at all. More do these days. The fact that the rest of the series worked implies they aren't using tricks that DVD Shrink can't handle. DVD Fab's failure strongly implies a disc or reader problem. If DVD Fab can't even copy the main title then it is very likely the disc is iffy at best.

Ethelred