Copy a DVD

[newpball]

Got this old Peanuts DVD that has trouble playing. I like to copy it to my hard disk to see what can be salvaged (if anything).

DVD fab copy pretty much stops when it finds an error after a gazillion attempts. I can reply with "Ignore All" but it hangs forever.

Are there any alternative methods?

[CHAOS]

[davexnet]

Is it a "real" (pressed DVD) with possible protections on it, or is a burned DVD?

Is the disk badly scratched up?

[newpball]

Is it a "real" (pressed DVD) with possible protections on it, or is a burned DVD?

Is the disk badly scratched up?

It is a real disk and badly scratched.

[Kerry56]

Some rental shops will polish out scratches for you. Don't know if there are any in your area still open. The Hastings book store chain does this, but they don't seem to exist in California.

You can also polish the disc by hand. I've used fine grit polishing compounds intended for car finishes to polish scratched discs.

And for lightly scratched discs, there is the old "Pledge" trick, where you spray on some wax and buff of the excess. This works occasionally, as the wax fills the scratches enough to enable the disc to be read.

[hello_hello]

If you haven't already, try using ripping software that'll let you copy particular sections of a disc rather than all of it, and when you've worked out if there's copy protection, you could even try good old-fashioned copy and paste if there isn't any. You might be able to copy just the files you need if the parts of the disc effected by scratches only contain junk such as menus or extras you don't want.

And of course when one drive won't read a disc, try another. I've managed to get all the goodies off some discs by using three different drives. Each drive was slightly different in respect to which parts of the discs it'd read but between the three of them.....

[techey61]

I ever had a scratched disc, and i daubed toothpaste on its surface then wiped them with a soft tissue about 5 minutes later, my DVD drive could unexpectedly read it again. I think the toothpaste played the grinding and polishing role.

[Cornucopia]

I'm not trying to change the subject, personally attack you or anything else, and I hope you get your disc's contents transferred successfully (I'd also recommend the disc polishing methods - both toothpaste & machine - and would also suggest using a multi-pass, multi-drive extraction of the discimage using ISOBuster, pre-and post-polishing), but I've got to ask: how is it that you can be personally interested in and be ok making use of SD video and optical media (DVD) in this case, yet you denigrate it for everyone else when they bring it up? Sounds a little hypocritical, don't you think? Maybe it's time to lighten up and rethink things?

Scott

[newpball]

...how is it that you can be personally interested in and be ok making use of SD video and optical media (DVD) in this case, yet you denigrate it for everyone else when they bring it up?

There is no alternative, the source in question is not available on anything better than SD video on DVD.

I suspect it is never going to be released on BD, rights holders don't even bother content ID'ing it on YT.

Here is a sample: Newpball and Cornucopia: "The Best of Buddies":

[rbivi11572]

Sometimes copying in file mode will work using DVD Decrypter.

[Seeker47]

These are pretty much the options, discussed above. I've had cases like this where Isobuster worked, and cases where it did not. The alternative program I've seen in the tools section here is CD Roller, but I have no experience with it. I'm guessing the results with it would be comparable to Isobuster.

[CobraPilot]

Echoing previous comments: I've had reasonable success with scratched discs using one of those CD/DVD "spinner" cleaners: Place the disc in the device and use the hand crank to rotate the disc against the built-in buffers onto which I've placed small amounts of white (only) toothpaste. If that doesn't work, I've upped the abrasive to car polish, as Kerry56 mentions. I've also used the "Pledge" trick as the last step. Results vary by technique.

However, as mentioned above, trying different players can be the solution. I have a USB DVDR/RW drive that is far more "forgiving" on bad discs, often playing those that hang on desktop/notebook drives. Before doing a lot of disc cleanup, such as described above, I try it first. It seems to take less "cleanup" to read the disc than other drives I have.

Last, but not least, and not specifically mentioned elsewhere: I recently had an older disc that DVDShrink would NOT process. Used DVDDecrypter with the same drive and it worked fine. Note: That disc was "scratched" but not "badly scratched" like yours may be.

When you find a solution, please let us know what worked, in the spirit of "VideoHELP"!

[newpball]

When you find a solution, please let us know what worked, in the spirit of "VideoHELP"!

Oops, forgot to tell: I tried on another drive and it eventually worked.

Here is another sample: