DVD reading problem - copy protection?

Discussion in 'DVD-ROM drives' started by terra7, Aug 9, 2007.

  1. terra7

    terra7 Member

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    My DVD-ROM drive started to avoid reading DVD disks without detected copyright protection/one that is unavailable (burned movies, homemade movies- anything that isn’t bought from stores). CDs all work fine, copied or not. What could be causing this? Any way of fixing it?

    2 things I did before problem:
    -Update to Windows Media Player Version 11
    -Removed burned DVD from drive faster than usual
     
  2. Mr_Del

    Mr_Del Regular member

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    Put one of those disks in that wont work. look to the right side of media player. You are looking for a tiny hard to find red exclimation point. Click on that then post what the error message is.

    -Del
     
  3. terra7

    terra7 Member

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    I tried, but the discs aren't getting read at all. The drive studders and doesn't detect a disc, so nothing displays under D:/. And that's on Sony, Maxell stuff, etc.
     
  4. Mr_Del

    Mr_Del Regular member

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    How old is the drive? It may be shopping time. Does the disk spin up in the drive?

    -Del
     
  5. terra7

    terra7 Member

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    It's about 4 years old. It tries to spin up on copied DVDs but it starts to studder and cannot read them. It spins up just fine on everything else like purchased DVDs, music, games, etc.
    Maybe the head's starting to deteriorate? Is it harder to read copies?
     
  6. LOCOENG

    LOCOENG Moderator Staff Member

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    My guess would be that the copies are on cheap media...this is a prime example of using quality media for your backups.

    These drives are usually pretty robust, unless you've used it alot it should be good for years...on the other hand 4 years is a long time in the PC world.

    Not necessarily.
     
  7. terra7

    terra7 Member

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    Could installing a new version of firmware potentially get rid of the problem?
     
  8. LOCOENG

    LOCOENG Moderator Staff Member

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    A firmware update can improve compatability with media and increase burn quality...at the same time it may or may not help with your situation, surely is worth the effort to try though. When you burn a disc us Imgburn and verify the burn, this will tell you if your burn is bit for bit the same as the source and you will have an idea if your copy will be rereadable in the future. You can also perform a "transfer" test with Nero Infotool to see how easily your drive can read the media.
     

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