dvd will not rip or will not be recognised in drive

so, i have this dvd and it's main title set has 4 .vob's. vob_01 will not rip and stops at 211mb (approx)
I've tried smartripper 2.41, DVDdecryptor 3.1.7.0, DVDshrink 3beta+ (can't check as I'm in middle of something), Prasi-Primo, Recordnow dx. tried different modes in dvddecryptor etc... no luck, any ideas?
Oh, i've also cleaned the DVD...

So, I got a copy of the same dvd from a friend and the computer will not recognise that i put a DVD in, does the spinning etc.. but no recognition that this dvd copy is in drive - what's this all about?
His copy will play fine in the standalone.

so my questions are, can I use some program to rip the unrippable VOB or do something to allow the PC to see the copy???

thanks