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Author Topic: DVD disk lost images  (Read 1939 times)

Alan Klein

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DVD disk lost images
« on: September 05, 2019, 11:06:05 am »

I just noticed that a few of my TDK DVD's from 10 years ago no longer see the data.  It looks like the disk is empty but I know it's not and I have loads of images and videos that are "lost".  Can anyone recommend a cure?  Any apps recommended to recover the images?  I'm running Windows 10 and have a DVD reader/writer built-in to the desktop.  Thanks. Alan.

Bart_van_der_Wolf

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Re: DVD disk lost images
« Reply #1 on: September 05, 2019, 02:37:38 pm »

I just noticed that a few of my TDK DVD's from 10 years ago no longer see the data.  It looks like the disk is empty but I know it's not and I have loads of images and videos that are "lost".  Can anyone recommend a cure?  Any apps recommended to recover the images?  I'm running Windows 10 and have a DVD reader/writer built-in to the desktop.  Thanks. Alan.

Hi Alan,

You could give IsoBuster a try:
https://www.isobuster.com/

Cheers,
Bart
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Alan Klein

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Re: DVD disk lost images
« Reply #2 on: September 05, 2019, 02:39:44 pm »

Thanks Bart.  I'll give it a look.

Alan Klein

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Re: DVD disk lost images
« Reply #3 on: September 06, 2019, 11:38:18 pm »

Isobuster and another app I tried say the TDK disks are blank (DVD-R)1-16x speed light blue.  I can;t believe the whole disk on about 6 or more TDK's are blank from ten years  ago or so.  Could it be I didn't finalize them?  How can the whole disk be blank?  It's not just one but at least 6.  Any ideas?

Bart_van_der_Wolf

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Re: DVD disk lost images
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2019, 06:17:22 am »

Isobuster and another app I tried say the TDK disks are blank (DVD-R)1-16x speed light blue.  I can;t believe the whole disk on about 6 or more TDK's are blank from ten years  ago or so.  Could it be I didn't finalize them?  How can the whole disk be blank?  It's not just one but at least 6.  Any ideas?

IsoBuster should be able and read non-finalized disk data, so I don't think that's it.
Hate to say it, but DVD-R are not the best long term storage medium. Personally I've preferred using DVD+R because they use more error recovery data. But if the discs are shown as blank, the only thing I can think of is trying a different DVD reader, or the original DVD writer.

Slight differences in track alignment can cause errors between drives, but it should produce errors instead of reporting a blank disk.

There are companies specialized in data recovery, but that's usually Hard disk or magnetic tape oriented. If they also handle writable DVDs it might be worth a try to see if they can see any data. They might not charge much unless they can actually recover data.
« Last Edit: September 07, 2019, 06:20:37 am by Bart_van_der_Wolf »
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kers

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Re: DVD disk lost images
« Reply #5 on: September 07, 2019, 08:32:50 am »

IsoBuster should be able and read non-finalized disk data, so I don't think that's it.
Hate to say it, but DVD-R are not the best long term storage medium. Personally I've preferred using DVD+R because they use more error recovery data. But if the discs are shown as blank, the only thing I can think of is trying a different DVD reader, or the original DVD writer.

Slight differences in track alignment can cause errors between drives, but it should produce errors instead of reporting a blank disk.

There are companies specialized in data recovery, but that's usually Hard disk or magnetic tape oriented. If they also handle writable DVDs it might be worth a try to see if they can see any data. They might not charge much unless they can actually recover data.

Unfortunatey writable DVD's are not very safe to store information. There are special archive dvd's that are more safe.
I also discovered that the hard way. Lost some valuable photos .
It is best to copy everything you have on DVD to at least two harddisks.
After that you have to regular ( every year) check if the harddisks still function properly if not replace them .
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Pieter Kers
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Alan Klein

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Re: DVD disk lost images
« Reply #6 on: September 07, 2019, 09:19:24 am »

It appears the reader is dirty.  I tried the disk on an old laptop and it worked.  So I ran a disk cleaner through the desktop reader and it seems to work now.  Strange that it only didn;t read my TDK disks. I'm now backing them up into my computer that also has a Passport backup drive.  So I'll have more copies stored away. Thanks Bart and Peter for you help.

rdonson

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Re: DVD disk lost images
« Reply #7 on: September 07, 2019, 04:38:45 pm »

I find it amazing that 10 year old DVDs still work reliably.  Perhaps you bought the gold disks.  My experiences have been that many DVDs lose bits quite a while before 10 years.
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Regards,
Ron

Alan Klein

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Re: DVD disk lost images
« Reply #8 on: September 07, 2019, 04:43:24 pm »

I find it amazing that 10 year old DVDs still work reliably.  Perhaps you bought the gold disks.  My experiences have been that many DVDs lose bits quite a while before 10 years.
Well it seems that another card reader seems to read most of them although I've now found a few that can't be read by either reader.  I did switch to gold DVD's about 4-5 years ago.  I haven't checked to see if those work.  I now backup everything in my desktop to a 4T WD Passport backup drive through the USB connector.
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