slaphead Report post Posted October 1, 2007 Hi, I do a lot of DVD burning and have hit a problem thats driving me barmy (And that doesn't take much). For no apparent reason, every time I try to copy a DVD with Nero6 Digital, or Ashampoo Burning studio 6, all starts well, then I get an error message stating "cannot read source disk" or words to that effect. It happens at different stages of reading each disk and yet last week I could copy any disk at all. I've tried uninstalling and re-installing both burning software suites, same result. Both burners will burn DVDs from my own video files stored on me hard drive, but won't copy a damned bl**dy thing. ######! Can anyone help please? I'm not a complete novice, but I'm not a (for want of a better phrase) Techie. Could something else I'm running be interrupting the burning process? All the DVD's I'm trying to copy play perfectly in WMP and Nero MP (and on my 3 PS2s and 2 stand-alone DVD players. I need to copy loads of DVDs as I'm forever shooting vids of the kids to send to various relatives up and down the country. I also do a lot of video work (free of charge) for my daughter's Primary School. Xmas plays, special assemblies etc and I'm getting snowed under because I can't copy the DVDs. Nearly forgot, I've tried 3 different DVD drives and 2 different DVD writers in my PC with same results - no cucking fopies. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
David Matthew Baker Report post Posted October 1, 2007 You could have a look for a piece of software known as 'DVD Decryptor'. I tend to use that for copying any video DVDs that I have. Mainly because it will copy all the data and structure. I never found the likes of Nero do a good job copying video DVDs. I don't just mean on copyrighted videos either. I've had provlems frequently enough with none copyrighted material too. Normally I have used it to copy discs that I have written with my standalone DVD recorder (which has an intergrated digital TV tuner and hard disk drive). The other problem you could be having is if their is a conflict between the different programs you use. Can't see why it would have worked in the past and then stopped if this is the case though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KateBall Report post Posted October 1, 2007 Try changing the speed of the burn - slow it right down. Have you thought about doing a system restore to a date last week when it all did work? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
baddad Report post Posted October 1, 2007 Hi slaphead - If you're talking about straightforward 'on the fly' copies from DVD 5 to DVD 5, it sounds as though your source drive might be on its last legs... You could try ripping and burning from your DVD writer (it'll go to a temp folder which you can delete afterwards)... if that works, it's odds on the other drive is on the fritz... If you are making further copies of your existing discs, it may well be that the media you originally recorded to has degraded... the dyes used in DVD media vary enormously in terms of quality (even the best is only expected to last 5 years or so), and a recording that appears perfect may be no good whatsoever six months down the road. It's always worth spending a bit more to get one of the better known/more reliable brands... You could also try checking disc quality in nero disc speed if you have it, though that's not always reliable depending on the make of your burner... One other thought - if it is burning files on your HD then it must be a problem with reading/ripping, which suggests that the discs you are trying to back up are either flawed or encoded... If it is the latter case, you would be better off looking for info on a dedicated forum, as the legalities involved are very complex... Hope that's helpful L&P BD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slaphead Report post Posted October 3, 2007 Hi everyone, HUGE Thanks to all of you for your replies and advice. I've tried all of the suggestions that you've made, which is why its taken me a while to get back on here, and I'm still getting the same result. I've tried everything you good people mentioned and I've come to the conclusion that another program is interrupting when I'm trying to copy a DVD. Either that or a recent "security update" for winnders-bl**ding -XP has banjaxed something. I'm currently step-by-step uninstalling recent downloads and updates to see if I can get a result that way. Funny thing is, copying video CDs works fine on the same burning drive! Duh? I've put my DVDRW into my son's PC and it burns fine, although v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. Son's DVDRW drive has same probs in my machine as my drive had. It reads DVDs well enough to play the movies, but gets interrupted when reading to burn. now off to hit it wiv a big stick! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
baddad Report post Posted October 3, 2007 Ahhh - could it be the IDE lead?? May be worth a look? Something interrupting the burn process seems unlikely, 'cos system's are sooo powerful these days the 'buffers' are usually more than enough to take care of any background applications... try running 'task manager' while you're burning (option is accessed from a r.click in the taskbar) to look for any odd processes and to see if your CPU is maxing out during the burn... don't 'end processes' though unless you're absolutely sure of what they are... L&P BD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
