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How to Identifying Bad DVD Discs
Although it is not a scientific means of
finding flaws in media, simply viewing the burned side of a disc can
reveal potentially flawed media. Bad spots and thin areas of dye can
easily be seen by the naked eye.
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This is a typical
disc, a good burn with zero visible flaws in the dye. |
This disc shows
signs of a bad dye spread or dye melting. In most cases, this is a
guaranteed bad burn, and will be entirely unreadable near the
middle of the disc. |
This disc show
blemishes on the dye. It was either a faulty disc or it had
dirt/lint on it while being burned. These areas are normally
damaged. |
How to Detect Bad Discs with
Software
This guide assumes you have any version
of Microsoft Windows and a good DVD-ROM drive on your computer. It
requires a quick install of the free diagnostic utility Nero CD-DVD
Speed from
www.cdspeed2000.com.
Discs may be "bad" for a few reasons.
The most common ones are:
- The disc is fine. It's your
player/ROM that's being uncooperative.
- The disc has a bad spot on it and is
defective.
Use this tool to check out the disc
integrity:
Start Nero CD Speed and go to EXTRA and
then select SCANDISC
This window will appear:
Enable SURFACE SCAN only and then click
START.
When it is done,
red means the disc is bad, yellow
means it may or may be bad at that spot, and
green means good. Please note that these are READ TESTS, and
some of this may depend on the quality of the reading laser/drive.
This is why good drives are important (and not some $20 Mad Dog
special). Good DVD-ROMs include Pioneer, Sony, LiteOn, LG, NEC, BTC
... just to name a few. Bad ones include Hitachi, Mitsumi, Panasonic
and others.
EXAMPLE: This is a typical bad disc, a
scan of a MATRIX-brand DVD:
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Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor
