Originally posted by: bad_karma24
Mmmm... MythBusters. Is there anything those guys don't do?

Speaking of Hannibal, I transferred the files to my computer one by one, and got no errors. When I go to class tomorrow I'll set a burn at 4x and see if that did anything. I'll probably refrain from putting a label on it for now though, until I test some of the other discs with labels that I have (maybe I should start watching these DVDs as soon as a burn them, as opposed to months later. Damn school.).

Cool! That's great news, man!

You beat me to it! I was just about to hit the reply button. But I'll post it, anyway, in case it's ever useful to anyone.

Originally posted by: bad_karma24
Alright, I just tried copying the files to my computer just through a file transfer (which has worked in the past) and I get: "Cannot copy VTS_01_03: Data error (cyclic redundancy check)." Gaaaaah!! Maybe I'll try my roommates computer, but for now I'm just pissed.

I've been there, in various unexpected ways [Western Digital doesn't tell you a controller card is required, on Win9X, for >120-Gig, unless you buy a kit with the controller (or you find the "wraparound bug" faq at their site); Rewritable discs go blank at random; a bad hdd sector can scramble a file or directory-entry without notice; the default settings of M$ Automatic Scandisk make it impossible to recover data...].

I know how pissed you are. Maaan, I know. But there's a good chance you can recover it.

I'd start by selecting the rest of the files & seeing if they'll copy out.

Then the first rule of data recovery is try-try-again. It rarely works on HDDs, but you've got a good chance with discs.

Repeated disc error-tests always come back slightly differently, on good discs, and can fluctuate wildly on bad burns. So that same drive might work next time (or the 20th time, or...). Even the free version of ISOBuster will retry as many times as you can stand (I don't know if it'll do so automatically). Then there's the thing about other drives.

And Isobuster can ignore a read-error to copy out a complete file, with a corrupt chunk. The video would break up at the corruption, but I imagine that the video could be fixed so it'd play normally shortly after that point.

I dunno about repairing the AC3 enough to play after the bad spot, though...

Of course, look at the disc for dust, or other cleanables (it would be risky to clean before you salvage all you can - cleaning tends to scratch). Its bad practice to blow on a disc - because saliva drops can be microscopic, so you might want to buy a can of pressurised air, or something, to get dust off before you clean. When its time to clean - rinse the data side with water (to reduce dust), dab off the water, then clean with Isoprypyl alcohol (to reduce waterproof stuff). Always wipe from center towards edge. Never wipe in a circular motion. (Circular scratches confuse the drive a lot more than radial scratches). After you dry the disc, it might be helpful to let the laser dry it, too (that's advice for LDs, I doubt if its nessecary for DVDs, but its worth trying).

There's a good chance its just one bad spot, now. So if you request (and get) a seed, you might be able to get it repaired in a matter of seconds. (I'd ask if you could, then, seed me, but there's already other stuff (Demonoid) that might go seedless during that time.