Samsung DVD Burner not reading specific disc

What are the characteristics of this specific DVD?   What software was used to write it?   Was it written with a packet writing system (i.e. InCD or DirectCD) ??  etc.   When you say it "... reads fine in other PCs ..." do you mean MULTIPLE other PC's ... or one other PC?   If the latter, was that the PC that it was written on?

Hi,

The DVD in question is a commercial one. It is a PC DVD-ROM game called "Sudden Strike Universe".

I have tried the disc in 4 other computers and in each case the DVD reads fine. I was willing to believe that it may be the actual drive in the problem PC, but when I replaced the drive with one of those from another PC that read the disc, it still would not read when in the problem PC.

strange, maybe some OS corruption?  running sfc /scannow can help.
if it did read that cd before, a system restore can help too

Hi Nobus,

I am not sure if it read before or not. I am lead to believe that all other CD's and DVD's have been fine, and this particular DVD has recently been acquired and remains the only one that will not read.

In terms of OS corruption - very possible. I probably may try a System Restore if I can't think of anything to try.

Good suggestion on the SFC /scannow. I usually run that, but completely forgot about it in this case!! I will start it now.

>>  and remains the only one that will not read   <<   can you make a copy of it on another PC and test if you can read that ?

Hi
Try removing drive from device manger,let windows reinstall it and try again.

"... I am lead to believe that all other CD's and DVD's have been fine ... " ==>  Does the "I am lead to believe" part of this imply that you have not personally confirmed the 'works on any other PC ... but not this one' behavior??

In particular, have you SEEN the DVD work on the exact same drive that you tried from the other PC?   i.e. did you put the drive back into a different PC and observe the specific DVD work?   Even with a corrupted OS, it's difficult to image a circumstance that would keep one specific DVD from even being recognized !!

Meanwhile, I'd do what nobus suggested above ... make a copy of the DVD and see if the copy works on the problematic PC. (Although it may very well employ some copy protection mechanisms that make this difficult)

One other thought ... is this a data DVD for the game?   Some copy protected DVDs are designed to "look" blank unless read by the main program they're designed for (in this case the game).
If the game has been installed on the other PCs ... but not this one ... that may explain the behavior.

>>  If the game has been installed on the other PCs ... but not this one ... that may explain the behavior  <<   how can you install it then ? autorun ?

Some games come on multiple CDs or DVDs ... you install from one, then use the others for the data => just curious if that may be the case here.

ok - not doubting you Gary (as you know by now)  :-)

Hi all,

Thanks to all for the comments. Sorry I haven't responded as yet......the problem PC is at work, and it is the weekend currently so I haven't been at work!!! In answer to the questions:

Nobus: Another good suggestion. Seeing as the DVD works in the other drives, I shouldn't be a problem to re-produce it. It will be interesting either way to see what happens.

F-King: I will try that as well.

garycase: I have personally seen the problem DVD work in the other drives. What I meant was I am not aware of any other discs that have had a problem reading in the drive. The only problem one reported to me is the one I am working with at the moment. In terms of my testing, other CD's and DVD's that I have used have all worked except for the problem one. And yes, I personally completed the temporary relocation of the working drive from another PC, and can 100% confirm that it did not read the disc when in the problem PC, however when in an independant it reads fine.

In regard to it being a data DVD......there is only one disc for this game.

I agree it is difficult to imagine why only one disc is not recognised. It's got me buggered....

Anyway, I will try what you have all suggested as soon as possible, and get back to you with the results.

Thanks again!

Another test you could do that would confirm whether it's the DVD itself or some conflict with the contents and the system:

... Install a virtual optical drive using the free Alcohol 52 [http://www.free-downloads.net/programs/Alcohol_52__Free_Edition ] on two systems => the one the disc doesn't work on; and another system where the disc works okay.   On the system where the disc works, create an Alcohol 52 virtual CD from the disc (this will be two files ... with extensions .mdf and .mds).   Be sure the virtualized disc works okay (you may have to set some of Alcohol's copy-protection options when creating the disc).    Once it's working fine on that PC, burn those two files to a DVD and copy them to the system where the disc doesn't work (or just copy them across the network).  

Now, on the "problem PC,"  load the virtual DVD into the virtual drive created with Alcohol 52 and see if the "disc" works now.   If it still doesn't work, then you have an issue with that disc and the system configuration.    Note that while this test will isolate the issue for you, since it's a commercial environment ("... at work ...") you can't legally leave Alcohol 52 installed unless you purchase it => the program is free, but only for "... private, non-commercial, single home computer use only ..."

By the way, have you tried disabling all security-related software on the problematic computer?  [firewall; anti-virus; anti-spyware; etc.]    ... if there's some system configuration related issue causing this, it's likely among that class of software.