ruined DVD

[motrucker]

Can a DVD reader (NOT a writer) ruin, or write to a DVD?
I have scoured the web for an answer, and all I can find is "nothing is impossible" or the standard " you must have stuck your greasy finger on it".
I didn't touch it (no prints or smears), but a commercial program DVD can no longer be read by any drive. What else could have ruined it?

[dreamcast270mhz]

Heat, direct sunlight, and warping can make a disc unreadable. It is impossible for a written DVD to be rewritten, so even if your DVD drive could write to teh disk, it won't.

If the disc is warped or appears like it has two colors, then its best to discard it. If it is unreadable, theres nothing to be done.

[motrucker]

Of course a DVD that has been written to can appended or added to, as a CD can. I have more than a few examples. I was just wondering if a reader could in way shape of form, alter the DVD. Here too, I am well aware that they not supposed to be able to, but.....

[Thomas]

It can happen that the ink used to print the label reacts with the material of the DVD and renders it unreadable.

[Zac67]

I've had a reader drive badly scratch a DVD.
The user even put the DVD in an ancient CDROM drive and tried to read it - of course the problem had nothing to do with using a CDROM, the drive had severe mechanical problems.

A mass-produced CD/DVD can't be written to even by a writer drive, the power is far too low.

[gertsy]

I've had a reader drive badly scratch a DVD.
The user even put the DVD in an ancient CDROM drive and tried to read it - of course the problem had nothing to do with using a CDROM, the drive had severe mechanical problems.

A mass-produced CD/DVD can't be written to even by a writer drive, the power is far to low.

I had a 2 CD set that was stored in a CD cabinet with its brothers go milky white and unusable.  So it could be a bad DVD.  
Is it posible for the electronics of your reading laser to go birko and damage the surface?
Be careful that your skin doesnt start to go green every time you get emotional...

[motrucker]

Thanks you all, but it isn't one of the usual "problems". There are no labels used, and the DVD still looks brand new. This didn't just happen once, but keeps happening to one specific DVD.
I suspect something is being reprogrammed in the computer/DVD by some one who has invaded my systems here.

[jorkany]

While it's pretty unlikely that a DVD reader could write over a DVD, it's very possible for the mechanicals inside the DVD reader to damage a DVD. Does this DVD reader use a slot loading mechanism? If so I'd say that's probably the culprit - all it takes is a piece of hard grit on the loading mechanism to scratch the living hell out of the media.

Hold the problem DVD up to a bright light, and look through it from the unlabeled side. This makes it very easy to spot scratches in the media (label side).


Edit: wait, just read your post where you say "this keeps happening to this one DVD" - so this is a DVD-RW? If so maybe try rewriting it in a different writer, or at least at a different speed. Or better yet, toss it and use a different disc altogether and see how that goes.

[AndyFC]

A commercial DVD is pressed, so it is a very thin sheet of metal which is punched and then sandwiched in plastic.
A home-made DVD is burnt - there is a special dye which reacts to the laser of a writer.

Because of the difference in the ways they are produced, there is no way the laser on a DVD reader could write to the data on a commercial DVD. I would he HIGHLY surprised if a DVD reader could write to a home-made disc either.

[J-Golden]

This is all true, you cannot write to a pressed CD/DVD/BLUE RAY disk.  But you can burn the heck out of them if you mess with the intensity pot for the laser!

I have worked on several original X-Boxes and to get them to work you sometimes have to up the laser power on the DVD drive.  This is very tricky as you can actually damage a disk if you turn it up too high.

I know this most likely isn't your problem.  If it were, you'd have a TON more fragged CDs and DVDs on your hands.  But it is a thought...

[orange]

I suspect something is being reprogrammed in the computer/DVD by some one who has invaded my systems here.

for what purpose?

IIRC, ordinary DVD reader (not writer) doens't have 'powerful' enough laser to 'etch' (write), just to read.
and if its original, it could be 'pressed'. those  writers can't change too.

still, drives in theory might scratch the disc, look for circular scratches.

[Ilwrath]

but a commercial program DVD can no longer be read by any drive.

...

This didn't just happen once, but keeps happening to one specific DVD.

Now, to recap, then, and for clarity sake.  This is a pressed commercial DVD, not a DVD+/-R/RW?  And the same disk has failed multiple times?  (ie, you purchased it, it failed, you exchanged it, the new one failed, etc..?)

If that's the case, I'd say it was probably a bad production run for the pressed disk.  Or something you're repeatedly doing to that particular disk.  Does it sit in the sunlight?  Does it get stored differently from your other disks?

If you're talking about a DVD you're burning that works for a little while and then fails, I'd likely blame the burner, or the disk brand you burned it on, in addition to the sunlight and storage questions.

I suspect something is being reprogrammed in the computer/DVD by some one who has invaded my systems here.

Personally, I'd think that even more unlikely than a non-physically-tampered-with DVD reader accidentally "writing" something on a DVD.  And I'd rate the odds of a DVD reader altering a DVD in a way that doesn't involve physical scratches, cracks, or warping, at about the same odds as winning the lottery jackpot.

Look for the simple explanations.  They're usually right.  The problem is sometimes they're so obvious they're hard to see.

[Tension]

I once had a copy of XP explode in my dvd drive.  Scared the ****ing **** out of me as well!

[motrucker]

Well gang, I just routed out a piece of software (commercially available no less) that is made to modify an original pressing DVD of Windows Vista or 7 that allows disabling features, and adding upgrades (such as service packs, etc.). This software allows you to make a new DVD with the changes, OR write the changes to the original Microsoft Windows DVD.
If this can be accomplished on Windows, I am sure it can be done on other OSes.

[motrucker]

...

Personally, I'd think that even more unlikely than a non-physically-tampered-with DVD reader accidentally "writing" something on a DVD.  And I'd rate the odds of a DVD reader altering a DVD in a way that doesn't involve physical scratches, cracks, or warping, at about the same odds as winning the lottery jackpot.

Look for the simple explanations.  They're usually right.  The problem is sometimes they're so obvious they're hard to see.

If so, it would not keep happening to the same DVD. It looks like I have found the answers though.