Photos on disks but cannot access them

JumboBeef

JumboBeef

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Argh! Help! :bang:

I have a couple of disks with photographs on them, made on our Vista machines. Now I can't access the photos!

Disks are RW+R. Formatted and data burnt to.

I can see there is data on there (Space free: XMB, total size XMB) but when I try to open it, it just shows an empty disc! It is the same on any of our Vista machines, and yet other disks work fine.

With the problem disk, it is the same whichever of our three Vista machines you try it in.

Any ideas please?
 
You don't finalise RW disks
 
They have been burnted to and completed.

The disk works, it has been viewed many times then # bamm# you can't view it :bang:

This has happened at least three times before. VERY worried now about all the backup disks we have of photos........
 
Sorry, they are DVD+R

Other disks (also DVD+R) work fine, so why is this one doing this?
 
How old?
 
He said made on their vista machines in OP
 
The disk(s) in question are only a couple of months old. They were made on one machine only but can be viewed on all of them....except for the one(s) with the issue, and this cannot be viewed on any machine.
 
I had this happen a few years ago.
I no longer back up to cd/dvd, I use multiple hard drives.
 
You do sometimes get computability problems with some CD's. I've had this in the past. CD/DVD's burnt on one machine cannot be read on another.

First confirm that the images have been burnt to the CD/DVD. Look for the classic colour change in the dye on the disk. Assumming it's there see if they can be read on the original machine. Making sure they've not been made using DLA ( Drive Letter Access). DLA effectivly makes them another hard drive and if you don't have compatable software then it wont read them. DLA is an old system anyway but I had a problem with a Dell 2 years ago that the DVD write software automatically set the DVD burner up as DLA.

If you have access to an older machine that reads and writes at a lower speed see if that can see any information on the disk.I have an old 2xFreecon USB DVD writer that I keep for just this occasion. Some disks ( not many) won't read in the normal drive. The older Freecom has no problem.

Failing that get the burnt again but use a slower write rate on the computer. That sometimes helps.
 
Have you got avg on the machine that will not open the images?
 
Windows burning software is rubbish in my experience, not sure if that's what you used or not.

I always use Nero for archiving and found it to be consistantly reliable, but even so sometimes a rogue cd/dvd disk can pop up to annoy.

Good luck getting it sorted:)
 
AVG on two machines, but not on one.

The point is, the disk works fine at the start. You can view it for weeks/months on any of the three machines and not just the one it was made on. Then, one day, the fault above happens.

You can see there is data on the disk, but when you try to access it, the disc look empty. It is the same whichever machine you try to use.

I'm at a complete loss, but thanks for the replies.
 
Can you try an XP machine somewhere?
 
If the disks were failing you'd get some read errors on some machines then they would stop working. For them to stop working on all the machines at the same time sounds like you've had a software update on all the machines that is interfering with the disk reading.
 
Grockle said:
Is there anything on here of help to you? http://club.cdfreaks.com/f110/successful-burns-unable-read-dvd-some-machines-221848/
Click to expand...

Thanks, but that seems to talk about XP, and not Vista.

PsiFox said:
Can you try an XP machine somewhere?
Click to expand...

Not in the short term, but maybe........

mrgubby said:
If the disks were failing you'd get some read errors on some machines then they would stop working. For them to stop working on all the machines at the same time sounds like you've had a software update on all the machines that is interfering with the disk reading.
Click to expand...

The fault is only on one or two disks.........all the other disks are OK (I hope! I know some/most are).
 
Are the disks you are using a well known brand or are they unbranded value for money disks.

I had not dissimilar problems with unbranded silver disks several years ago and stopped using them and went for Branded ones instead.

Also where are you storing the disks? I know someone who kept his disks on a window shelf and they got "Toasted " by the sun and became unreadable.
 
Discs do fail, so your first job should be to back up again, to more discs or a HD [better still, both] so that you have a double security for those that are still working.

As for the couple that aren't working, maybe data recovery software might be the answer, though as already suggested, when you can, stick them in an XP machine just in case that will still read them.
 
Sometimes I get the problem whereby a commercially burnt disc won't open but I get a Format Disc dialogue! Sometimes it can just be an explorer glitch.

Two things you could try, first right click on your cd drive icon and select Search and type *.* to see what comes up.

Failing that trying going into the disc via command prompt or accessing the disc through photoshop or something.
 
I can't help you with your problem, except to suggest trying it on other people's machines.

Do you have the data elsewhere ?

If not then your DVDs are not backups, they are storage, dangerous as maybe you are finding out. Always always always have two or more copies of data. And preferably not on CDs / DVDs, it's only a matter of time until they stop reading.
 
Thanks for the replies.

They are branded disks.

We are considering what to do: we currently don't have a EHD but maybe we should get one.
 
When purchasing DVD media for general use look for media that uses either Ritek G05 dye or Taiyo Yuden dye.

I tend to stick to Ritek or Taiyo Yuden branded DVD with these dyes for general use. The dyes used by these manufacturers are noted for their stability and long life. Expect to pay about 35 pence a disc buying in bulk. There are other more expensive options and there are large numbers of cheaper options but for general use stick to these two.

For archival use you need 'gold' discs. These typically have a rating of 100 years. The rating (like ink jet prints) is very dependent upon storage conditions. Incorrect storage will reduce the rated time significantly. Expect to pay between £1.20 and £2.50 per disc.

I have had 'branded' (not Ritek or Taiyo Yuden) discs fail within days and significant numbers fail after 12 months.

This probably does not help but my experience has been that once a DVD is corrupt data recovery is all but impossible and you are invariably better going back to the source data and re-writing to a new DVD.

John
 
Find an ISO recovery programme and check to see if that can find the image.

In work atm so cant suggest the 1 that I use when this happens to me as i dont remember what its called.

I know there is 1 called ISO magic also but I have found that is less reliable at detecting the data.

What it looks like has happened is that the data has been written to it but the registry for that disc hasnt been written and so the PC can't see the files on it.
 
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