New verbatims always scratched

Newbie Forum
#1

Hi! Newbie here, a few weeks ago I bought a spindle of Verbatim DVD+R from Amazon. I found out that they were the newer ones produced from Falcon Technology in UAE. I’ve burned a few of these and whenever they come out of my dvd writer there are always a few scratches on the inner white plastic ring. I think it is a problem that is with the dvd writer/rom because I placed a UAE verbatim into a different dvd writer and there were no scratches at all.

On playback, I’ve watched one of these scratched dvds and they play fine. Usually I use the CMC variety of verbatim dvd+R (the ones with the PAPA code on the inner ring) and I don’t seem to recall that many scratches after they’ve come out of the dvd drive at all. Is there any way to stop my dvd writer from scratching these new verbatims whenever the drive reads the disc? If not I might consider sending them back to amazon. I hope I’m not being too paranoid or anal retentive about ths situation. Thanks for whatever help you can provide.

#2

Welcome to the forum. :flower:

I’m not quite sure what you mean by scratches. Do you have a camera which you could take pictures with and upload?

In any event, if the scratches are not there before you burn, then it’s the fault of your writer, and it would be unethical to return them to Amazon since the fault is on your end. There is no difference between the MIT and MIUAE Verbatim media. It’s all essentially the same. Plus, if your drive is causing the scratches, you’re going to have the same problem with any other media you use.

From my perspective, your drive is probably just filthy on the inside, and needs to be cleaned. The inner plastic ring that you describe doesn’t sound like an area where the drive burns, but is rather the area where the drive grabs the discs and holds them. If that’s the case, then it’s your drive that is doing that to the discs, and only opening it up and cleaning it will fix it.

#3

Ok, I’ve investigated the problem. When I click to eject the disc prior to the tray opening , there is a very loud and noticable sound (kinda sound like a loud [I]whirr[/I]) and then the tray opens and I retrieve the disc. There is always a small scratch on the clear ring. I think I need to clean the dvd drive. Have already tried the DVD/CD lens cleaner to no avail.

I’m a computer neophyte, so how do I open up the dvd drive and clean it? Could you point me to a step by step guide somewhere?

#4

There may be something far more sinister that dust in the drive.

Read this for info on how to properly dismantle and clean a drive: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/showthread.php/clean-dvd-cd-423.html
Note the keyword is “proper”. Don’t use one of those worthless “cleaning discs” – waste of money, won’t help.

Last time I had an issue like this was maybe 5 years ago. The drive was dead. Maybe time to buy a new one?

The UAE Verbatim discs are fine, that’s not the issue. Good discs.

#5

Yo-

Keep on using that DVD/CD cleaner in your drive and you aren’t gonna have to worry about scratches - 'cause you are gonna run the risk of damaging the laser lens beyond all repair-eh

#6

In short just buy a new drive as they are pretty cheap now days