Recover Data From a Bad Disc [GUIDE]

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By the time most people learn that optical media are not bullet-proof, it's too late. The internet is full of horror stories about "lost data" and "dead discs", and most often the blame is put in the wrong place (on the format itself, instead of the lack of testing or use of poor quality media).

When you run across bad discs, there are two things the must be done:

1. Learn about good and bad media. Buying the cheapest no-name brand, or budget brands like Memorex, Ridata or Magnavox are often why you're in this predicament. While this may seem like an "I told you so" slap in the face, take it as a learning experience.
2. Recover the data and/or make a new disc, as best as you can:
   • In some cases, this means re-burning the disc from the archival master disc or master location (such as a hard drive). It's not a big loss of time to make a new disc.
   • In most cases, however, this was the only copy of the material, and you must rely on quality hardware and software to extract your data. That was a mistake, of course, to only have the one copy.

Many times, it's the DVD hardware at fault, your disc isn't really bad. Consider trying a better quality DVD drive, known for its reading quality, such as a Pioneer ROM/burner or a BTC burner. Many burners, such as Samsung/Sony, LiteOn and LG, are not the greatest at reading discs.

Use one of several programs to try and extract data.

1. The first course of action, if this is a DVD-Video disc, would be to simply try and create an ISO with normal DVD software, such as DVD Decrypter. (Premium Members may download it here.) The ISO read mode available in ImgBurn may work similarly.
2. The second course of action is to try the software ISO Puzzle. It requires that Nero be installed, or the Nero WnASPI, or a compatible WnASPI layer. These files have also been attached to this post for your convenience. Let it run for at least one hour, using the "recycle tray" option.
3. ISO Buster is another popular option, but in all honesty it is inferior to ISO Puzzle and DVD Decypter, for the recovery of DVD-Video content. This may work well, as a second runner-up behind ISO Puzzle, for non-video data recovery. In many cases, the free version of ISO Buster will not be adequate, while the $30 pay version (with its UDF reading mode) will work nicely.

In most cases, the DVD Decrypter or ISO Puzzle read will return a partial or complete image to create a new ISO. This ISO can be re-burned to a new disc, or loaded as a drive letter using Daemon Tools Lite or Gizmo Drive (use the freeware versions, paid versions not needed), allowing you to once again access the data.

In the future, use only good media, and test the discs if the data is important.

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