please make the CRC errors stop!!!!!

I really can't stand CRC errors anymore, I remember when I installed Silent Hill 2 it took like 30 tries and then it finally worked, but that was long ago. The main point here is, I backed up Naruto on DVD, deleted the files and now I want them back on my hdd. First ep 3 gave the error but after several tries and restarts it worked, now the same problem is with #25 and #26 I already know a decent ammount about this CRC stuff (as I used the search button to search for "cyclic" and "CRC", extra points for me ) But I want to know how to prevent such things from happening again. Burn at slower speeds? But I also read that they could have been corrupted even before I burned then to DVD. So is there any way to check files for corruption or burn them so they aren't corrupt?

Thanks as usual.

Violineb

Prevention:
1) Make sure your data isn't corrupted in the first place (aka: watch it if it's a video, look at if it's a picture, read it if it's a paper, etc)

2) Burn at a speed no higher than the media's recomended maximum. While many will tell you to turn down your speed, it may not actually give results. Your CD/DVD drive will do a power calibration to determine the correct laser power setting to use for the particular disk you are using and speed you set. Because of this, the drive may reduce power at lower speeds making the quality equal. However, if you have the time to burn at lower speeds, it definatly won't give you a WORSE burn

3) If the program you're burning with has an option to verify written data, do it. If not, find a program which can calculate the MD5 of a file. Have it find the MD5 of the original, and the MD5 of the burned copy. If they don't match, the files are different.


If your disk has CRC errors:
1) Check the disk for scratches, dust, etc. This (as you should know ) is the bane of optical media and will kill a working disk. There are two ways of remiding these situations. First is to go out and buy a kit from Wal*Mart or something to either clean or de-scratch your disk. The second is the "at home" method.
If your disk is dirty, it's perfectly safe to wash it by hand with straight water. I wouldn't use soaps as I don't know what they may do to the label/data layer. If the disk is scratched, one trick is to use toothpaste (preferably with baking soda [a mild abrasive]). Note that I've never used this with a DVD and thus cannot garuntee results Get the disk nice and wet with water and then apply a little bit of toothpaste to the disk. Keep the disk somewhat wet at all times and buff the disk's surface with your finger. If you need to apply more toothpaste to make it around the entire disk, go ahead. The abrasives in the toothpaste will reduce the severity of many of the scratches and in most cases make a once sporaticaly readable disk 100% better.

2) If your disk is clean, or cleaning it dosen't help the laser lens may be dirty. Unless you feel like opening your drive and (probably) voiding the warntee to clean the lens yourself with alcohol and a q-tip, just head off to Wal*Mart and buy a laser lens cleaning kit. It should come with instrucitons on how to use it.

3) If all else fails (or you want to try something else first), try the disk in another CD/DVD drive. Some drives are pickier about the media they read and the surface quality than others.


JigPu

What media are you burning to? How long were they in storage off the HD? Are you verifying the burn afterwards?

If you have crappy media, if they were in bad storage or in storage too long (if its crappy media), or your burner isn't doing so well... I'd check there first.

If you're using good media, taking care of it, and trust the burner, run a scandisk on your hard drive. Of course you've done this already.

Hi,

Quite simple. Choose good media for your burner (get some samples and do some burn/verify tests. C1/C2 scans are very handy for this), *always* verify your burns, and don't rely on a single copy for important stuff.
That should do.