[Arandora]

I finalised several movies of our recent holiday on my Sony DCR-DVD405E camcorder taken on TDK mini DVD-RW discs prior to copying them onto my PC's HDD using Sony Picture Motion Browser (PMB) in order to combine and edit them on my PC. All went fine except for one disc which, when I load it in my PC DVD drive is not recognised. Nor can I explore it using Windows Explorer. PMB cannot recognise the disc either. It won't play either using WMP 11. When I load it back into the camcorder I receive "Unknown disc Format" error.
I've tried running it through SanDisc Rescue Pro software but that fails to recognise the disc too.
I've tried extensive Googling to find out how I can resolve this by, for instance, unfinalising the disc but without success. Then I found this forum and hope that someone here can help me recover our holiday memories.

[senu]

ISo buster?

This kind of problem reminds me of why I dont really like DVD camcorders, and even more so using -RW disc with them
Good luck with the software..

[jaymac]

Did you record in DVD-Video mode or methinks you used VR mode

[Arandora]

jaymac,
I just loaded the disc, formatted it and recorded on it as I did on all the others I used on holiday. Then finalised them and copied to my HDD using PMB. All worked except this one.
What is the significance of DVD-Video as opposed to VR assuming I unknowingly used the latter?

senu,
Is ISo a realistic option in these circumstances or is the data irretrievable?

[jaymac]

Dvd-video is as a normal dvd like a bought movie one that will/should play on any dvd player or pc .Vr is Video record which is a different format though the fact the others played etc makes it unlikely you changed anything .Do the others explore as a Video_TS folder and do they or the problem one play on a standalone dvd player

[senu]

Originally Posted by Arandora

senu,
Is ISo a realistic option in these circumstances or is the data irretrievable?

Only insofar as it might help you explore the disc like a data disc and hopefully access the video files

[Arandora]

Do the others explore as a Video_TS folder

Yes, no problem.

and do they or the problem one play on a standalone dvd player

All the others do. When I load the disc into my Panasonic DVD player/recorder, after much whirring and clunking while displaying Read, it displays No Read then No Disc.
Methinks the disc is fragged!

If so is it worth investing in ISo or is there a free software download I could try for the same purpose?

[jaymac]

So the others are dvd video its unlikely you changed Modes on the cam accidentally to VR but worth a look at your settings to be certain and safe from doing it again.
If the settings is VR then you are ok if its not? Iso well does it see the files ansd how valuable to you is the decider on whether to purchase if need be . The disc may well be corrupt you could check if the camera accepts it first

[Arandora]

When I put the disc in the Camera in Record mode, it takes a long timr trying to access it then comes up an error code, which the manual says signifies either "the disc is faulty. Use a compatible disc with your camcorder" or "the disc is dirty or has scratches on it (it doesn't)."
When I try to put it in Play/Edit mode, I receive the same error code and a message "Disc Error. Unsupported format."
I put a new DVD-RW disc in the camcorder, followed Set Up which formats it and it set as Video which is the procedure I always follow. I don't know how to make it VR.
I think the conclusion appears to be to use a technical expression the disc is knackered!
Thanks very much for your help.
Thankfully I have plenty of stills but there was some nice video footage on this disc.

[jaymac]

Oh dear presume you have tried cleaning the disc .Anyway you could try Iso sometimes you can recover stuff even with the trial
Good Luck

[Arandora]

Yep. Cleaned the disc. I'll try the ISo Free trial. Thanks. Good idea.
I'll let you know how I get on.

[Arandora]

Tried ISoBuster, FreeVersion, and after some time identified only the Chapter but no files. When I tried to create a disc image in order for it to try and find the files, it hung on creating the Disc Image at 1% for hours then crashed.
Ah well, it was worth a try!
Thanks guys!

[jaymac]

Another straw you might want to clutch its free ignorethe cd title it does dvd as well
CD repair tool - Recovery Toolbox for CD

[Arandora]

Thanks. Any straw is better than no straw.