Why the DVD drive plays with breaks?

Question

DVD drive in my new laptop plays DVDs with short breaks. It behaves as if the drive is finding diffcult to read the DVD. (Voice is breaking, picture is playing with short pauses)
I tried with few DVD/CDs it is the issue with the drive.

I am not sure whether it is because of memory issue or the drive itself is damaged.

I burnt few DVDs recently. The drive burns DVDs with no issues. Those burnt DVDs are playing well at other computers and even on DVD player attached to TV.

I purchased that laptop 3 months back. It has 1GB ram, it is Centrino Duo, XP Home.

Any way to fix the problem?

It behaves in the same way with rented DVDs too. What I am trying to say is, it is not the issue with the way I burnt those DVDs. Thanks!

Answer 1

Ok I just read your followup about plays factory disks ok.
I will leave my ramble below, if anyone cares to read it.

Your PC is new, and should be ok. Must be dusty.
Try a disk cleaner, for the optics.

Also, did you check for spyware/virus infections that could be slowing you down? I'll attach some spyware removal stuff at the end of this ramble.

- - - -

Sounds like the optics are dirty.
You can get a CD disk cleaner. Looks like a CD with fuzz on it.

Factory CD's should play without any problems.

Copied CD's may not play correctly.

This is because factory CD's and DVD's are not burnt with a laser, but they are stamped, just like an album, then get lamintated with the protective surface. The data points ( pits), are physically created against the reflective background.

However, when you burn a CD or DVD, you are using a LASER, burn organic dye that is on the inner surface of the platter. The organic dye is most sensitive to a particular wavelength of light. The type of dye is identified on the disk at the factory. The disk is formated at the factory, by the stamping process. That is why it looks like a rainbow, even when you didnt burn anything onto it yet.

When you burn a CD/DVD, it burns bits into the organic dye.
These are not as good as the factory stamp process.
Burning at a slower rate, will improve the appearence of the pits, and will be much easier to read.

Burning a CD/DVD is different from reading a CD/DVD.
Burning is a blind process, but reading requires that the laser optics can deturmine where there is a pit, and where there is not.

The type of die that is used on the disk, must exactly match the color of the laser used to read it. If you use the wrong color laser, the optics of the drive will see a very weak signal, and may not be able to remain locked.

Older players used lasers that were infrared. Newer lasers can produce bluer colors ( shorter wavelengths for higher density).

So what can you do.
When you burn DVDs, use a slower burn speed, so you get better burn marks on the dye.

Newer players have multiple lasers for reading. The player reads the stamped formating which identifies the organic dye type used on the disk, then selects the best laser to read it.


Security checks, and Spyware removal

If you are running XP, press control alt delete at the same time.
choose task manager
see the running tasks,
click Processes, this is what is using your cpu time.
But your computer is infected with spyware, all computers are, and it gets pretty bad if you dont remove it.

First fix your security and memory settings:
This is the most common setup problem affecting speed.
Open Internet Explorer.
On the top menu,
Tools, Internet Options, Delete Cookies, OK
and again
Tools, Internet Options, Delete Files, check the box to delete all offline content, then click OK.
( it sounds bad, but is really just deleting your cached junk files).
Tools, Internet Options, Settings,
Be sure to adjust your disk space slider bar, to less than 35MB. This is usually set to some astronomically high number. Each time you visit a web site, the PC searches your cache for the last time the page was accessed, if the cache is very large, this takes a long time, slowing down web browsing.
Tools, Internet Options, Security.
Click the world INTERNET, the slider should say Medium, if it set to low, an application has modified this to open your pc to attack. On the right, click DEFAULT to reset it to medium.
Tools, Internet Options, Security, click LOCAL, then select DEFAULT.
Tools, Internet Options, Security. click Trusted Sites.
you probably should not have any listed here. You may have added your bank or microsoft or something, but generally no web sites should be listed here, if you find any write them down and remove them.
Tools, Internet Options, Security, Restricted Sites
This should be filled with sites that should be blocked. If it is not, we will fix this with the program immunization procedure described below.
Be sure the slider for this is set to high, again click the default button, to prevent these sites from exploiting your internet connection, even if it has no entries at this time.

Best bet to improve performance, is to remove spyware.
Download Spybot search and destroy 1.4, and Adaware 1.06
They are both free, and excellent programs at removing keystroke loggers, cookie trackers, viruses, and other spyware.
Install them, and then perform an update for each to get the latest dat files.
Then restart your computer in safe mode, and scan your computer. Things run faster in safe mode, and the programs can remove active spyware better if it is not running.
If spybot finds anything, " Oh,and it will", remove it, and dont look back.
When Spybot starts, after you search and download updates, press the Immunize button on the left. You have to also press the Immunize button at the top, a green Plus symbol, to complete the operation.
Then scan your PC.

When this is done, you can DEFRAG your hard drive if you have the time. Defrag generally wont run very well unless you are in safe mode. You can get to safe mode by pressing F8 key as windows is rebooting. Defrag takes time, so start it, and take a break.

Another thing:
Look in your start up group.
on your start button on the lower left...
START, RUN,
then type msconfig
the System Configuration Utility will start.
These programs start when Windows loads.
You can uncheck them if you know what they are.
You can probably uncheck almost all that you see, and your computer will still function, but dont uncheck anything that says microsoft, or looks like your antivirus.

When you get things working smoothly, make a system restore point. Or in win98 you can make a registry backup.
XP Start, Accessories, System tools, System restore,
then check the option, Create System Restore Point, give it a name, and follow the prompts. If something goes wrong, you can restore these settings. Actually Xp makes many restore points, so you can generally go back without doing this too often.
But Win98 doesnt do as well.
On Win98.
Go to a command prompt ( DOS prompt)
Scanreg
It will say something like no problems detected, would you like to backup your registry today, say yes. thats it.

If you have norton or Mcafee, these are hosing your PC, I hate them. Uninstall these pieces of crap, and install AVG link below.
It rocks, wont slow or cripple your PC, and is FREE. Excellent.


If you have broadband ( DSL or cable), the best security measure you can take it to be sure you have a router inbetween your DSL/Cable Modem and your PC.
The router presents your PC to the internet as one port, instead of thousands, and blocks you PC from sending out identification listing you as "victim here", try to hack this.
It is like hiding your house behind a cloak, so the burgler can see your house to know to try to break in.

Routers are cheap, well worth the effort. Get a D-Link or NetGear..

Answer 2

I will speculate that when the DVD was recorded it was not analyzed first. It takes a lot longer to do so. Since it was not looked at end to end prior to recording parts are scrunched more than others and this leads to the skipping.