Can't open folders on old CD

[evergreen]

I'm going bananas here 'cos I've tried to post this twice already!! So, third time lucky; he hopes.

I've been transferring 'photos to disc for years and the first was for 1998 to 2002. Haven't tried to open it for years and now when I want to, the folders load alright but when I try to open any of them I get the message 'DVD drive not responding'.

Any suggestions for a solution please.

[computing50yrs]

Try and get hold of an older CD drive and mount that, it may be that the tracks are not accessable from your DVD drive even though the master file table is.

See if they are readable on a different PC of older vintage. If so copy them to a USB memory stick to recover them

[evergreen]

Many thanks to thee of beautiful Hampshire. I have the means to do what you suggest and will let you know how I get on. It'll be a day or two though.

[ken]

A finished disk is made for any machine, but an open disk is only really made for the machine that produced it. I dont think this applies so much to modern CD/DVD players, but it did on old burners. Grahams suggestion of using an older player might work. I think its always best to put all your photos in a folder and burn it in one go to a finished disk to be safe, even these days. Your not alone, I've done it myself.

KC

[evergreen]

Thanks Ken. I have tried Graham's suggestion on an old PC but I guess it was not old enough. Funny thing is that the disk for the next year, 2003, which I think was burned on the same PC as the one with the problem, opens alright.

Do you think a commercial firm could possibly recover the files?

[ken]

Its possible that a recovery program would work, if you can see theres files on the disk. I dont know of anything I can recommend. I have a Sandek disk that I got with a memory card for one of my cameras. Its only really for recovering things lost on the memory card, but I use it on hard drives and it works. I've not tried it on the disks that wont open yet. I'm sure there is someone here, who can recommend a recovery program.

KC

[evergreen]

Thanks Ken. I'll wait and see if anybody else comes up with something.

I have a recovery programme that was on a Paint Shop Pro disk but that didn't work. Failing all else I might talk to a computer shop we have locally, but if I get no joy I guess I will have to kiss goodbye to my first four years of digi-photography!!

[ken]

You could take the disk to Boots and ask for prints of everything. They might have a program that can read it, they must get all sorts of things taken there. If you had the pictures you could always scan them in, if you wanted an electronic copy.

KC

[evergreen]

Thanks Ken. Thats another possible option.

[movieman36]

Unfortunately you have experienced one of the problems with this wonderful digital media we now all reply on. I also have quite a few discs I burnt early in the home CD then DVD writing days that will no longer be read. It can be the original burner, the media (which in the early days was mostly rubbish) or a combination of both. Even recently I have burnt disc's that seem to want to play back only in the burner that created them. I hope you get those photo's back and if not they aren't too precious. If the stuff is really important to you, back it up in different places and to different types of media. Burn to disc ('at once' not leaving the disc open, as has been suggested) put the same stuff on a USB key and buy yourself a branded external hard drive to copy them to as well. But don't use those devices for any thing else, just your important data.

[Lynnrose]

....and can I add, store them online also.
Places like Photobox
Get in the habit of transferring your pictures to your PC and then straight away upload to an online storage site.

[jojo]

Don't give up evergreen.

The frustrations of dealing with ever changing technology are something that seems to affect us all.

There will be solutions, it's a matter of repeated trying. .

I would personally start by thinking of the disc as a locked box. You need to get insiade but the key doesn't work.

Some things that occur to me are: file systems; these have changed and there may be a compatibility issue, hardware; modern hardware is very different, older hardware may be just worn out; OS; which OS was used to save the files, which updates did it have or not.

Some of these may be red herrings but just think of this from every possible angle.

There will be programs available which can de-compile discs. How well these work is a matter of experiement. I recall, in the days of 8 bit, using one of these to access files. The result was always very rough but with some work, got the job done.

When searching for information I would look for anything relating to storage. This link is about an old HD for example. It might help.

forums.techarena.in/windows-xp-support/897459.htm

Most important. When and if you find the solution, please get back here and tell us how you got on. That way the information can be passed to someone else.

[computing50yrs]

Evergreen - do you by any chance live in west Hampshire or East Dorset area, if you do I have a number of old PCs and a big heap of old CD drives which could possibly read your CDs

Another suggestion which I have found works, is to copy the problem CD and then try and recover the files from the new version

[ken]

Instead of saving in Jpeg, Png of normal sorta format, you didnt save them in a format used by photo software you no longer use?? This would account for why you can see the files and not read them. Normally if its a hardware type thing, the disk shows as blank. If it the former, all you need to do is reinstall the program. Some camera software use some bloody queer formats.

KC

[Fitch]

There's a program called "IsoBuster" which is around £25 or there's a link to a freeware program:
www.softwarepatch.com/tips/howto-file-recovery.html
which both advertise they can help you...

[evergreen]

I've just got home from a few days away and when I switched on my PC and brought up CIT there were all you kind people with helpful suggestions and expressions of empathy to boot. I'm off again tomorrow (oh the joys of retirement!),but when I get back after Easter, I'll have careful look at all your suggestions and if by any happy chance I find a winner I'll certainly be back to pass on the knowledge to anybody else similarly affected.

Meanwhile thanks a bundle to all of you and have a nice Easter.