Posted by Mike S. on 09/07/06 13:36

In article <11281-44FFA48E-16@storefull-3254.bay.webtv.net>,
Kevin <Elvis68@webtv.net> wrote:
>I recorded quite a few discs on a ILO dvd recorder, a cheap machine, but
>it did the job. I didn't get around to finalizing some of the discs, and
>just recently the recorder stopped working.
>
>I bought another recorder a few days ago (a different brand), and I
>thought I'd try to play some of those unfinalized(?) discs....they
>didn't work. Here's my question, if I had bought the same brand of dvd
>recorder would I have been able to play the discs and finalize them? Or
1>are they lost forever?

You could definitely finalize them on an equivalent model. Ilo is a house
band for Wal-Mart; the DVD recorders sold under that brand were
manufactured either by Lite-On or Cyberhome. The problem with Cyberhome is
that their entire inventory of DVD recorders was recently seized in a
royalty payment dispute with Philips, so your choices for purchase may be
limited to unsold stock, or used markets (e.g. eBay).

There are anecdotal reports of unfinalized-disc recovery using standalone
recorders of a completely different brand from the one that recorded the
disc originally. There is some standardization in the way the temporary
directory structure is set up on an unfinalized disc, and a similarly
adherent recorder might be able to deal with a disc from another brand ...
YMMV.

Because of that standardization, it has also been said that disk imaging
software such as ISO Buster can recover the data from unfinalized discs,
including DVD's burned by standalone recorders. To take advantage of that,
of course, you would need a PC with a DVD burner, and some DVD
mastering/recording software.

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