Actually a number of people reported that Anydvd/Clonedvd worked perfectly fine.
The assumption at this point is the people who have been able to copy the disc do not have defective discs. So yes, the software works on the good discs, but the issue is whether it can still produce a copy at all if the disc isn't perfect.
In this regard, it seems AnyDVD/CloneDVD is acting the same for everyone. If the disc has any defects at all then the copy fails. No matter how minor the defect.
As for other programs . . . at least one other program skips over read errors, leaving you with an imperfect backup. The damaged area may be minor (so people don't really notice any issues when playing the imperfect backup). Or the damaged area may be significant, in which case people will notice when watching their imperfect backups. Slysoft programs do not skip over read errors.
That's useful information, thank you. And knowing that the program strives for a 100% perfect copy is a noble goal.
IMHO though, the program should let me be the judge of what an acceptable copy/backup is. A defaut setting of being strict is fine, but I should be able to go check a box to allow a copy to happen even with errors.
This disc being my only example, shows that such a minor defect plays fine and copies made with other software turn out fine. So why should the software be so strict as to not allow me to make a copy at all?
I'm not interested in imperfect backups either as a rule, but when my only choice is NO backup or a backup with an inperceptable glitch, it's a non-choice, I want the backup.
Of course I want a backup of my entire computer in case my house burns down. But if my choice is no backup or a backup missing one empty text file then I choose to have a backup.
When the amount of missing information becomes important is a personal preference. For a movie, my metric would be if I see or hear any artifacts or skipping while playing the movie. If the missing information in no way effects the video or audio I see/hear then it's a moot point. If the error results in a skip then that's not acceptable.
This specific disc has such a small defect that it does not effect the playing of the disc. all optical discs have redundant information on them by nature and the DVD player uses that redundant info to play perfectly through this section of the disc, as designed. A copy program should be able to do the same thing and create a perfect copy the same way a DVD player produces a perfect video/audio stream while playing.
But all of this just hammers the point that this should be a user controlled option.
If there is an option in AnyDVD/CloneDVD that will allow this, I've overlooked it and would appreciate some education. But from the sounds of it, this simply isn't an option with this software.
In the end it's really a moot point though and it seems we're wasting our time. If the mantra of AnyDVD/CloneDVD is to never allow a copy if it's not 100% perfect and to not let the user override that then so be it. I really am glad to know that all my copies are perfect. A defective disc is so rare (at least for me) that it's not worth spending any more time on. This is actually my first defective disc ever out of hundreds copied.
Thanks for the input guys!
