Sounds like you'd get the same results by throwing all your DVDs in the dishwasher.

my three dvds that were fixed by this process did not have any visable scratches at all. they were in mint condition, always carefully handled (held by the edges) with no fingerprints or scratches. the hot water may have cleaned the surface, but i'm betting the temperature also affected it on the "inside".

Did NOTHING for the 2 scratched CD's I had. Did it 3 times each and both still have the same amount of skips in the same places. I still call bullshit.

I've never used it for scratched discs.... only for discs that didn't load but otherwise looked find.

This method was never meant to correct scratched discs. It only works when a disc is dirty (but looks fine) and won't play.

Check the original post. That's not what he says.

I am aware of that digitalfreaknyc.

I am just saying that solution came about when someone had DVDs that stopping playing and it was found that boiling might correct the playability issues.

Heck, there are enough post on this very subject here if they care to search.

The OP stated that disc was lightly scratched. Boiling will not correct the scratched condition of the dvd. It apparently DID remove the obscuring junk in the scratch itself which prevented playability.

To me it does, sorta, help scratches. When you get scratches "junk" can get down in the grooves, which causes trouble. When you boil it, like speedy1961 says, it helps to remove that obscuring junk in the scratch.

It wont undo scratches, but it'll help take care of whatever is in the grooves that causes the problems.

Then, just to state it once more, if the scratches are deep enough, and if whatever is wrong with the DVD is bad enough, boiling, and just about nothing else, can help the DVD.

Is there anything you can do to fix a dvd that isnt scratched but has scratches on the little plastic rim? ( I dont know the proper name for it) and would boiling it help in this case?

Do you mean the spindle hub?

I think so. Its the little plastic ring that runs around the small hole of the dvd.

A minor scratch on the ring should not affect playback, unless it's a crack!

Scratch and crack aren't the same thing. I know, I'd be smoking scratch!

I agree.

Scratches around the hub area won't affect playback.

Cracks there are usually caused by badly designed mechanisms in cases, or by mishandling of the disc (ie wrenching it off the holder instead of pressing the release mechanism).

You don't want to put a cracked disc in you player - if it fails it could send plastic shrapnel around in there.

My copy of Jason Goes to Hell froze a lot during chapters 10-12.

I tried your advice, Brent, and it worked like a charm.

It almost never fails.

I would have thought that the hot boiling water would cause the glue that holds the 2 pieces of plastic together (that's what a DVD is, after all) to soften up and come apart. But I guess not. Not that I would ever try this.

I boiled mine and it still was freezing up in the same place. Disk was in mint condition as well.

I know this sounds retarded but I did the Old flush it in a toilet bowl trick and it worked for an old Xbox game....

Caution: Don't try this on a gamecube game

I finally got to put this to the test over the weekend. On a CD, not a DVD. I had a video game from years back and the computer couldn't read the CD. Boiled it for a couple minutes and it worked fine. Now I feel more comfortable trying it on a DVD if/when the time comes.

I will speak for the majority who have contributed to this thread (and others):

Your bretheren at DVDTalk will NOT try to steer you wrong.

Glad you found that proscribed method works.

I tried this on my scratched DVD and it didn't work unfortunately.

60% of the time it works, every time.

It probably doesn’t work in all cases but it works enough to be worth any inherent risk in the process.