Finalizing Settop Box DVD's On A Computer

Here's an interesting situation for you.

My dad got a DVD recorder two years ago for Christmas. He loves the
thing, and promptly started putting aaaaaaaall the home movies on DVD
("Here's the Stuckey's we stopped at on our way to the Grand Canyon.

Today, the machine totally bit the dust. An electrical short took it
down, so this isn't a mechanical failure. My dad is going to go
shopping for a new DVD recorder this weekend.

Problem: there were several vacation videos that he didn't finalize
before the recorder took a dirt nap. They will not play in any other
settop box he has, and my computer just gives me a blank look when I
tell it to read the disc. And since the recorder is two years old,
his chances of finding the exact same brand and model are not good.

So, does anyone know of a way to finalize these things and make them
playable? Will just putting them in another DVD recorder machine and
finalizing do it? Is there a way to do it with one of my computers
(I'm running both Windows and Linux)? Or are the discs pretty much
gone now (fewer vacation videos to watch? What a shame....)?

 

Ouch....from what I have read, most DVD recorders require you to
finalize DVD's on the same machine that recorded them. There
probably are others that will work but I don't know how you find them
before you buy them. I have Panasonic DVD recorders with built-in
hard drives. I always put my footage on the hard drive and then
fill up the DVD-R's and finalize them immediately so that I avoid your
situation. Even partially filling a DVD-R and then later filling it
up with more material is risky. They don't always place new
material in blank areas when you do it in separate sessions.
Finalizing is also hit and miss when done later.

My guess is that you will be very lucky if you can find another
machine to finalize your recorded DVD's. Look for someone else that
has the same make and model as your dead machine and see if you can
use it to finalize your DVD's.

Dave

 

Find another machine of the same make and model.
There is practically no alternative. Take out an ad in
the newspapers or on Craig'sList, etc. to find some-
body with one of them.

So did you mention why he can't just take the original (film?,
tapes?) and make new discs with his new DVD recorder?

Lesson: Finalize discs as soon as you finish them, before even
ejecting them.

 

What model and brand of DVD Recorder did he have?