Avoid Optical Media Problems With VSO Inspector!

I don't know about you but I get really mad when I write a DVD with family photos and when I need to show it to somebody or make a copy I find out that some of the files are corrupted. Of course I can't deny the fact that some discs may start failing after a few decades and sometimes even faster but since I keep my discs well the problem is that sometimes files get corrupted when the disc is burn and not after that. OK that's not good at all but what can be done? Quality checks of course!

VSO Inspector is one of those free software tools that can really make a big difference for its users and the best part is that if we leave aside its freeware status media checking is only a small part of what this piece of code can do. Want to hear more? I bet you do so here we go!

As I write this the latest version available is 2.0.0.2 and the information it can provide is grouped in five big categories namely Device Features Media Scan System and Sector Viewer. While I won't get deeper in each of them here's what you should look at after inserting a new (or not-so-new) disc in your drive and firing up VSO Inspector...

Device Features shows all the info you need to know about your optical drive. Checking it may help you escape some delicate situations - you wouldn't like to try burn some LightScribe label on a LightScribe disc without a drive that can do that I tell you! ;)

The Media tab gives you accurate info about the disc inserted including the media ID possible writing speeds total sectors and you can even query the online database to see the success rate of burn attempts on the type of disc and optical drive you're using. Sweet!

Last area to check is the one simply labeled Scan and the reason is obvious - once a disc is ready it should be tested. I advise you to try both tests since sometimes discs with weak sectors have all files in readable state and can be backed up.

These being said I'll leave the rest of VSO Inspector for you to discover and if you're one of those power users who will say something about Nero CD-DVD Speed... just don't all right? ;)