I may be rekindling an old debate here -- but what is confusing to me is the fact that I am using the same DVD Reader/Burner (NEC 3520A) to view the movie on my HTPC as a ripper/burner.

Seems to me that if your hypothesis were correct , my "Reader" would stumble at the same point when it is being used to "Rip" the DVD -- it does not.

You suspect wrong. Go replace your copy and cross your fingers that you don't get another bad one.

Playback tends to be more forgiving than ripping, regardless (although it does depend somewhat on the drive), unless you're brute force ripping, which is another topic (but doing that tends to produce errors anyway) . . .

Anyway bilbo65 is correct.

It's quite apparent from this thread that you have a bad original. It may look perfectly fine, but it isn't.

Webslinger, I've had several movies that none of my DVD players would play, but I was able to make a GOOD back-up copy of it.

I have as well, using a Plextor as a reader and watching read retries go through the roof (rip took a very long time) until it finally worked (I wasn't skipping past read errors). A lite-on dvd-rom drive and LG burner failed (and wouldn't play in them either). As I stated before it depends somewhat on the drive (and there's a difference between scratches and manufacturing defects).

The NEC 3520A is regarded as a decent reader, especially for scratched media-- but the disc (Devil Wears Prada) in question isn't scratched. The other possiblity is that the drive is dying, but based on someone else replacing the disc and suddenly being able to back it up strongly indicates a QC issue. Drives don't magically improve the more you use them.

Just a theory, but it seems to me that when a DVD is ripped/burned the reader is coping data as fast as it can (8x or higher). When a movie is watched, the reader is only moving data as fast as the player requires (1x or slightly faster to fill the buffer). Perhaps the slower speed is allowing the disc to be read? Or the app used for playback is more forgiving.

I will admit my reader is old (lite-on 166s), but simply replacing the disc did fix my problem. I did not try the defective disc in my newer NEC burner (don't know why I didn't think of it).

scratch that. I'm having issues with the back up. I had to throw the back up out and I can't redo it until I get the movie back, I let someone borrow. Damn it. Most of the time the back up wouldn't load in my dvd player that's hooked up to my stereo and tv. so I should of checked it out before I wrote that it back up fine. *slaps forehead*

I've been lurking for a while but just registered. I have never had any sort of problem with AnyDvd or CloneDVD2 - incredible products by the way - until this movie. I have tried with two pristine movies (still shrinkwrapped from Sam's) and a friends copy (new from BestBuy) and have the exact same problem as mentioned here. The fixes mentioned don't work, and I have no problems with my Sony drive. I backed up two other movies after my problems here with clean results. Obviously something is going on - whether it's a defect or a deliberate attempt from Fox is beyond me. The movie itself plays fine in my drive and on my JVC DVD player. I'm stumped - guess I'll just risk the original from now on.

Jay,
this movie (in Region 1) has no special protection on it. I was able to rip it using shrink alone. This suggests:
1. Defective original. Try cleaning with alchohol. If it still does not work, exchange it
or
2. Media problems. What brand do you use? i tend to use verbatims.

Not an issue of media, can't even get it through the first part of the process. After 3 pristine originals, same issues each time, inability to copy with any of my available programs ( CloneDVD2, Nero, Roxio and Shrink) plus a windows copy and cut and paste, I just gave up. I typically use Verbatim, but writing isn't an issue since I can't get that far. I'm guessing it has something to do with disks shipped to this market, and the issue is too pervasive to be an isolated incident. Hopefully, nobody picks up on this as a way to copy protect. I've copied over 100 films in the last 1+ years with SlySoft's suite and never had this kind of problem, so I guess I was due.

Jay, check your "Private Messages" located towards top of page, right hand side.

It probably was a bad source disc. We have all come accross them from time to time.

I have read all your posts about dirty discs and poor qc issues with interest. I too have been having problems backing up my "NEW" copy of Devil Wears Prada. I was having the same problem in the same place as all the others. I tried various combinations of software and washing the disc. I was about to give up when I decided to try ripping the disc with another drive. I seldom use my NEC 2510A drive anymore since getting my BENQ 1640 drive. I use the BENQ always now to backup my discs. Well guess what, the NEC drive backed up Devil Wears Prada with no problem, not even a stutter in the problem area. I hope someone can explain this to me.
I was using the latest versions of CloneDVD 2 and AnyDVD.

Thanks.. hope this helps