This is gonna sound weird...

[TonyBradley]

Was the LXF143 DVD left 'open'? I've managed to accidentally overwrite it, meaning that I can't do the reinstall I need!

[nelz]

You can't overwrite a DVD, they are pressed discs, not to be confused with DVD-Rs and DVD-RWs. so no, it was not left open, and iven if it were you would still be unable to write to it.

[heiowge]

Maybe it's a faulty DVD drive / software. He might not be able to write to it, but I bet a malfunctioning laser could do some damage.

[nelz]

Only if his DVD drive was built with lasers cannibalised from the Death Star!

Do you really think it would be legal to sell a consumer device with a laser powerful enough to melt plastic?

[heiowge]

No, but it is powerful enough to burn a disc. So if you took that same laser and fired it at a disc with data, surely it'd do something...

[dandnsmith]

Light up the DVD unit, as the beam bounces around?

[nelz]

No, but it is powerful enough to burn a disc. So if you took that same laser and fired it at a disc with data, surely it'd do something...

It is powerful enough to burn the coating on a DVD-R, not melt the plastic of a pressed DVD-ROM. The only consumer grade electronic equipment capable of damaging a DVD-ROM is a microwave oven.

[MartyBartfast]

The only consumer grade electronic equipment capable of damaging a DVD-ROM is a microwave oven.

I disagree, if I bash a DVD-ROM hard enough with my laptop I think I could do it some serious damage - wouldn't do my laptop much good though .

[nelz]

Aha! you fell into my trap, the damage there is done by the case, not the electronics But I suppose you could do some serious damage by dragging the underside of a Raspberry Pi over it.

As I've discovered in the past, all you need to wreck a DVD is a jiffy bag and a stamp...