I installed Win 7 fine and about a week later I dropped the DVD. There is a scratch on it that is noticeable. I then copied the DVD to a folder on my C: drive to see if there was an error on it. I got a message when it completed "Copied Successfully". Would you say that would mean it copied with no errors and the DVD was not harmed by the scratch?
Depends on how deep the scratch is and how it was scratched. A scratch going around the disc will do more harm then a scratch going from rim to edge. However a scratch can be buffered out on a DVD.
I don't think I would form an opinion based on the "copied successfully" message.
I think DVD and CD players have built in error correction circuitry that is designed to deal with scratches. I would guess there are methods to determine if a scratch is significant.
If I was worried, I would see if I could still use the disc for an install, on another hard drive, after disconnecting your current hard drive.
Used CD stores often have buffing equipment, but I don't know how well it works. It may be purely a cosmetic fix that makes the scratches less noticeable, but has little or no effect on playability. I would be wary of that and would use it only if I knew the disc was otherwise ruined.
I know how you feel, you spent very good money on the DVD and you righfully feel that it is still a valuable asset, even though you already installed the OS. I found this article for you. It does not indicate if the DVD is good or not, as you will only know the next time you try to use it. This article will tell you how to repair small damage and what damage the scratch can actually cause. Bigmack, good luck and I hope for the best.
How To Remove Scratches From a DVD | How To Do Things.com
I wouldn't hazard a guess.
For future reference: all of the Microsoft install disks I've seen have not been copy protected. I always make a backup copy and install from that.
There are other reasons a backup is a good idea. My Vista X86 upgrade disk delaminated and became unreadable after only 2 1/2 years. That was just sitting in its original case, indoors, away from heat and cold.
This is the reason I always back up all DVD/CD's along with every other downloaded installer into my Downloads folder.
Remember you paid for the license so any Win7 installer of your version should work.
Simply copying the data would probably copy any error with it. It's not like you burned the data and had a program verify the data written.
Well, depending on how the scratch is, it may or may not be good, but if you have the key, any dvd of your version of windows will do, as was mentionned earlier.
There are a few tricks that will make it non-apparent, but most of them will most likely not work.
Quote