We’ve played digital video discs (DVDs) for nearly two decades now. Daily watching them has been a major time filler of our spare time. Buying many used DVDs which are often scratched, we often see skipping DVDs. So, the question of how to fix a DVD that skips and freezes became important for us to answer. We offer below the answers to it that we’ve found through experimentation below.
So we’ve experienced and stopped many DVDs from freezing and skipping while playing. We’ve found that neither DVD players, nor discs are safe from this pesky problem. Whether a home or car DVD player. Whether a cheap mobile or most high-end home theater player. All kinds of DVD players experience the freezing DVD.
No kind of DVD is free from this either. All optical discs, including DVDs will skip sooner or later. No matter who makes them or what content they carry, they will, at time, skip, freeze. cut out, drop out, pixilate, and so on. So knowing how to stop a DVD from skipping is useful for DVD movie buffs, especially if they buy lots of used DVDs as we do. So, we’re here to offer tips on how to stop a DVD from freezing. We hope you’ll get as much mileage out of these techniques as we have. Good luck.
Causes of a DVD that Skips and Freezes During Play, and How to Fix Them
The DVD is Not Always Faulty
The first thing to realize when you’re figuring out how to fix a DVD that skips and freezes, is that it may not be a disc problem at all. When you see a DVD skipping, don’t throw it out right away. It could possibly be repaired. In fact, any freezing and skipping might not be caused by the disc at all. Often, even DVDs without visible scratches on the play side can freeze up. Sometimes, the DVD players themselves are to blame for this. So with skipping DVDs, the least wasteful approach is to find the source of the skipping, to avoid wasting money on new players or throwing away good DVDs because you thought they were bad.
The Skipping DVD Could be Damaged, Yes
The DVD itself may carry manufacturing flaws, or be scratched or dirty. It may be aging beyond its useful life (estimated to be approximately fifty years). Or the CD may have been damaged by improper cleaning techniques previously.
The DVD Player Could be Broken
The player itself may be malfunctioning. Perhaps the laser that reads the digital data from those silvery, rainbow colored discs, has weakened due to age or extensive use. Perhaps dust has accumulated on the player’s laser lens, or maybe the player’s laser servos and the motor that spins the DVD are wearing out. Like DVD discs, the DVD players themselves age and gradually develop defects over time. In fact, they wear out at a faster rate than the media itself, and often result in playback that’s full of skips.
Player and DVD Disc Incompatibilities Cause DVD Skipping and Freezing
Finally, not every DVD player can play every DVD disc without skipping, even when nothing is technically wrong with either. One manufacturer’s DVDs may not be compatible with a particular DVD player, as neither DVDs nor DVD players precisely adhere to the same manufacturing standards in every possible detail. With these tolerances, it’s no wonder that certain DVDs just won’t play in certain DVD players without skipping.
How to fix a DVD that Skips and Freezes: Clean Both Disc and Player
Try the Freezing DVD Disc in Another DVD Player
If it plays fine there, then consider that if the offending DVD player is more than several years old, then it’s probably time for a replacement player, such as the LG BP350 DVD Blu Ray player. As mentioned, DVD players do indeed age. Their laser light output decreases. This eventually impairs the player’s ability to read the optical data on the discs. With decent sub two-hundred dollar players available these days, it’s senseless to put up with a bothersome skipping DVD player that’s more than five years old, especially if you’ve watched hundreds of movies on it in that time.
Replace the DVD Player to Fix a DVD that Skips and Freezes
Perhaps the skipping, freezing player is simply following outdated standards. But if this is the only disc that this player freezes on, but the disc plays well in other machines, then this could just mean that that particular player just won’t properly play that particular DVD. In that case, just don’t watch that DVD in the player where it tends to freeze, or replace the DVD player.
Further, remember that some players are better at reading well through dirt and scratches than others. This is notably so of newer players. Recently made DVD players have more advanced error fixing circuits and tightly aimed lasers than the older DVD players. So, while your 1999 vintage DVD player may still work as well as it was built to, those older units just don’t play DVD discs as well, even if the player is brand new old stock. A player upgrade is likely needed.
Try cleaning the DVD Disc
We detail how to do this in our How to Clean a DVD Disc post. Cleaning oils, dust, and fingerprints from the disc is one sure way for how to stop a DVD from skipping. Essentially, you should avoid any chemicals harsher than dish soap. Just use dish soap and water. Wet the DVD with a filtered water and soap solution, gently rub with smooth fingers, rinse with more filtered water, and dry with a lint-free lens cleaning cloth. The washing removes fingerprints, oils, and loose dirt, while the wiping dry with the cloth not only removes the water from the DVD, but also polishes out the microscopic scratches that often cause freezing and skipping during play.
How to Fix a DVD that Skips and Freezes: Try Cleaning the DVD Player Inside
The player may become dirty inside, depending on its environment. They sell a laser lens cleaning CD, designed to clean both CD and DVD player lenses. We’ve never had good luck with these, but they may work for you, and could potentially save you the cost of buying a whole new DVD player. The cleaning disc has a small brush affixed to the play side. You put this disc into your player, and when the player spins this disc to read it, the attached brush skims over the laser lens, presumably removing dust and dirt from it.
But if cleaning the laser lens does not solve the skipping, and if you feel confident enough to take your DVD player apart, then remove the top cover from home units. Blow out any dirt and lint; particularly from the rails upon which the laser assembly slides back and forth. Avoid too much air pressure though. A can of residue free air works well for this.
How to Keep your DVDs from Skipping and freezing: Handle them the Right Way Always
Keep your DVDs Clean, Before they Become Soiled
One stitch in time saves nine when maintaining these delicate video discs. To preserve peak performance, avoid ever dirtying the DVDs to begin with. Always store them in their cases when not viewing, and avoid exposing to weather and direct sunlight.
Never Touch the Data Surface on the DVD Disc
Avoid getting fingerprints on the play side of the DVD. Instead, lift them by edges. Do not grab them via their flat surfaces. This limits the need to ever clean up skin oils from them.
Keep your DVD Player Clean and Cool
Avoid permanently setting up the player in dusty locations, and keep it away from direct sunlight and heat sources, to minimize the luring dust into it.
Keep your DVD Discs Out of the Sun
Light and heat can trigger breakdown of the micro thin metallic surface of the DVD, increasing the likelihood of skipping. So, to get skip-free playback for the longest time possible, avoid exposing your DVDs to light and heat; especially to the high levels of both that sunshine contains. This is easy if you keep your discs in their opaque cases, and store them away from windows and heat sources such as radiators, machines, audio amplifiers, and so on. A climate controlled environment is best for storing them.
Related Posts to How to Fix a DVD that Skips and Freezes
- How to Clean a DVD Disc
- Sony DVP-SR210P DVD Player Review
- How to Fix a Scratched DVD Disc
- Fix Noisy Window Air Conditioners that Rattle, How To
- How to Fix a Skipping CD Audio Disc
References for How to Fix a DVD that Skips and Freezes
Revision History
- 2020-06-01: Added tags and optimized text further.
- 2019-04-10: Removed ad code. Added tags.
- 2018-04-26: First published.