I have a big problem (damaged DVD?)

[sapi]

Just a quick note: a CRC does not necessarily indicate a damaged disc; it can also be a symptom of a damaged drive (I know at one stage, for example, that one of my DVDs would refuse to run on one drive, throwing up a CRC, but work perfectly on others)

So trying another drive might be worth a shot; though considering that you probably installed the game from the same drive that is unlikely to work...

[Foz]

Wow, so many good legal topics are coming up lately on here. In this case, I have to ask: is it illegal to get a game through a normally-illegal channel, if you in fact have purchased the game legitimately and simply cannot get your game media to work? I mean, you're granted the right to have and use 1 copy of the game files on your PC, so might a user in Smith's position be in the clear if he decided to obtain the game from a source other than his apparently broken DVD that came from the box? Certainly there'd be no reason to feel morally wrong for doing so, as you've paid for the game... I'm just less certain of the legal details of the situation.

[Furious Mental]

Well as with every law it will might depend on where you live, but I strongly suspect the answer in your jurisdiction is no. It is definitely no where I live (Australia). Basically when it comes to copyright of electronic materials ask yourself whether something is
A) Fair; or
B) Realistic

If it is either fair or corresponds to what everyone does in reality, then the law most likely prohibits it.

[Generals_Bodyguard]

I have the same problem...So i either have to buy a new copy or a new DVD drive...believe it or not a DVD drive in my place is slightly cheaper then the copy of M2TW...i was so looking forward to playing with the official patch...I cant return the disc since i bought it last year!!!If only i didnt uninstall the game...SIGH...

[Whacker]

Well as with every law it will might depend on where you live, but I strongly suspect the answer in your jurisdiction is no. It is definitely no where I live (Australia). Basically when it comes to copyright of electronic materials ask yourself whether something is
A) Fair; or
B) Realistic

If it is either fair or corresponds to what everyone does in reality, then the law most likely prohibits it.

QFT

@ the OP

If you've cleaned off your disc and there are no bad scratches, and have tried it in another machine just to be safe, then it's probably not your disc. Try some of your other discs in the same computer and see if you get some random crc errors. This is really hit or miss, some discs that are known good could work fine in your drive, others may not. If you start to see that a few discs have problems, read on.

As sapi suggests, it could also be your drive going bad, and/or some crippleware installed by some other apps/games that is interfering with your drive's normal operation. The main culprit and strawman that many of us have dealt with before is Starforce. If you have any games that use Starforce, I strongly suggest you remove them and the crippleware itself, here's a link to a site with some games listed to see if you have on on there, and some removal tools http://www.glop.org/starforce/ . My current DVD drive is on it's last legs because of this, I didnt' know that the expansion to Lock-on had this "protection" scheme installed, and next thing I know I go from a perfectly good, relatively new drive to one that's starting to show it's age mechanically and not reading discs at random. Feh. Of course there are a few other "protection" schemes, apps, and drivers that can cause you headaches, but this one by far seems to be one of the worst as it forces your machine into a mode of operation that can harm your hardware.

Good luck. Yer gonna need it.