CD/DVD Question

Is there anything that would cause a CD or DVD to skip if it didn't have scratches? (hardware-wise or software-wise)

yes sometimes its the balance of the disc and sometimes it is the pigments created during the burning process

i've got on good brand new dvd but it only works when i don't really care if i see it or not

If the laser is very slightly out of alignment then that can happen. There is a small margin of error that the alignment can have though. A few degrees either way and it'll either stop working altogether or start working normally. Dirt on the disc can make it skip, especially if your laser is going.

If your CPU is under high load, you might have a bottleneck if it can't keep up with I/O read/writes to the drive. You'd probably get longer pauses in that case, rather than short skipping as you would hear on a stereo CD player. The same applies if your CPU is too slow or the load is too high for whatever piece of software you're using.

What software are you using, and what processor have you got?

I'm just playing a new dvd on my PS2. (One of the old ones)

Chances are it's the laser then. In the last two months the lasers on both of my old PS2s have burned out and displayed symptoms similar to yours. Depending on the model of PS2 it's possible to correct misalignment (obviously not possible to fix a burnt out laser). Google for directions on correcting laser alignment in PS2s, you'll find a lot of stuff.

Okay thanks, guys! :)

Edit: Yeah it's the laser in my PS2. I've been playing the DVD on my computer and works perfectly. Umm, do you know any places that do services like laser cleaning? Because I really don't want to risk damaging my PS2.

If the disc is pirated or bootleged it can be your PS2 defence mechanism or the fact that the DVD drive in your PC is actually superior to that of your PS2. It's often the case that this sort of disc only runs on certain players.

In the case of trying to use it in a PS2, try burning it at a slower speed than usual to make it easier for the laser to read, 1x or 2x is fine unless you have decent quality media like Verbatim :p

I'm not aware of the PS2 having "defence mechanisms" for playing stuff on burnt DVDs to degrade quality other than not booting burnt games, especially since the box and booklet (for my slimline, at least) explicitly says it can read -/+R media for home-made movies and such :p

My assumption was that the said DVD was a game and that it was not booting. Might have misunderstood you there.