cant agree more with final words,of note all the video from my dead HD was transfered fine to the new WD
Elemants one i bought.

A client once gave me a burned CD with their music on it. It had no label, so I wrote their names on a piece of cellophane tape and stuck it to the CD. When it was time to extract the CD, I peeled off the tape, but the entire layer of silver coating came off with it! All that was left was clear glass. They told me the CD was stored in their car. Apparently the heat destroyed the coating to the point of being able to scratch it off with my fingernail. I always thought that layer was somehow sandwiched inside the glass.....wrong! That got my curiosity going... I wanted to burn a dvd and leave it in a car for a year, just to see what would happen.

Yup - the top reflective layer is a) very important and b) very fragile. Everybody thinks that the other side needs protection, but it's the top layer that needs the tender loving care.