[Sage]

I’m trying to install Vista on my MacBook via VMware Fusion. However, when I insert the Vista Home Premium DVD into my MacBook’s combo drive, it either spits it back out, or it’ll take it in, be able to read it for several minutes, but then the DVD will spin down and never be able to spin back up again.

I tried to create a disk image of the DVD, but the disk image won’t mount and Fusion doesn’t allow me to choose it.

I had my PC friend put it in his computer, and it worked just fine, so it seems to be a good disc. Also, I put my Leopard DVD into my MacBook, and it worked just fine.

Any ideas? I can only think of using a friend’s Mac with Firewire target disk mode, burning a DVD-RW, or using an external Firewire DVD drive, but all of those options cost money, so I don’t want to commit to any of them unless I’m sure they’ll work. BTW, my MacBook is out of warranty.

[Cadaver]

Two likely possibilities...
1) software issue and Fusion's optical drive interface has a bug causing it to lose access to the disc.
2) the disc itself is manufactured either improperly or to suboptimal specifications, so it'll track on some drives but not on others.

Try having your PC friend copy the disc for you and burn it on to media at a slow speed 2-4x. Slower burn speeds tend to yield more reliable results.