VHS tape not reading, help please!?

Question

I have a VHS tape that I recorded a few favorite movies onto. I tried sticking it in my VCR just now, and it's not playing. All I get is that grey, static-y screen. Sort of like there's nothing on the tape or something.....I thought maybe I was at the end of the tape, so I rewound, but I still have the same thing. There's no difference on the screen when I press "play." I don't even really hear VCR noises....whatever those are. :)

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

Answer 1

Sounds like you  have the situation under control. If you should get into DVD recorders, which are extremely inexpensive (I have six) I buy a lot of music concerts and make copies for my personal use . Copyright laws allow copying providing you do not sell or distribute the discs. All of the electronic manufacturers mutually agreed to prevent copying by having a code on theDVD  disc, on the recorders, HD TV's (if you use the HDMI cable THE VIDEO  OUTPUT IS BLOCKED.

After trying several different software programs, which couln't get through the codes, I came across this small box manufactured by SIMA , which plows through all the codes and enables you to copy any DVD discs. It decodes both ntsc and pal formats.The recorded copy  is as good as the original. I purchased mine @ Best Buy. there are two models one has six adjustments including a black and white copy feature and the other model has four adjustments. Each unit has a unique model number. the six adj is $149 and the four adj is $99. Based on some of your replies, you appear to be quick in assessing and solving problems. Haing worked in an electronics environment for many years, I've never seen a s***w-up as bad as this one. I first saw the SIMA box at circuit city and both models were on  the same hook. I noticed that although the package had different model numbers, they both had the same bar code. CC had entered the $149 price in their database. I pointed this out to the store manager . CC discontinued selling the product due to the confusion. Best Buy on the other hand entered the sale price @$99 , and therefore was selling the $149 unit for $99.

That's where I purchased the $149 unit for $99. I just find it amazing that from development to distribution no  one picked up on the error.  The unit is about the size of a pack of cigarettes. I highly recommend it when you decide to get into DVD recording. I took all my vhs tapes (100's) and put them on DVD. Sorry for being so long winded, but I like to share my experiences   products I find exceptional. Have a good weekend. Rich

Answer 2

It could be that you played the tape so many times that it wore out the tape or try playing other tapes to make sure that its the tape not the VCR player.

Answer 3

That is the exact symptom of clogged video heads. Audio should still play if your video heads are clogged. Do you hear sound?

If not, it's broken. Might be a loading belt. Do you have young kids around? Might be a toy stuck inside. You can take the cover off and load the tape. That way you can see if a foriegn object is inside and it will give you a pretty good view of what's happening. If the tape loads up to the spinning video head, something more serious is wrong and you'll probably want to replace it.

Answer 4

How long ago did you clean your player's head(s)??? It could be that you need to pop a cleaning tape in there and that could "clear up" the problem (pun intended)... but if you are not even hearing a little whirring sound to indicate that the tape is playing, then you may have a broken drive belt! Does a friend have a VCR? Try it on his/her machine and see if it works. If you don't see anything even then, you have accidentally erased or otherwise somehow de-magnetized the tape... hope this addresses your problem???

Answer 5

you still have a vcr, where do u live, iceland