Disk needs to be cleaned?

Question

I have tried about five times to update my BRAND NEW unibody aluminum MacBook Pro to Snow Leopard, and every single time it goes for about a minute or two and then presents me with the message: “There is a problem reading the Mac OS X Install DVD. Carefully clean the disc and try again.”
I have tried cleaning the disk and doing everything else but I have no idea what to do. Is this disk just faulty or is there something I'm doing wrong?

Answer 1

Your disk may be bad, or it may simply be inconsistent with your optical drive. Either way you can get a new one from Apple--either by exchanging at an apple store (if you got the disk at one) or through Apple support. The next disk you get could be better or worse. If you want to install without exchanging the disk yet, then here are some possibilities (be sure you are well backed up as in any install):
I imagine you have tried this option. If not, you could try starting up from the DVD by holding down c when you start up. You will have to have access to a Mac that can read the disk to try the next two options. So, if you have access to another properly equipped Mac (see link), then you may be able to install using [firewire target disk mode. |http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661] Finally, [here is another interesting install possibility. |http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20051227162152292] You should be able create your image file like this:
a. Insert the DVD/CD;
b. Open Disk Utility, and select the DVD/CD from the left side list (select the DVD/CD icon on top);
c. from the Disk Utility File menu select New Disk Image from Disk 1;
d. Choose to format the disk image as DVD/CD Master, name the disk image, click Save; and
e. Upon completion, Get Info on the .cdr file and lock the file.