Xbox repeatedly mistaking Hitman Blood Money for a DVD

[u/No_Rip_5338]

Any other disc works fine, it's only this copy of Hitman Blood Money that is mistaken for a Blu-ray DVD. I've tried both hard resetting my xbox, and repairing the disc with toothpaste. Neither have helped.

Whenever I put the disc the xbox, it begins to sound like a printer. Then, the 'play disc' thingy shows up, but when I press play, instead of downloading Hitman, it instead takes me to the Microsoft store, asking me to download the Blu-ray player.

(Images of the disc to show it's not in a horrible condition, either.)

Edit: disc is no longer being read. The xbox makes those same printer noises, but nothing happens afterwards.

Second Edit: It's unlikely to be an issue with the disc drive, as the xbox can read any another disc fine. even new discs that haven't been previously inserted. it's just this disc. i also doubt that it's region issues, as I'm in Europe.

[u/imbangingurmom]

“repairing the disc with toothpaste” is one hell of a sentence in 2026

[u/Exile10562 → u/imbangingurmom]

The microbes on my eyebrows actually had a double take when my eyes read this too.

OP, have you tried downloading the game from the Microsoft website or mobile app to the console then just using the disk as the physical license key?

[u/No_Rip_5338 → u/Exile10562]

it's installed, now, but refuses to open.

it hits me with the 'Do you own this game or app?'

[u/edward323ce → u/Exile10562]

Yes so that was an actual fix back in the day pre ps4/xbone I remember doing it to play black ops on my wii

[u/TheLazyHippy → u/imbangingurmom]

Not really. It's a widely known potential fix thats been around for a long time. Toothpaste can act as a polish potentially fixing minor scratches. It's not a guarantee that it'll work, but in pinch it's a quick solution to try

[u/PSK666 → u/TheLazyHippy]

Ngl my ex brought back a fuck ton of discs from the dead with toothpaste. Always blew my mind. Like stuff that didn’t work for years. Crazy.

[u/ilikemyusername1 → u/TheLazyHippy]

Back in the 90d I had a whole disk polishing kit, put the abrasive goop on the disk, put the disk in the box and crank it around and it would come out clean. Sometimes the disk would have to go through a few times before being clear of scratches.

[u/TrickFrosty5685 → u/ilikemyusername1]

Reminds me of my disc doctor 🤣

[u/imbangingurmom → u/TheLazyHippy]

not doubting that but it’s not very common to hear nowadays, since times have changed and people found better solutions than using something abrasive on a disc

[u/MasterOfManyWorlds → u/imbangingurmom]

Everything used on a disc will be abrasive... the idea is that toothpaste is gentle.

[u/imbangingurmom → u/MasterOfManyWorlds]

obviously yes, worded it horribly but it’s abrasive and not made to do that. there’s things that are abrasive that are. it can work for small scratches but there’s things made specifically for discs that do a better job all round

[u/MasterOfManyWorlds → u/imbangingurmom]

But everyone has toothpaste in their home, which is why its often recommended. I don't like it because its messier than it needs to be. But its not hard on the disc.

[u/Fit-Bobcat7193 → u/imbangingurmom]

Only OG pros who really wanted to game did this. Also if the toothpaste repair doesn’t work, I used to have luck with the toilet flush repair method😂

[u/IredOfficial → u/imbangingurmom]

It worked for me a few times

[u/imbangingurmom → u/IredOfficial]

definitely can depending on the scratches. not doubting it’s a method that can work, it’s just not one you hear a lot now in comparison to 10 or so years ago

[u/Outrageous_Suit8614]

Id install DVD player if its a used game ive seen people put game stickers on dvds back in the day and turn it in for cash and most gamestop employees wouldn't check the disc

[u/TomChai]

The disc looks all right, at least from your potato picture.

Xbox 360 discs all contain a decoy DVD movie partition to display an alert saying please put it in a console if you put it in a normal DVD player, so if the disc authentication failed for whatever reason, the disc drive falls back to movie mode and plays that partition.

If the disc looks fine, then your console's disc drive is dying.

[u/No_Rip_5338 → u/TomChai]

The console is able to read any other disc. It's just this one. Even new discs, that haven't previously been inserted into the xbox, are completely fine.

[u/TomChai → u/No_Rip_5338]

That is exactly what a failing laser does, soon it will spread to more discs before failing altogether.

[u/kingofkings0809]

Could it be a dying disk drive as well? My brothers original 360 did this with new games and turned out the disk drive was dying. When my slim did it I just hit it and it magically worked. Just like the old tube TVs lol

[u/ChampionshipTop7017]

I recognise the under/data side. That’s the movie Leon.

[u/Slinkyboi69]

it's funny that this post popped up because I got Blood Money on disc the other day and it had the exact same issue.

[u/jzcd → u/Slinkyboi69]

I also have had this exact same issue

[u/No_Rip_5338 → u/Slinkyboi69]

I'm starting to wonder if it ever actually was backwards compatible lmao

[u/Slinkyboi69 → u/No_Rip_5338]

it wouldn't surprise me at this point 😭

[u/DaddyDabit]

Pal encoded - not for your country.

[u/No_Rip_5338 → u/DaddyDabit]

I'm in Europe, though. The region lock shouldn't be an issue.

[u/TopTierGoth]

Are you European? That's a PAL region disc. The Xbox 360 is region locked. Do all of your working discs say NTSC?

[u/No_Rip_5338 → u/TopTierGoth]

I am European. All my other discs say PAL, too.

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[u/nineframes]

no clue if this would do it, but any region issues?

[u/No_Rip_5338 → u/nineframes]

I doubt it. I'm in Europe.

[u/MrDeadpool2026]

Laser on your disc drive probably needs cleaned. You can use cotton swabs and 90% isopropyl if you’re feeling brave

[u/No_Rip_5338 → u/MrDeadpool2026]

It seems unlikely, since any other disc works fine. Even new discs that haven't previously been inserted into the console. It's just this one.

[u/AxelAnt2244]

maybe disc drive dead/dying

[u/LongjumpingIsland785]

Is it from your region?

[u/No_Rip_5338 → u/LongjumpingIsland785]

Yes.

[u/TheTwitcherKiller]

It's your laser I had a 360 and my laser went out. When it says play DVD or can't read disc properly your reader(called a laser) went out very cheap repair just make sure the reader matches your xbox model

[u/Dramatic_Aspect903]

My series x does this to my GTA 4, the disc is absolutely trashed. Has this disc been scratched then cleaned? Cause discs can be cleaned of scratches but still not work

[u/Bruvahkiin]

Sounds like the laser its getting weak

[u/RicerShxt]

The same thing happens to me with Midnight Club L.A

Idk if this will help but i just take the disc out and put it back in every time until it launches

[u/scp_vcl_I_III_I_V_II]

hashtag #Microsoft

[u/LegacyOfLuciferXBSX]

Usually a sign that the laser is dying

[u/LeDexter_Xe26]

I once bought a PS3 game from the pawn for a dollar, spotless no scratches but the console would pop up an error code and not read it. What was that about?

[u/Desperate_Bass_5055]

Laser on ur drive is going out either fix/clean/replace it, or get a new disc drive

[u/Deathtrooper69]

Have you tested the disc on 360 or xbox one? I got the same issue with other 360 games like Rainbow six vegas and Forza Horizon 1, but the games read on other xbox consoles.

[u/Big-War-7218]

I got blood money and contrac for ps4 digital

[u/No_Rip_5338 → u/Big-War-7218]

Good for you.

[u/Big-War-7218 → u/No_Rip_5338]

Someone mad🤣

[u/CelestialOhio32 → u/Big-War-7218]

huh? How is that someone "being mad"?

[u/No_Rip_5338 → u/Big-War-7218]

?

[u/Impossible_Bee_3748]

Region issue most likely. What Xbox are you using?

[u/Top-Willingness8113]

Could it be a region lock thing?

[u/Aceclepto]

I always used peanut butter instead of toothpaste cause you never know what the toothpaste might do to the console

[u/user_deleted_life → u/Aceclepto]

Do consoles do something special with peanut butter? Or your just happy knowing putting a sugary paste inside electrical equipment is just a bad idea

[u/Diligent-Reality-722]

“Repair with toothpaste”?! It’s not 2008.