Never owned a wii. If it worked before I would speculate on missing or corrupt old game-save data. Computers can be messy when the BIOS battery is empty after sitting idle for weeks or months (corrupted or lost BIOS data). idk how the console works internally, tho. Perhaps you find a way to reset or restart it, removing all old game saves - since you want a fresh start anyways. Possibly there is also a problem with dust inside, or scratches, finger prints on the cd/dvd. Hope I could give you a hint.