Who still uses VHS tapes these days?  People that haven't converted their beloved old school workout tapes by Jane Fonda to DVD.  I do not fall into this category, but, I was responsible for getting a VCR to work.  The old one was eating tapes, received a "new" one from a friend.  Didn't chew up tapes, but it only showed a quick 2 seconds of a tape, then everything was garbled beyond recognition.  No matter how much I played with the tracking, it did not improve.  Ran the Maxell VCR cleaner through a few times, seemed like a slight improvement.  Ignored the direction and instead of putting the fluid through the hole, applied generous amounts directly on the tape ribbon.  Put it back in the VCR, ran it a few more times, BINGO, works again.