A laser CD or DVD is the most versatile storage medium. Video and photo files recorded on it can be read in almost any DVD player and on any computer. True, these media have one significant drawback - they are very easy to damage. For example, if a disc is handled carelessly using faulty hardware (radial scratches), or it can happen on its own due to poor media quality.
Necessary
- - soft tissue;
- - ethanol;
- - polishing paste for CDs (Disc Repair);
- - program for recovering CD-disks.
Instructions
Step 1
Examine the damage on the disc carefully. If these are small chaotic scratches (for example, the disc was dragged across the table or floor), then do the following. Clean the disc surface with a soft cloth, such as the one used to clean the phone or tablet screen. This is done in order to remove distortion caused by pollution.
Step 2
If the disc cannot be read, it can be wiped with ethyl alcohol. The fact is that when alcohol dries, a thin film is formed, which can fill the scratch. This will allow you to read the storage medium. When dealing with radial scratches, you should repeat steps 1 and 2, but it is better to read it with a specialized program for recovering CD-discs, for example, such as SuperCopy or BadCopy.
Step 3
If the scratches are deep, then you should resort to polishing the disc, which is better to entrust to specialists. If you decide to use this method yourself, then apply a polishing paste, for example, Disc Repair, to the disc and process it with a soft circular motion with a cotton swab or cloth. Perform reading with a specialized utility (software method).
Step 4
If these are not scratches, but cracks in the disc, then the first step is to determine their direction. They can go from the inner radius to the outer one, or vice versa. The former are most often caused by the low quality of the data carrier, while the latter are caused by inaccuracy. Using a red-hot needle, punch a hole at the very tip of the crack.
Step 5
Next, slightly spread the edges of the crack and fill it with glue, while not allowing it to hit the readable side of the disc. Make sure that the gluing is straight and that there is no dimple or bump in its place. Read in programmatically. Some of the data will be lost, but some can be restored.
Step 6
If the upper layer of the disc lags behind, perform a software read. Remember that any damage to the top of the disc (on which the label is located) will permanently lose some of the data.
