Scratched CD

stuart_j

not really a money question but im desperate

my home PC got a virus on it and had to have the hard drive professionally cleaned.

i had to save all my files to cds then transfer them back on

one cd ( No backup ) contained alot of Kodak digital Camera Photos (over 300) and video files (Less than 50)

this cd has now become scratched (Deep scratch 7cm long) and unreadable, and i desperately want my photos back.

i dont think any trace of these photos will be left on the hard drive.

friends have told me certain solutions will work, but i dont want to try as i have only one chance - if it doesnt work the data will be gone for ever - and some UK companies have said they will have a go for no less than £250 - Eeek

really dont know what to do, and i cant afford to looose these photos. very sentimental.

any advice greatly appreciate.

thanks.

Rex_Mundi

I bought a cd scratch repair kit from asda to see if it would work on an old game. It took a few goes, but it worked in the end. It was only about £6/£7. I'd say give this a go.

DVB_3

I don't think that you only have one chance - it's a CD after all, you can try to read it as many times as you like. It should be possible to read your files off the disk, but you will need a very good drive and recovery software. For the drive I'd use a Plextor (PlexWriter Premium if available), and on software front BlindWrite should do. There are ways to polish the disk in order to get rid of the scratch, but personally I wouldn't go down that route until every non-destructive recovery option has been exhausted.

BertS_2

Firstly you need to ensure that the CD is clean. Do this by using a small amount of washing up liquid and some water and just rubbing your finger around it. This will remove all the grease.

Then try and copy the disc using slow read speeds, the copy program will keep retrying hard to read areas and you may be able to make a working copy.

If the disc still cannot be read you can use toothpaste (really!). This will probably work best if the scratch is from the centre to the edge, since the radial scratches destroy more sequential data.

Take a small amount of toothpaste and rub across the scratch. Do this lightly and then wash it all off and try the disc again. If this hasn't worked you can repeat it, however you should realise that the toothpaste is a mild abrasive so do a little at a time and keep retrying.

If it works I would copy it immediately onto a new disc.

This has made several unreadable discs work for me.

Good luck.

shrek101

I have used thsi before

http://www.jufsoft.com/badcopy/

You can get a trial version free

rogue_element

Are these solutions suitable for burnt cds though- i would not reccomend using alcohol cleaners on recorded cds, only the silver variety. Try some of the utilites detailed before attacking it with toothpaste and car wax!

Also make sure you do NOT rub it in circles. You should clean with a cloth or whatever in lines going from the inside hole of the disk to the edge.

vultura

Try www.perfectplay.co.uk for scratched CDs and game disks.

newfoundglory

rogue_element wrote:

Also make sure you do NOT rub it in circles. You should clean with a cloth or whatever in lines going from the inside hole of the disk to the edge.

Agreed!! You should always clean a CD from inside to out... not in a spiral or circle motion.

stuart_j

hav'nt had a chance to try anything out yet as i was busy all weekend, but

i will keep you posted on any progress.

p.s went to PC World on friday after work and the muppets there could'nt

give me any advice, says i should try Virgin.

Joe_Bloggs

A scratch is just an absence of transparent plastic. For shallow scratches it may be possible to abrade the surrounding area to the depth of the scratch and hence eliminate it. You would have to polish the area up again to transparancy. With a deep scratch it may be possible to fill the area with refracive index matching material. It might be best to have control over the spin speed of the CD once this was done as the filling medium could fly off.
The worst scratch is a concentric scratch and the best is radial. Hence polishing operations should involve a radial motion.

I have a £10 kit that acheives this with a little toothed cog wheel being driven towards the centre by an outer toothed ring.

If you are in doubt as to what works best then make up a test disk and
trial your method before using it on the real thing.

Make a backup before hand though, just in incase like DVB and others said.

J_B.

Toxteth_OGrady

The Gucci answer!

:cool:

TOG