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how to fix a scratched cd
while compact discs (cds) are remarkably durable, it’s nearly
impossible to prevent scratches and scuffs from occurring from time
to time. the resulting damage can be either a skip in your favorite
bob marley track or, in the case of data cds, the loss of that
spreadsheet you worked on for two weeks. don’t despair—repair!
while commercial cd repair kits and cd refinishing machines are
available, you may be able to repair the damage on your own with
products you already have.
[edit]
steps
clean the disc. even if a cd isn’t actually scratched or
scuffed, dust, oil, and other surface contaminants can prevent it
from playing properly. thus cleaning the disc should always be your
first move. run warm water over the damaged disc to remove dust. if
there is stubborn dirt or grease on the disc, gently rub it with
your finger while you are washing it, and use a gentle detergent or
liquid soap (with the water) or rubbing alcohol (in place of
water). any time you 'rub or wipe a cd, you should do so by
starting at or near the center of the disc and rubbing straight
outward toward the edge' to prevent further scratching.
shake the water off and let the disc air-dry (do not dry it with a
towel or cloth, and don't sun-dry it either).
try to play the disc. many times a good cleaning is all that is
needed. if, however, problems persist after cleaning, try to play
the disc in a different cd player. some players handle scratches
better than others; computer cd drives tend to be best.
burn a new disc. if you can get the cd to work in one cd player
- especially your computer’s - but not in others, try burning a new
disc. the cd burner on your computer may be able to read the cd
well enough to produce a perfect copy. you may wish to try this
even if the cd doesn’t play correctly on the computer.
locate the scratch. actually repairing the disc will be easier
if you can figure out where the offending scratch is. visually
inspect the cd’s playing surface for scratches or scuffs. scratches
that run perpendicular to the cd’s spiral - that is, those that run
generally from the center to the rim - may not affect playing at
all, and in any case are generally less damaging than those that
roughly follow the direction of the spiral. if there are several
scratches, but the cd only skips in one or two places, you may be
able to approximate the location of the offending scratches based
on which track skips. keep in mind that the first track of a cd
begins near the center, and the direction of play proceeds outward
to the edge.
polish the cd. though counterintuitive, polishing a disc can
repair a scratched cd by removing some of the outer plastic coating
and thus making existing scratches shallower. a number of common
household products can be used to polish the cd, but toothpaste —
especially baking soda toothpaste — and brasso are probably the
most tried and true. you can also use a fine-grit polishing
compound that's used for cars or hard finishes. apply a small
amount of toothpaste (must be paste, not gel) or brasso to a soft,
clean, lint-free (old undershirt) cloth: an eyeglass-cleaning cloth
works well. gently rub the cloth on the scratch or scuff in a
radial motion, start at the center and rub out to the edge (like
spokes on a wheel). do this 10 or 12 times all around the cd.
rubbing in a circular motion can cause small scratches that
throw off the laser tracking system in the player. try to focus
your efforts solely on the scratch or scratches you’ve identified
(if possible). polish in this manner for a couple of minutes,
reapplying brasso or toothpaste to the cloth as necessary. be
careful not to apply much pressure, although you will still be able
to feel the cloth gently scratching the cd as it polishes.
remove polishing product from disc. if you used toothpaste,
rinse the disc thoroughly with warm water and let dry. make sure to
remove all of the toothpaste and let the disc dry completely before
trying to play it. with brasso, wipe off excess product and let the
rest dry. then, using a clean cloth, gently wipe disc again.
test the disc. if the problem persists, polish again for up to
15 minutes or until the scratch is almost completely buffed out.
the surface around the scratch should begin to look shiny with many
tiny scratches. if you still don’t notice any difference after
polishing for a few minutes, the scratch may be extremely deep, or
you may be polishing the wrong scratch.
wax the tracks. if polishing doesn’t work, apply a very thin
coat of vaseline, liquid car wax, neutral shoe polish or furniture
wax to the cd’s playing surface. wipe excess off using clean, soft,
lint-free cloth in a radial (inside to outside) motion. if using
wax, follow manufacturer’s instructions (some need to dry before
you wipe them off, while others should be wiped off while still
wet).
test disc again. if the wax or vaseline does the trick, burn a
new copy of the cd immediately. the waxing method is only a
temporary solution.
bring the cd in to get refinished. if the disc still doesn’t
play correctly, bring it in to a music store (especially one that
sells used cds) or a dvd rental store and ask if they can repair
the disc for you. many of these businesses have cd refinishing
machines that do a remarkable job, and they’ll probably charge you
less than five dollars to repair the cd.
you can buy a disc scratch remover at game stores like
game-stop. don't worry, it works for all types of cds. it'll work
like magic.
[edit] tips
severely damaged cds may not be repairable. very deep scratches
will probably require an industrial-quality machine to repair, and
cracks or scratches that reach the cd’s foil may render a cd
forever useless. as a matter of fact, the compact disc eraser
(www.disceraser.com) adopts this method to securely destroy old or
confidential cds and dvds. a great device to have if your backup or
personal discs become outdated or no longer needed.
if it still does not work after you tried everything, use it as
a coaster for your beverages.
to determine if the foil layer of your cd is scratched, hold
the cd up to a fairly bright light and see if any pinholes are
visible. holes in the foil layer of a cd are generally not
repairable, even for a professional.
practice repairing scratched cds that you don’t care much about
before you set out to repair your favorites.
it’s a good idea to create a backup of any data disc before
damage occurs.
if a cd is scratched but continues to play correctly, make a
backup, but don’t bother trying to repair it yet.
make sure the disc is indeed scratched. if the disc is not
visibly scratched, the problem likely lies elsewhere. other
problems could be surface dirt or a malfunctioning cd player. the
steps above should help you to clarify where the problem is.
deep gouges are not repairable. however, because of the way
redundancy is used in the data on the disc and the way the data are
distributed along the spiral track, cleaning a disc area away from
a scratch can improve data recovery; a number of smaller defects
distributed along the track can be as bad or worse than one larger
defect.
the polycarbonate bottom layer of the disk acts as a lens,
which focuses a larger patch of laser light down to a smaller size
needed to see the track on the data layer. this lets the laser look
through some small imperfections on the plastic surface which are
much larger than the track on the data layer. removing a lot of
plastic can affect the refractive property of the lens making the
data unreadable. this means that even a visibly scuffed or
spider-web of scratches may play well because, though the defects
are visible to your eye, the laser sees around/through them. this
is why waxing can help. a repair doesn't have to look perfectly
polished to work.
if the disc has important data on it, your best choice is
probably to pay the money to get the disc repaired professionally
before you try to repair it yourself. that way, you can make sure
you don’t damage the cd any further in your repair attempts.
a number of cd cleaning and repair kits are available for sale,
but many users report that these don’t work any better than brasso,
and they’re far more expensive.
to remove deep or stubborn scratches quickly, try using a dry
“mr. clean magic eraser”. this is a sponge impregnated with a micro
abrasive. use light pressure, wiping from the center of the disk to
the outside edge just as described with other polishing methods.
the repaired area can be buffed until shiny using the other
polishing or waxing techniques described.
if you have a lot of discs to repair, you might want to buy a
cd refinishing machine. these can cost as little as $25, but highly
effective industrial machines cost anywhere from $300-6,000.
if all else fails, try the freezer. the theory is that the
scratches will shrink. this could take a few hours (music cds) to
days (videogame discs).
an odd but working way of cleaning a cd is using a freshly cut
banana. first, wipe the cd with the cut side of the banana in a
circular motion. then, do the same thing with the banana peel.
then, wipe the disc off with a cotton cloth. then, use glass
cleaner like windex to wipe the disc clean. the result is an
unscratched, shiny disc.
try making a copy of the damaged disk onto a clean disk. this
may cause the new cd ( without scratches ) to run properly
[edit]
warnings
if you hold the cd up to a bright light to check for holes in
the foil layer, remember not to stare at the light for long. a
60-100 watt bulb should be more than enough to see pinholes in the
foil layer. do not use the sun!
keep in mind that it is possible to further damage a cd if you
do this incorrectly (i.e. if you apply too much pressure while
polishing or rub the cd in a circular motion).
to prevent damage to your cd player, make sure cds are
completely dry and free of excess polishing products or waxes
before you attempt to play them.
if you are using brasso, make sure to do so in a
well-ventilated area, and avoid breathing in the fumes. always read
the safety instructions and warnings on any chemical product as
many (such as rubbing alcohol) are flammable and / or can cause
skin, eye, or respiratory irritation.
when touching the cd do not use a circular pattern
(circumferential pattern, like when a cd is spinning). go from the
inside to the outside in a perfect line (a radial pattern) so you
prevent data loss.
when polishing the disc, make sure the surface upon which the
disc is laid is flat and firm but not hard or abrasive. data is
stored on the foil or dye layers on the top of the disc (label
side) and the protective top layer is very thin by comparison to
the polycarbonate plastic bottom layer you will polish. the thin
top layer can easily be scratched or perforated. if this happens
the data is lost forever as it is not repairable by any means.
pressing on a disc upon too soft a surface may crack it or cause it
to de-laminate.
don't touch the cd, or you'll leave finger prints, causing it
to get dirty again, and that may cause the cd to skip a track or
pause. hold it by the hole in the middle.
[edit]
things you'll need
clean, soft, lint-free cloth
water (or rubbing alcohol)
brasso metal polisher, fine polishing compound or
toothpaste
liquid car wax or vaseline (optional)
[edit]
related wikihows
how to
create a cd sleeve
how to tell if a cd is damaged
how to remix
how to throw a
cd
how to make a perfect mix tape or
cd
[edit]
sources and citations
burningissues.net review and comparison of some
home repair options and some commercial cd repair kits
hardwaresecrets.com article on recovering
scratched cds
mcgee flutes article on using brasso to fix
cds
library journal comparisons of industrial cd repair
machines
jfilerecovery free cross platform utility that can
read files off badly scratched cds
ads by google
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categories:tv and home audio
authors
anonymous, krystle c., frogboy, jack h, greenpogo, ben rubenstein, imperatrix, axiom, j.m. delaney, waited, andy zhang, peter v., jax, travis derouin, brettcapewell, chris, sondra c, versageek, hdlc, brett, jen, flickety, david, dvortygirl, zack, dave crosby, webster, penguins4you, bo, richard, v rod, 1guitarhero2, khluvr621, library, nick, wikiwhack, chicablog, maniac, txrisk, fenderkid6, shaiaquaand others
thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 317,479 times.
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