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This is an article about recovering data of damaged CD’s. You should be aware that we can’t guarantee that these solutions will help, and that some solutions might even make it worse.
First make sure the surface is clean
First of all, if the CD is unreadable because of some fingerprints or some dust, then use a soft piece of cloth and rub from the inside to the outside of the CD.
If cleaning the CD with a piece of cloth doesn’t fix the problem you have two choices, try to restore the data with software or you will have to physically restore the surface of the CD. Both have no guarantee to success, but it’s worth to try. Since you have a worthless CD, there’s nothing to lose !
Software solutions:
You first might want to try the software on CD-prod.com. They have to products that, as they say, are able to recover data from CD’s.
Or their other product may be even better:
Another piece of software that has been recommended to us by a CD recovery company is IsobusterThat is the program. It runs under Windows so it bypasses some of the Windows limitations.
Also the software from Naltech could help. They developed a program called CD Data Rescue which is able to recover some data, IF you are lucky.
Also CDRecovery and CD Dataguys might be places where they can offer you help. (CD dataguys say to have a success rate that is slightly above 90%)
Physical changes to make a CD readable again
You won’t believe this, but the cheapest way is using toothpaste. The best toothpaste to make your CD readable again is the toothpaste to make your teeth brighter, cause this scrubs better. You should be able to buy this in your local drugstore. You will have to rub with some cloth from the inside to the outside of the CD, in the opposite direction of the read direction of the CD.
If you have a really deep and big scratch, then you could use polish that is used by opticains on glasses. You should go to your optician for more information about this substance.
Some more recovery tips:
- Always try to do the recovery with a CD writer instead of just a reader. The writers can see the tracks better.
- Also, sometimes it is best to use the same machine “or writer manufacturer” that wrote the data in the first place, when doing a recovery. For instance, if a Plextor did the writing, use a Plextor for the recovery work. This is especially true with HP models.
First make sure the surface is clean
First of all, if the CD is unreadable because of some fingerprints or some dust, then use a soft piece of cloth and rub from the inside to the outside of the CD.
If cleaning the CD with a piece of cloth doesn’t fix the problem you have two choices, try to restore the data with software or you will have to physically restore the surface of the CD. Both have no guarantee to success, but it’s worth to try. Since you have a worthless CD, there’s nothing to lose !
Software solutions:
You first might want to try the software on CD-prod.com. They have to products that, as they say, are able to recover data from CD’s.
CD-R Diagnostic allows you to test, examine and recover data from CD, CD-R and CD-RW discs. This includes support for discs written using Adaptec DirectCD and CeQuadrat PacketCD as well as other packet-writing programs. It bypasses Windows and other CD software installed on your computer to allow complete freedom to examine nearly any CD, including Macintosh and audio discs. |
Or their other product may be even better:
CD-R Inspector is similar to CD-R Diagnostic, but has additional features for data recovery companies and computer forensic applications. It allows searching the contents of a disc in several ways to identify various hidden content and supports saving the information from a disc that has been examined so the lengthy processing does not have to be repeated each time. If you have used CD-R Diagnostic and wished for some additional capabilities, this may be what you are looking for. |
Another piece of software that has been recommended to us by a CD recovery company is IsobusterThat is the program. It runs under Windows so it bypasses some of the Windows limitations.
Also the software from Naltech could help. They developed a program called CD Data Rescue which is able to recover some data, IF you are lucky.
Also CDRecovery and CD Dataguys might be places where they can offer you help. (CD dataguys say to have a success rate that is slightly above 90%)
Physical changes to make a CD readable again
You won’t believe this, but the cheapest way is using toothpaste. The best toothpaste to make your CD readable again is the toothpaste to make your teeth brighter, cause this scrubs better. You should be able to buy this in your local drugstore. You will have to rub with some cloth from the inside to the outside of the CD, in the opposite direction of the read direction of the CD.
If you have a really deep and big scratch, then you could use polish that is used by opticains on glasses. You should go to your optician for more information about this substance.
Some more recovery tips:
- Always try to do the recovery with a CD writer instead of just a reader. The writers can see the tracks better.
- Also, sometimes it is best to use the same machine “or writer manufacturer” that wrote the data in the first place, when doing a recovery. For instance, if a Plextor did the writing, use a Plextor for the recovery work. This is especially true with HP models.
17 Comments
very nice
but can it also be used to read cd's whith a scratch?
- guest
- Posts: 15284
- Posted on: 09 Apr 01 19:40
i use clear candle wax...rub all over a buff clean with a soft cloth...works every time!!
- guest
- Posts: 15284
- Posted on: 23 May 01 16:58
A better way to remove scratches is to use a very mild cleaner for automotive paint, since the protective coating on CDRs is acrylic lacquer, which has been used to paint GM cars for many years. I prefer Meguiars, it is available at most auto parts stores, they also make a superb plastic polish that is good for restoring pressed CDs. A good way to prevent damage to CDs and CDRs is to use a pure carnauba wax (also known as "yellow wax". I have been using it on all of my CDs, including audio CDs, for many years.
- guest
- Posts: 15284
- Posted on: 08 Jun 01 15:48
To the more ambitious people, they sell devices in stores like Babages that physically resurface the cd. If you have about $20 to blow, Id recomend this because not only do you have a warentee and a guarentee against damage, it also scrapes the surface level for geed reads. Using tooth paste or wax can cause small waves in the CD which can decrease cd life and performance.
- guest
- Posts: 15284
- Posted on: 27 Jun 01 16:37
I used rose buffing compound on a cloth wheel that fits into any electric drill, got it from Sears. Removed a deep scratch in a cd that was unusable. (of course this can't be done too often before you grind a hole completely through the plastic! ..so I made a backup copy as soon as I got the cd to read again. I called the company who made the cd and they had told me too bad, you have to buy another one. I'm glad the buffing wheel worked. :4
- guest
- Posts: 15284
- Posted on: 02 Jul 01 17:16
You should add Acodisc CD and DVD data recovery to your list. http://www.acodisc.com/ Acodisc is the only lab to recover from quick erased cd-rws and other very hard cases. For removing scraches try http://www.cdrepairman.com/
- guest
- Posts: 15284
- Posted on: 27 Jan 02 05:53
hi it's my first time trying to recover data from damage cd because after i write a cd i wait several days to delete the info to my computer but this time i do it imediatly then try to record an extra session and then the recording process no respond and made my cd unreadble and i try to close the session to made my CD usefull but i get a error message, can this companies recover my data? i desesperate
- guest
- Posts: 15284
- Posted on: 27 Aug 02 03:06
www.blindwrite.com The BlindRead/BlindWrite suite has saved quite a number of audio discs that had been rendered otherwise unreadable. Most of these discs had labels stuck on the top surface, and apparently the glue had degraded the protective layer. I couldn't read these things in a Plextor drive using Exact Audio Copy - so I knew things were bad. BlindRead does a raw data read without attempting to perform error correction - and in roughly 9 out of ten cases, I was able to get an apparently perfect read on these discs that made every other program I tried barf. Writing the BlindRead image (an ISO image) to a new (re-writable) disc, I was able to extract the audio just fine.
- guest
- Posts: 15284
- Posted on: 09 Dec 02 18:22
When I get errors I first clean the cd with warm water and soap, dry carefully, and retry. For really bad scratches I use a tube of stuff they sell to remove scratches from cellphone screens. After you do that, read in the CD using CloneCD on the 'Game CD' setting. When you have the CD, you can try to repair any damage with CDmage (http://cdmage.cjb.net/)
- guest
- Posts: 15284
- Posted on: 05 Mar 07 18:46
I run a CD and DVD repair comany in the UK (www.cd-repair.co.uk). While researching different compounds to polish CDs and DVDs, I found that brasso seems to work as the best abbrasive. After this, try polishing with car wax. I found this method works for 1/3 of the disks I tried. Obviously if the data on the disk is valuable, I would use a professional disk repair company!
- guest
- Posts: 15284
- Posted on: 18 Jul 07 15:40
bas chaioye yaar!!!
- guest
- Posts: 15284
- Posted on: 17 Sep 07 03:25
- guest
- Posts: 15284
- Posted on: 20 Sep 07 07:29
www
- guest
- Posts: 15284
- Posted on: 28 Jan 08 23:22
I had a bad experience with Acodisc. I sent them a cracked CD to try to read; they did not respond to emails or phone calls for 2 weeks. I finally got through to them today and was told my data was unrecoverable. I can understand unrecoverable data, but not returning phone calls or emails is inexcusable.
- guest
- Posts: 15284
- Posted on: 11 Sep 08 21:29
I have a cd with pictures that has water damage and the top film is coming off. Can this cd be reaired??
- guest
- Posts: 15284
- Posted on: 19 Sep 08 21:38
Does anyone know how to get the paper off the darn CD's when they all somehow got wet while in storage. I have over 50 that the original CD purchased from a store are stuck inside the cover with the paper from the band stuck to it. And if I am just to tear it out, how might I get a replacement cover off the web to allow me to sell some of them back to some of the resale stores?....