What is Digg?72 Comments
- stuffhappens, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Um..you have a CD that you can't read - so it's basically trashed
If this works, you have 'recovered the CD'
If it doesn't you are no worse off.
Go figure - DocDEB, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Ya, but this one has pictures.
- cryonix, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8obviously a product designed to polish will work the best like brasso. but unlike suggested i don’t have brasso laying around the house. i do however have toothpaste; and that’s my polisher of choice. :)
- anorris, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5It took me a lot of effort, and several applications, but toothpaste saved my copy of Sim City 3000.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4A friend of mine told me he has used a light coat of silicon spray, which fills in the scratches, and that did the trick. I have never tried it myself though I think my friend is reliable.
I have used scratch repair kits though and they work. - cryonix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4i doubt it was the mint that was abrasive (mostly because mint is usually in liquid extract form). baking soda is an abrasive and is found in most tooth pastes.
- dlaw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3My own method is some spit, my shirt, a short prayer, and a kick to the head for not ripping the cd when I first got it. :P
Seriously though, great article. Very useful. - Swift2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3A friend once bought me a CD with all kinds of photos on it. When it arrived, I saw that it was scratched like crazy, and when I took it out of the envelope, a big glob of gooey glue landed on the mirrored side. I tried all the official cures, and eventually got most -- but not all -- of the goo removed. Still wouldn't play. So I got desperate, and dabbed it with WD-40. The goo was completely gone, along with most of the scratches. It played well enough to take the data off. So, if you're desperate, as with so many things, try WD-40!
- triska, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Toothpaste works great for me, except the one time I spent so much effort polishing out big scratches across a Jean-Michel Jarre CD so I ended up with a clear readable surface, but didn't notice grit under the other side of the CD that took out parts of the reflective layer.
d'oh. - test5477, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3saved my milli vanilli CD
- RobotCitizen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2What would MacGuyver do?
- framitz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Why put up with the fumes from brasso? Mother’s polish for aluminum works MUCH faster and breaks down finer as you gently polish so that you end up with a glass finish, then final cleanup and polish with Zimol. Only takes a few minutes most times and if done right you can't tell where the scratch was. I've saved a few CDs for my son this way. My IPod photo screen was scratched badly and this made it look NEW in about 10 minutes. Rubbing compound would also work if you work from course to fine, then wax.
The article is a waste of space, NOT Dugg - ToadX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Brasso works much better than toothpaste. When I tried toothpaste once, it basically didn't do anything for me.
- rekrapt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Not everyone had discovered this excellent web site a year ago... DUGG
- jpb0104, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3now when you say toothpaste are you saying like the old school white paste or just any high tech crest blue stuff???
- Anal0gKid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2CD with photos and goo? The mailman must have had a laptop handy.
- ogletree, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I did this with rubbing compound like 17 years ago.
- Schmitty, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Actually, I'd be happier taking it to the local music/DVD store and have them resurface it, it's only 3 bucks.
- pkulak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It should be the same deal, except you can't polish as deep since with DVDs the reflective layer is in the middle rather then the back.
- colinmhayes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1rubbing compoung, polishing compound, and auto polish (not wax, that *****'s horrible for your car) will do wonders to a scratch in anything.
- xLiKx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1simply backup your old CDs/DVDs every 2-3 years just to be safe. or get an external HD and back it up that way also. if you want to restore a bad CD/DVD, there may be solutions out there.
- TechSamurai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Easier yet buy a SkipDR or DiscDR. You put the CD in the device and turn the crank. I have fixed over 30 discs with the device, only the really bad discs can't be fixed.
- hadak, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2steam. steam is the best way. boil a pot of water, and wave the cd over it 3-4 times. not long enough to melt the cd, that would be bad. just warm it up, and then rub the cd on a pair of bluejeans against the grain. (likewise, if you don't have steam, just rubbing the cd on your jeans like that until it gets warm should do the trick) i've been doing it for years, and i have yet to have a cd that this doesn't work on.
- toyotaboy, on 10/12/2007, -10/+11I like it the first time a story like this was dugg, over a year ago
http://digg.com/science/A_simple_and_safe-to-do-at-home_repair_for_scratched_and_scuffed_CDs
and this
http://digg.com/hardware/Recovering_Scratched_CDs
and this
http://digg.com/links/Tips_to_recover_scratched_CDs..._ - mastercheif, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3 Brasso also works great getting scratches off of iPods, expecialy iPod nano's.
- naich, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Anyone tried this with spectacles? My specs are so scratched it's like looking through a fog all the time and I can't afford a new pair at the moment.
- supercoop, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah I was thinking about all the chemicals being used on a CD may damage the data side or make it so that it can never be repaired again - aka yellow/brittle the surface. I too would stick with the real plastic polish like stuff used on taillights or motorcycle shields.
- dbalaski, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Interesting -- But ...
Has anyone thought of actually using something designed to work on acrylic plastics??
Toothpaste, brasso, autowax, WD-40 (I dont believe this one) might work to some extent --
I recommend people use a series of Plastic Cleaner/Polishes from Novus Ltd.
http://www.noscratch.com/novus/uses.shtml
I discovered this stuff for cleaning plastics when I got a scratch in my motorcycle's windscreen -- It worked great and I tried it also on a heavily scratched CD -- It worked great on it too. Since then I have used it on DVDs, LCD Monitors, Laptop Screens all sorts of plastic stuff.
Since it is designed to work with this type of plastic -- it doesnt yellow it , nor does it make it brittle like some heavy chemical cleaners.
They make a three part system for cleaning and removing scratches
#1 -- basic cleaner
#2 -- remove Light Scratches
#3 -- remove Heavy Scraches
Anyways -- in a pinch, use that other stuff -- I would recommend Novus stuff over brasso and toothpast etc etc any day. - nuxx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1yeah, i'd like to know too, because i have a CD-RW lying about that my cat got after.
- Olle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@framitz,
while the data side physically would be at the bottom most people think of the data side as the side where you can "see" the data, which is the silvery side. - hordak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1When you use toothpaste, you should use tartar control toothpaste; soft toothpaste wont do much. It's the grittiness of that type that helps smooth out the surface; the CD may end up looking more scratched up, but in fact, the playability of it goes up. I've basically used toothpaste on the CD, and afterwards, ran the CD under running water to remove it; then "walah!", it played better than before!
- isewise, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I really don't see why this is the number one Dugg story. Maybe before CD-resurfacing tools were created this would have been really helpful.
But now the only How to you need is:
Go to Wal-Mart
Buy a SkipDr.
Follow instructions
Wow amazing 2 million diggs! - waterandfood, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1A nice software solution (and truly free to try) is: http://www.isobuster.com/
- STKD, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Brasso "FTW". Ahem.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Also, try soap and hot water first (with some mild scrubbing with a washcloth). It can clean dirt out of scratches which could make the disk readable again (and is a lot less risky than using an abrasive).
- MasteRR, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This looks like it's being done to a pressed CD. Anyone know if this works for CD-Rs and DVD-Rs? I have a DVD-R laying here with a horrible circular scratch (DVD-ROM drive was dropped and scratched the DVD) with some data that I can't replace.
- ufbert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Hmm... Maybe you should backup a CD you use so often it get scratched...
- trussrules, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I wouldn't use a paper towel. A nice soft cotton cloth or a microfiber cloth works best for this. Brasso does wonders, but a rough paper towel will make it worse.
- johnjreiser, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Lay the scratched CD data-side up on a flat surface and use a hair dryer on the hottest setting. Melts the plastic, removes the scratch.
- cross, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1What's Netflix use?
- sanjay, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2will the same work for retrieving the data off a scratched DVD?
same being toothpaste/brasso..... - atFault, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Brasso or other polishing compounds do not "remove part of the CD plastic protection". They heat the surface of the material to the point where it flows and fills the scratches. This is the principle behind all polishing techniques. However, if your scratches are particularly deep then material removal may be necessary. CDs are made of polycarbonate and the information is stored on the top of the CD protected under paint or plastic film on the other side of the disc. Unless you abrade away all the polycarbonate material, which would take an enormous amount of work using a light compound like Brasso or toothpaste, the risk of damaging data is extremely low.
- qwertyu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Forget Brasso use a good car cut and polish
- dlaw, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2WD-40 and Duct Tape: The Fix-all for an American Household!
- qwab, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I prefer the lemony smell of Soft Scrub! :)
- TheSolomon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1We can get Brasso here in the United States, and it's originally from the U.K. Granted, Sweden isn't England, but it's a hell of a lot closer to England than the United States. :-)
- beforeseven, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Brasso is a mild abrasive, so you're basically polishing off a thin layer of whatever you might be polishing. If the scratch is not too deep, the surrounding area will eventually become flush with the scratch.
- StaticGTF, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0With some toothpaste AND metalpolish i managed to save/restore my Logitech SetPoint 1.02 drivers disc, which have been broken for over two years. Installing my MX900 SetPoint drivers after that has been a genuine pain in the backside!
i DID make a new backup of the disc though... - Mischa, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3thats funny cause I'm up late drinking, and this was the only story I opened and read.
weak minds drink alike.
M - framitz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The DATA is actually on the label side of the disk, so I suspect this would destroy any chance of fixing the disk.
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