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Read Data from Scratched , Damaged, Defective, or Dirty CD or DVD Discs

CD or DVDs are the main source of storage for home and small business users. Unfortunately these type of storage is not reliable. CDs or DVDs will get damaged or scratched while regular use.

Here some tips to read or recover most of the data from scratched, Dirty CD or DVDs.

Some of the main reasons for inaccessible CD or DVD are -

* Dust on the CD.
* Figure print mark on the CD.
* Scratches done by improper handling.
* Top surface peeled off.

Dust on the CD :- In this situation never ever clean the CD from hand or dry cloth. Dust may contain tiny stone particle when you rub the CD surface by bare hand or cloth particles present in the dust make scratches on the CD. Always wash the CD with clean tab water and then clean with soft dry lint-free cloth or lens cleaning cloth.

Figure print mark on the CD :- This is one of the common problem. This can be avoided by holding the CD by griping outer edges. Never try to clean figure prints from bare hand or cloth. First wash the the CD with clean running water and then soft dry cloth.

Scratches done by improper handling :- Light scratches can be removed by applying some mild detergent and washing in clean running tab water.

Deep scratches bit difficult to remove. We can do some workaround by applying polish on data side of the disk. White toothpaste, silver polish or any other household polishing product can be used. Polishing will remove the thin outer layer of the CD and reduce the depth of the scratch.

Top surface peeled off:- To recover data from these kind of a CDs CD repair kits available in the market. Using these CD repair material outer coating can be applied and read the data.

Some freeware and shareware tool are available to recover or read the data from scratched or dirty CDs. These programs read data from good track or block and we can copy some portion of the data. At least something is better than nothing :)