Any tips for getting really badly scratched CDs to work?

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-- Any tips for getting really badly scratched CDs to work?

Posted by Synchronicity on Jul-20-2006 18:03:

Any tips for getting really badly scratched CDs to work?

Hi,

I got an old CD off my sister today which is really badly scratched to the point where I can't rip it to my hard drive, it just stutters.

It's a track I made, not for pirating or anything. Any tips on how I can get it to work?

Cheers

Posted by SYSTEM-J on Jul-20-2006 18:08:

If it's too badly scratched for your PC's CD drive to read then it must be absolutely fucked.

Posted by RapidFire on Jul-20-2006 18:10:

the only thing I can think of is this cloth that cleans smudges...wont do anything for scratches but it might make it slightly easier to read.

Posted by Synchronicity on Jul-20-2006 18:18:

Mmm. It looks like it is pretty fucked, but I've just read toothpaste or brasso might work.

Well, there's only two ways to find out...

Cheers

Posted by mrmonkey on Jul-20-2006 18:21:

It shouldnt be too difficult to fix, there are plenty of ways of going about this and most CDs are recoverable unless the scratches are really deep. I bought a hand-held scratch fixer whereby you spray it with a special fluid then put it through the machine and then buffer it and it works great. You can buy these machines in varying qualities at varying prices, I paid about �25 for mine but you can spend more and get automated.

You can also get it done professionally by sending off the CD in the post and the fix it briliiantly and send it back good as new, which tends to be around �3/�4.

However, I read somewhere that the best way to do it at home is simply by rubbing brasso into it with a cloth and it tends to work really well although I havent actually tried this.

Google "disk repair" or something like that or "fix scratched cds" or whatever

Posted by BearOwsley on Jul-20-2006 18:48:

office supply stores sell disc repair kits for real cheap. as mrmonkey said you just dab it with this lotion, put it in this case, crank it and its (usually) good as new.

Posted by tribu on Jul-20-2006 18:50:

A place near my parentals' house resurfacs cds for a dollar. Its a used music/video game/ etc place....if you have one nearby, maybe check them out?

Posted by Synchronicity on Jul-20-2006 19:08:

Thanks everyone,

I've decided to try the brasso, then if that doesn't work I'll get a company to do it. Something just doesn't seem right about using toothpaste

Posted by Sweet_As_Fcuk on Jul-21-2006 11:20:

Well thats why your teeth are all black.

Posted by Chittle on Jul-21-2006 18:56:

I've had a bit of success by spraying them with deodorant..

Posted by THE_Chris on Jul-21-2006 19:28:

If that doesnt work, try a program called "Blindread". It gets the disk to be read and copied without the computer trying to 'make sense' of whats its reading.

Posted by The 3am Junkie on Jul-22-2006 01:12:

quote:
Originally posted by Synchronicity
Thanks everyone,

I've decided to try the brasso, then if that doesn't work I'll get a company to do it. Something just doesn't seem right about using toothpaste

tell us your results with brasso