Are there any methods to erase a single-write disc in an optical disc drive?

[Badstormer]

Writing over a single-use disc that's already been written to strikes me as a relatively simple way to destroy the data on it for most practical purposes, but I can't seem to find any method - at all - to write twice to a single-use disc even if data destruction is the goal.

Is my logic correct that simply burning the entire data side of a single-use disc would render most forms of data unusable, and, if so, are there any methods to do this in a conventional disc drive? I'm actually impressed how difficult it is to accomplish this compared to how easy it is to, even accidentally, destroy other mediums for data storage.

edit: specifically asking for methods to convince a disk drive to write over a finalized, non-rewritable disc, not for the purpose of reuse but rather data removal that doesn't involve physically damaging the disc

[Badstormer]

I still think the point of this post is being missed. I'm sure there's plenty of ways to mutilate a disc in such a manner that even cutting-edge hardware couldn't recover the data; I'm wondering if there exists any way to convince a disk drive to write over a finalized, single-use disc. I encourage anyone here with access to a DVD-R or CD-R to try forcing a disc drive to erase the contents of the disc; it seems practically impossible even if you know what you're doing.

[mtono]

i say no...no way.

[emoticorpse]

Nguyên văn bởi Badstormer:

I still think the point of this post is being missed. I'm sure there's plenty of ways to mutilate a disc in such a manner that even cutting-edge hardware couldn't recover the data; I'm wondering if there exists any way to convince a disk drive to write over a finalized, single-use disc. I encourage anyone here with access to a DVD-R or CD-R to try forcing a disc drive to erase the contents of the disc; it seems practically impossible even if you know what you're doing.

I think you don't get what we've been telling you. No, it can't be done? Not trying to be a smartalec.

Sure we could speculate, might as well say it's possible to get Steam to run on Windows 95 successfully? but like who's going to prove that's possible? and until it is proven do we leave it as "totally possible, until proven impossible"?.

[Badstormer]

Nguyên văn bởi emoticorpse:

I think you don't get what we've been telling you. No, it can't be done? Not trying to be a smartalec.

Sure we could speculate, might as well say it's possible to get Steam to run on Windows 95 successfully? but like who's going to prove that's possible? and until it is proven do we leave it as "totally possible, until proven impossible"?.

To be fair, nobody, until now, has directly suggested that the method the original post inquires about is impossible, which is pretty much all I was looking for.

That said, I'm still curious whether there's a way to fool a disc drive into writing over a single-use disc. I'm more curious whether it's possible to break what appears to be several layers of extremely idiot-proof protection rather than the method being useful. I've never seen this aggressive of a failsafe mechanism in any other form of hardware.

[emoticorpse]

Nguyên văn bởi Badstormer:

Nguyên văn bởi emoticorpse:

I think you don't get what we've been telling you. No, it can't be done? Not trying to be a smartalec.

Sure we could speculate, might as well say it's possible to get Steam to run on Windows 95 successfully? but like who's going to prove that's possible? and until it is proven do we leave it as "totally possible, until proven impossible"?.

To be fair, nobody, until now, has directly suggested that the method the original post inquires about is impossible, which is pretty much all I was looking for.

That said, I'm still curious whether there's a way to fool a disc drive into writing over a single-use disc. I'm more curious whether it's possible to break what appears to be several layers of extremely idiot-proof protection rather than the method being useful. I've never seen this aggressive of a failsafe mechanism in any other form of hardware.

I guess you're right in that I don't think anyone actually said "it's impossible", but I would say that stating that it can only be written to once implying it couldn't be written to again would suffice as a dual answer of that it can't be done and the reason kind of.

Well, I'm guessing you have heard of over-burning which might be the closest thing to what you're looking at doing and even in Nero when the option is there, it does warn you about potential dangers or something like that? I'm certain the disc but not sure if to the drive itself also.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Nguyên văn bởi emoticorpse:

Nguyên văn bởi Badstormer:

I suppose what I'm asking is, in theory, if you simply wrote random data over the already-written sectors, would that be enough to render the data on it unusable?

I'm not looking to re-use single-write discs as much as I'm looking for a convenient way to wipe data that doesn't involve inhaling plastic fumes.

Also, I acknowledge that erasing the contents of a pre-pressed disc would require much more power than a disc drive's laser can produce, but these discs usually don't have data worth destroying to begin with.

Maybe use a drill with one of those abrasive sander attachments and run it over a disc for a couple seconds.

No need to go through all that non-sense. Just take a screw driver or any sharp tool and scratch the side that would act as a disc label. That coating has the data on it. A deep scratch from inner to outer disc would render the entire disc unreadable.

[mtono]

Nguyên văn bởi Bad 💀 Motha:

Nguyên văn bởi emoticorpse:

Maybe use a drill with one of those abrasive sander attachments and run it over a disc for a couple seconds.

No need to go through all that non-sense. Just take a screw driver or any sharp tool and scratch the side that would act as a disc label. That coating has the data on it. A deep scratch from inner to outer disc would render the entire disc unreadable.

thumbs up! this works!

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

I'd rather use a sledgehammer...

[Ocelote.12]

Nguyên văn bởi secret_agent_man:

A deep scratch from inner to outer disc would render the entire disc unreadable.

After that, It probably still can be partially read by using special hardware and software, that can be used by police, secret services, mafia or just rich people.

[_I_]

^ rich people, they have the ability to do anything


depends
if the scratch goes from inner to outer edge, then its done for
if its just the center, the file index and first few files written can be damaged, and unrecoverable
but the data for the files written beyond the scratch can be recovered, without name/date etc..
start/end points of the files could be estimated close enough to work by recovery software

[emoticorpse]

I think a lot of paper shredders do optical media?

[_I_]

yes, any decent one that can do credit cards can do cds

[Crashed]

There have been drives on the market before that were advertised to destroy single-use discs by running their laser over the already recorded areas. These drives had special firmware that could recognize a single-use disc and provide a proprietary command to overwrite already written areas despite it permanently destroying the media.

[Badstormer]

Nguyên văn bởi Crashed:

There have been drives on the market before that were advertised to destroy single-use discs by running their laser over the already recorded areas. These drives had special firmware that could recognize a single-use disc and provide a proprietary command to overwrite already written areas despite it permanently destroying the media.

I am actually interested in this. Are you familiar with any models that are still sold today?

[Crashed]

Nguyên văn bởi Badstormer:

Nguyên văn bởi Crashed:

There have been drives on the market before that were advertised to destroy single-use discs by running their laser over the already recorded areas. These drives had special firmware that could recognize a single-use disc and provide a proprietary command to overwrite already written areas despite it permanently destroying the media.

I am actually interested in this. Are you familiar with any models that are still sold today?

Not really; I just remember seeing ads in computer publications about them.