Advice Needed: How to Clean a Compact Disk

[Gina]

I haven't had to clean a CD in a very LONG time. And yes, I've looked it up on google, but there's some conflicting information out there.

I recently found a 13 year old CD with pictures of my kids from when they were tiny. So it's very important that I don't make it worse. But it's not working very well.

Any tips?

[Gina]

Escrito originalmente por Killroy was here:

Escrito originalmente por Gina:

Yeah, that's why I decided to ask the question on here. Some websites had Windex and dish soup, but other sites said no household cleaning products. One website said to soak it in water, and that was a scary thought.

After using the alcohol (luckily I had some on hand), it's working much better. Still not perfect. There's still one folder I can't access, but it looks like I can get the other folders off the disk.

Thanks a lot for the answers!

Try going back over it again and see if you can access it. Is the disk scratched? Sometimes i had to do it 2 or 3 times to get a disk to read. Once you can fully read the disk, copy everything off the disk and just make a new one then destroy the old disk cause you don't want people to use your kids pics for bad stuff.

So I did that, and while I was trying to get it to work, I noticed that the folder says that the size of the files is 0. Does that mean the files are just gone?

There are some small scratches.

[eddiepc]

sounds dumb but ive got scratched discs to work by smudging fingerprints all over it.
ive used toothpaste to "polish" a scuffed disc before aswell and it worked

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Escrito originalmente por Gina:

Escrito originalmente por Killroy was here:

Try going back over it again and see if you can access it. Is the disk scratched? Sometimes i had to do it 2 or 3 times to get a disk to read. Once you can fully read the disk, copy everything off the disk and just make a new one then destroy the old disk cause you don't want people to use your kids pics for bad stuff.

So I did that, and while I was trying to get it to work, I noticed that the folder says that the size of the files is 0. Does that mean the files are just gone?

There are some small scratches.

If it says zero it might not contained anything when the disk was burned. Can you open the folder at all? If you can does it say this folder is empty up top? Maybe the files are hidden.
What OS are you running?

[Gina]

Escrito originalmente por Killroy was here:

Escrito originalmente por Gina:

So I did that, and while I was trying to get it to work, I noticed that the folder says that the size of the files is 0. Does that mean the files are just gone?

There are some small scratches.

If it says zero it might not contained anything when the disk was burned. Can you open the folder at all? If you can does it say this folder is empty up top? Maybe the files are hidden.
What OS are you running?

I can't access anything in the folder, but I can see the files. It's a folder with 40 pictures on it, but when I click on them, they won't open, and it's almost totally crashed my computer a time or two getting hung up.

Windows 10

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Escrito originalmente por Gina:

Escrito originalmente por Killroy was here:

If it says zero it might not contained anything when the disk was burned. Can you open the folder at all? If you can does it say this folder is empty up top? Maybe the files are hidden.
What OS are you running?

I can't access anything in the folder, but I can see the files. It's a folder with 40 pictures on it, but when I click on them, they won't open, and it's almost totally crashed my computer a time or two getting hung up.

Windows 10

Sounds like its trying to read that sector but can't. Is the scratch deep? Is there any scratches on the paint side that looks like the paint is chipped away? Cause if the paint side gets scratched off the data could be ruin. I had an audio disc that the paint get scratched off and it skipped at that spot.

[Gina]

Escrito originalmente por Killroy was here:

Escrito originalmente por Gina:

I can't access anything in the folder, but I can see the files. It's a folder with 40 pictures on it, but when I click on them, they won't open, and it's almost totally crashed my computer a time or two getting hung up.

Windows 10

Sounds like its trying to read that sector but can't. Is the scratch deep? Is there any scratches on the paint side that looks like the paint is chipped away? Cause if the paint side gets scratched off the data could be ruin. I had an audio disc that the paint get scratched off and it skipped at that spot.

I didn't think they were terribly deep. And I thought I had gotten most of the files off because they copied, but when I went back to click some of them, the pictures came up looking like what they do when they want to censor someone's face....only the whole picture is that way.

The other side has scratches too, but I didn't think the other side mattered.

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Escrito originalmente por Gina:

Escrito originalmente por Killroy was here:

Sounds like its trying to read that sector but can't. Is the scratch deep? Is there any scratches on the paint side that looks like the paint is chipped away? Cause if the paint side gets scratched off the data could be ruin. I had an audio disc that the paint get scratched off and it skipped at that spot.

I didn't think they were terribly deep. And I thought I had gotten most of the files off because they copied, but when I went back to click some of them, the pictures came up looking like what they do when they want to censor someone's face....only the whole picture is that way.

The other side has scratches too, but I didn't think the other side mattered.

It can sometimes. Try buffing some tooth paste over the scratches on the shiny side and then wipe off the excess. Then see if it can read it again. If not it might be to damaged. How old is the disk?

[SMIFFY]

It's probably developed disc rot.

[Gina]

Escrito originalmente por Killroy was here:

Escrito originalmente por Gina:

I didn't think they were terribly deep. And I thought I had gotten most of the files off because they copied, but when I went back to click some of them, the pictures came up looking like what they do when they want to censor someone's face....only the whole picture is that way.

The other side has scratches too, but I didn't think the other side mattered.

It can sometimes. Try buffing some tooth paste over the scratches on the shiny side and then wipe off the excess. Then see if it can read it again. If not it might be to damaged. How old is the disk?

It was burned in 2003.

[HypersleepyNaputunia]

discs arent supposed to last 17 years, especially store bought burnables

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Escrito originalmente por Gina:

Escrito originalmente por Killroy was here:

It can sometimes. Try buffing some tooth paste over the scratches on the shiny side and then wipe off the excess. Then see if it can read it again. If not it might be to damaged. How old is the disk?

It was burned in 2003.

Yea it might be shot. Like others said it may of got disk rot. I say get what you can off the disk.

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Escrito originalmente por HyperplanetiaSaturnia:

discs arent supposed to last 17 years, especially store bought burnables

I don't know about that i had disks i burned in 2001 and they are still readable.

[Gina]

Escrito originalmente por Killroy was here:

Escrito originalmente por Gina:

It was burned in 2003.

Yea it might be shot. Like others said it may of got disk rot. I say get what you can off the disk.

Okay, I think I'll copy everything over that I can, and then see about using toothpaste or whatever other method I can find to see if I can get the others.

[Gina]

Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond and tried to help. I seriously appreciate it. :)

[Washell]

Escrito originalmente por Gina:

Escrito originalmente por Killroy was here:

Sounds like its trying to read that sector but can't. Is the scratch deep? Is there any scratches on the paint side that looks like the paint is chipped away? Cause if the paint side gets scratched off the data could be ruin. I had an audio disc that the paint get scratched off and it skipped at that spot.

I didn't think they were terribly deep. And I thought I had gotten most of the files off because they copied, but when I went back to click some of them, the pictures came up looking like what they do when they want to censor someone's face....only the whole picture is that way.

The other side has scratches too, but I didn't think the other side mattered.

Scratches on the clear plastic side can scatter the laser and render it unreadable. They can be polished out. Toothpaste is often suggested.

Scratches on the top side that holds the data is game over.