1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
|
Most of us have long since abandoned the CD in favor of MP3s, but sometimes the process of converting from CD reveals some discs that haven't fared the passage of time very well. CDs are vulnerable to everything from fingerprint smudges, a bit of dried syrup from the time you spilled that Coke in the car, perhaps even some scratches in the case of that CD that disappeared under the passender's seat three years ago.
If you've got some CDs that are well past their prime (and no, we don't mean that perfectly unblemished Spice Girls disc you've been hiding from your friends) fear not, there are ways to get that disc spinning again so you can transfer the music or data onto something else.
The first thing to try with your potentially damaged CDs is a PC. Many times a CD that's too mangled to work in a car stereo will work just fine in your (much faster) computer CD/DVD drive.
==Polish==
If you've got a disc that won't play, start with the simplest solution -- give it a gentle, but thorough cleaning.
Take a damp, lint free cloth (clothes used to clean eyeglasses work well) and starting in the center of the CD, wipe to the outside edge in a straight line. The direction of the polishing is important, don't wipe in circles, and don't wipe randomly, move in a straight line, center to edge.
Now that you've got all the surface blemishes off, give the CD another try. Still no luck? Well, read on.
== Repairing scratches ==
If polishing alone doesn't work, chance are your CD is scratched. See if you can find the offending scratch -- hold your CD up to the light and check it from different angles.
CDs read from the inside out to the edge so you may be able to locate the scratch that's causing the problem based on which tracks skip. Obviously if you CD has data rather than music this method won't work.
Once you've found the scratch there are a few ways you can repair it. However, but for we get started be aware that some of these methods can actually damage the disc even more so '''use them only as a last resort'''.
'''Polish the CD''' Two popular ways of polishing out scratches include using toothpaste (get the kind with baking soda in it) and Brasso. In either case apply a thin layer to the scratched area and wipe from the inside out to polish out the scratch.
'''Wax the CD''' Along the same lines as the toothpaste method, you can try applying a very thin coat of vaseline, car wax or shoe polish to the scratched area.
'''Professional Refinishing''' Unless the scratch is very deep the above methods should work. If they don't you can always try having your CD refinished by a professional service. Consult your local music store or try searching for CD refinishing in your favorite search engine.
==Future Outlook==
The future of CDs will mirror that of the Dodo circa 1660. While music, movies and data storage devices of the future will have their own set of problems, at least we won't have to resort to toothpaste to recover lost tunes.
|
