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Effective Optical Disc Repair?
CyberKnet writes "I have an extensive music collection on original CD media. While most of it is in impeccable condition, I have a few discs that have suffered extensive scratching through listening to the disc either via a portable disc player, or in a car CD stacker. I've long since learned the error of my old ways and don't listen to discs in those devices any more, but those discs are irreplaceable in many cases. I would very much like to be able to repair them or have them repaired to original condition, or at least well enough that I can pull the tracks off once and archive the track data. I have heard really uncomplimentary things about devices like the Skip Doctor; ranging from it not helping to it making things worse. I've heard great things about JFJ devices that are seen on the counters of most Hollywood and BlockBuster video stores, but even their consumer devices start at $250. I would appreciate any other suggestions for devices that people have had personal experience with that won't break the bank."
Get toothpaste. NOT GEL, but regular white paste. Get a small cloth, put a dab on it, then rub it from the center to the outside in straight lines going outwards around the whole disk. When you're done, clean it off and pat it dry. Disk will look like hell, but it'll work.
I have rescued lord knows how many CDs with this technique, including console ones that were completely screwed, and even resurrected a dead DVD-RW just this past weekend using this technique.
Make a few quick, gentle passes over the recorded side(s) with a common butane blow torch, of the plumbing variety. The heat slightly melts the polycarbonate plastic, causing most scratches to get filled in, and other sharp edges to be smoothed & making reading easier. Tips: 1) don't overdo it, or the plastic might warp, 2) doesn't work well with recorded media (CD-Rs), 3) first practice a couple of times with media you don't mind losing.
How about asking your local Hollywood or Blockbuster folks if you could run your few discs through their fancy machine?
I've got an original UK Harvest release of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Sure, Dark Side has been released about half a billion times, but the sound quality on this is among the best. I'd as soon as not lose it, because they're very, very difficult to find.
Also nearly irreplaceable is my original release of David Sylvian and Robert Fripp's "Damage". It, too, was re-released, but with a different mix which is nowhere near as good as the original.
So there are SOME irreplaceable discs out there. Not everything is mass-produced, unfortunately.
No, it's not. Also cdparanoia has a well-documented CD-ROM caching issue which it currently does not defeat making the rips unreliable at best.
They keep arguing that we're buying a license to the music. As such, since the medium they have delivered this to you is obviously flawed (cannot stand up to a reasonable amount of use), they should be obliged to replacing the medium with a new one at their cost. Right?
We do not live in the 21st century. We live in the 20 second century.
I've seen an industrial grade disc resurfacing machine that takes stacks of discs for polishing in a hopper - they cost MUCH more than a thousand (USD) and if you could have your discs treated in such a machine for a buck a piece, it'd be well worth it.
I've also done the toothpaste thing and there is a technique to it (not just randomly swirling it around) because what you are doing is making fine scratches with the paste abrasive and the lines must radiate from the center of the disc outward to be effective. I have restored unreadable discs to a state where data could be pulled from them - it's just good enough for last-ditch recovery, IMO - not something to count on using repeatedly.
Go to your local motorcycle shop and pick up a spray can of Plexus. It's used to polish helmet visors but it was originally designed for cleaning, polishing and sealing clear poly in aviation. I've used it on flaky Netflix discs and it works every time.