How do you repair scratched Cds and DVDs so that they play again ?

[brjoon1021]

Any tricks that you know of. There a slew of cheap looking commercially available products and probably some prohibitively expensive professional solutions availalbe. I have about 7 or so CDs and DVDs that I just want to be able to use again. The scratches are not BAD on any of them a couple are just bad.

I read about using toothpaste on a Q-tip. I tried that once and it was like cutting the lawn sideburn trimmers.

Thanks in advance.

B

[Rock789]

I have found, often a scratched cd will still read on a computer, so just burn a copy...
I never tried this with dvds though...

[noddin0ff]

Q-Tips are for ninnies, I use toothpaste (regular Crest) and a damp soft cloth (like an old T-shirt)...

[Dusty Chalk]

You toothpaste users -- don't use anything with flavor crystals!

[Century L100]

I have found, often a scratched cd will still read on a computer, so just burn a copy...
I never tried this with dvds though...

People are reading my mind...

I was just thinking of asking a question about this on this forum myself. I have a new Yamaha CDC-585 player which sounds absolutely awesome (for a unit of its price) -- great separation, dynamic range that blows me away and so clean sounding that I'm hearing things in recordings that I never knew were there.

But there's just one little problem: I have one disc that occasionally sticks at the beginning of the final track. This was never a problem with the old Philips CD player I had before, nor is there any trouble with my portable nor with my car player. And it plays find in my computer's drives, even allowing me to rip the audio onto the hard drive. No problem there, I'll just burn another copy as you suggested. But I'm wondering why my new Yamaha -- incredible machine that it is -- has a problem with it. Ideas??? Thanks.

[Rock789]

was this cd which sticks at the beginning of the final track an original or a burn already?

[Century L100]

was this cd which sticks at the beginning of the final track an original or a burn already?

No, it's a CD-R that was burned from files on the hard drive.

[royphil345]

I use Kit Scratch Out. It's a scratch remover sold in the automotive department of K-Mart or Wal-mart... forget which one I bought it at... It's recommended for use on plastics. Do NOT try to use a scratch remover or buffing compound that isn't. It's the same thing that comes with disk polishing kits in tiny bottles for too much money. Big bottle of Scratch Out is a little over $2.00.

I rub it on the disk with a slightly damp paper towel and rinse the disk a little before buffing with a dry paper towel. This prevents any tiny scratches caused by rubbing with a completely dry paper towel. Completely removing the scratches is not usually necessary, although it is possible with this product and much rubbing. Just polishing them is usually enough.

Some CD players just read disks better than others. Even CD players of the same model... There are some adjustments in CD players that are very touchy and may not be perfect from the factory, or may drift slightly during shipping or break-in. May be wise to trade the player in for another if you still can, in order to avoid the problem becoming worse in the future. I would just try to make the problem sound a little worse than it is and say you'd like to try another. Maybe get a better one...

[lewburgh]

I agree with Rock789. My girlfriends computer seems to play anything scratched up even pretty significantly without skipping. Wonder why that is?

Lew

[Rock789]

No, it's a CD-R that was burned from files on the hard drive.

in this case, it may just be the file and how your new cdplayer reads this file...
try burning a new cd from the orignal files, (or from the original disk... I know this takes a wile changing cd's often, but it will have better results...)

an issue I had several years ago... I burned a mix cd from original cd's (not ripping then burning, but directly copying individual tracks)... I copied a couple tracks from Apollo 13 where the music continues from one track to the next, there was always a slight pause on my car cd player...
I had the delay in the burn program set to 0ms, and tried two different burn programs... (one was nero, I forget the other)...
the original Apollo 13 cd did not have the skip, so I am not sure why I was unable to copy this format to a mix cd, but oh well...

[me16yo]

You can give these guys a try www.cd-repair.co.uk they are cheap and work well.

[hydroman]

OR take them to the local Used CD Store - they refinish and may do it for you. It is worth asking...

[hifitommy]

a dab on an old t-shirt and rubbed center to edge, edge to center will clear unplayable spots. if you follow the circle of the grooves, you take the chance of lengthening a scratch which will prevent the reading of the disc.

it may not be as pretty as new but it wll play. i have salvaged a few discs this way.

[audio_dude]

try Brasso or Silvo using a soft cloth like a T-shirt or something. Anything liquid with micro abrassives will do really.