Well we just had our newest daughter Sofia Maria Fraser (http://frasersonline.com) and it gave me a little time off from work and while she is sleeping I decided to go through old CD's and reburn along with store the contents on my RAIDed server.

Well a CD that contains pictures from 1997-2000 is badly scratched. I cleaned it with a soft cloth and 91% alcohol but little success.

I'm heard about CD fixing "compound" and tools but never tried them.

If there is a chance of saving this stuff, it's easily worth $30 $50 or $100 to save the pictures on this CD I just didn't want to go get the $19.99 walmart kit only to have it destroy the CD more if there is a more expensive and better way to do this!

Also on a note, is the hotline server dead?

I've heard that rubbing it gently with toothpaste can help, but I've never done it myself.

First, you need a *very* mild polishing compound. Toothpaste, used sparingly will work.

Second, start with the worst sections first. Rub *gently* in a perpendicular motion from the center to edge, back and forth. Do *not* use a circular motion. Do small sections at a time, rotating the disc and starting another section. Stop often, buff to a whiter and brighter shine.

Third, check your work in the player frequently. When it plays properly,stop cleaning.

Fourth, make backup *copies* immediately.

Fifth, take better care of your media.

Sixth, congratulations on your newest Mac user!

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

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And hope is a lousy defense.

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i saw a youtube video of some dude cleaning the surface of a cd with a banana. seemed to work wonders.

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I never tried it, but here's a video explaining the banana technique:

[www.metacafe.com]

What don't they a video of on YouTube?

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

Brasso

[en.wikipedia.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2007 10:24PM by jonny.

Many years ago I was told non polishing car wax after toothpaste.

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In tha 360. MRF User Map

You are ok so long as the scratches are on the plastic (bottom) of the CD. The data is stored on the top layer - so you may be out of luck if you used a ball point pen years ago.

Sekker is right and bookmark this site for similar matters...

[www.cdrfaq.org]

That is why I use printable CD's as they have a silk screened top, weather I print on them or not!

Down here, a lot of video stores have a commercial machine that will restore scratched CDs and DVDs.

Usually costs a couple of bucks per disk.

I'd go this route first.

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Congratulations, Insider! It was enjoyable looking at the pics of your family. Thanks for sharing.

A knowledgeable guest on the Today Show a few weeks ago said using "Pledge", a furniture polishing spray, will overcome scratches on the surface of a CD.

I have not tried this myself.

I found myself in a similar position a few years back. Managed to get all the files back by using a 2x CD-Rom, the slower the drive the more likely you are to recover the data.

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