Despite the emergence of a number of portable media used to store large amounts of information, CDs are still considered one of the most persistent and reliable in the designated group. They are less prone to causeless breakdowns, however, they are not protected from physical influences and, as a result, mechanical damage. A couple of scratches on the surface of a CD are enough for the media to stop working correctly or to be read at all, "burying" a significant part of the data important to the user.
But do not despair: there is still a chance to repair the equipment. To do this, there are special commercial kits for sale and a lot of tips on the Web, designed to help restore the original state of the disk.
Preparing CD/DVD
Before you remove scratches from the disc, its surface should be cleaned of dust and fingerprints, since dirt could be the root cause of the breakdown.
This can be done in several ways:
- With helpnon-abrasive products.
- Heavily soiled media should be gently wiped with a soft cloth.
- Hold under running lukewarm water.
After shaking off the water from the CD, it must be dried by laying it on a paper towel without getting wet. This is done in order to understand the extent of the damage: if the depth of damage reaches the metal layer, the carrier cannot be saved on its own.
Repair CD/DVD Surface Defects
It is possible to cope with this task at home, the main thing is to know how. Removing scratches from a disc is easy, using a variety of household products - from petroleum jelly to toothpaste.
Waxing with polish, car wax, or other creamy texture works well when the polycarbonate finish shows signs of heavy wear. In this case, the media is covered with one of the listed products, the excess of which is then removed with a lint-free cloth. This method will help temporarily, since it does not contribute to the removal of defects, but only fills in scuffs. After its successful use, you should make a backup copy of the information from the damaged CD, the further use of which will remain in doubt.
The following technique (how to remove scratches from a disc with toothpaste) is very simple. It consists in polishing the upper layer of the CD, thinning it and thereby reducing the depth of damage. It is worth resorting to it at the very last moment, if more gentle options have not worked.
It is advisable to use a paste based on baking soda as the most effective. The substance is applied to a smooth cloth (glass cloth is suitable) and with its help is distributed over the scratch perpendicular to the digital tracks. This will protect the media from the appearance of new, more dangerous flaws.
It will take about 2-5 minutes to polish the disc in this way, then carefully rinse the paste under warm water and allow the CD to dry on its own in the open air.
Both methods are equally effective in dealing with the described task (how to remove scratches from an Xbox disc).
Xbox CD damage
If you find a defect on a disc for a game console, you should make sure that it was not the culprit of the problem. Xbox sometimes has a similar flaw, and if it was bought recently, there is a chance that the unusable media will be replaced with a new one in tech support.
If exchange and compensation are not possible, then the main methods of how to remove scratches from an Xbox 360 disc are those already described earlier using toothpaste or polish.
Caring for portable media
The best way to solve a problem is to prevent it from happening. To delay the collision with the question of how to remove scratches from the disk, you should ensure that it is properly used:
- It is necessary to clean strong dirt with specialized means, with gentle movements in the direction from the central hole to the edge of the CD. In no case should you wipe the surface of the disc in a circle - thisposes a risk of data loss.
- Store media away from direct sunlight in a CD/DVD folder. This method will provide fragile disks with the proper level of security and take up minimal space.
- Remove the media from the optical drive by holding it by the edges or the inner ring.
Following these instructions, the user will protect himself from unexpected loss of information and may never face the problem of how to remove scratches from the disk.
