@ Recover a damaged CD - Index
This is an article about recovering data of damaged CD's. You should be aware that we can't guarantee that these solutions will help, and that some solutions might even make it worse.
First make sure the surface is clean
First of all, if the CD is unreadable because of some fingerprints or some dust, then use a soft piece of cloth and rub from the inside to the outside of the CD.
If cleaning the CD with a piece of cloth doesn't fix the problem you have two choices, try to restore the data with software or you will have to physically restore the surface of the CD. Both have no guarantee to success, but it's worth to try. Since you have a worthless CD, there's nothing to lose !
Software solutions:
You first might want to try the software on CD-prod.com ( *www.cdrom-prod.com/ ) . They have to products that, as they say, are able to recover data from CD's.
CD-R Diagnostic allows you to test, examine and recover data from CD, CD-R and CD-RW discs. This includes support for discs written using Adaptec DirectCD and CeQuadrat PacketCD as well as other packet-writing programs.
It bypasses Windows and other CD software installed on your computer to allow complete freedom to examine nearly any CD, including Macintosh and audio discs.
Or their other product may be even better:
CD-R Inspector is similar to CD-R Diagnostic, but has additional features for data recovery companies and computer forensic applications. It allows searching the contents of a disc in several ways to identify various hidden content and supports saving the information from a disc that has been examined so the lengthy processing does not have to be repeated each time.
If you have used CD-R Diagnostic and wished for some additional capabilities, this may be what you are looking for.
Another piece of software that has been recommended to us by a CD recovery company is Isobuster ( *www.ping.be/vcd/isobuster.htm ) That is the program. It runs under Windows so it bypasses some of the Windows limitations.
Also the software from Naltech ( *www.naltech.com/ ) could help. They developed a program called CD Data Rescue which is able to recover some data, IF you are lucky.
Also CDRecovery ( *www.cdrecovery.com/ ) and CD Dataguys ( *www.cddataguys.com/ ) might be places where they can offer you help. (CD dataguys say to have a success rate that is slightly above 90%)
Physical changes to make a CD readable again
You won't believe this, but the cheapest way is using toothpaste. The best toothpaste to make your CD readable again is the toothpaste to make your teeth brighter, cause this scrubs better. You should be able to buy this in your local drugstore. You will have to rub with some cloth from the inside to the outside of the CD, in the opposite direction of the read direction of the CD.
If you have a really deep and big scratch, then you could use polish that is used by opticains on glasses. You should go to your optician for more information about this substance.
Some more recovery tips:
- Always try to do the recovery with a CD writer instead of just a reader. The writers can see the tracks better.
- Also, sometimes it is best to use the same machine "or writer manufacturer" that wrote the data in the first place, when doing a recovery. For instance, if a Plextor did the writing, use a Plextor for the recovery work. This is especially true with HP models.
This article was Posted by Jan Willem on 16 March 2001 ......
i hope that this will help u in recovering data 4m damaged CD's....
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