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What to do if your hard drive is scratched. Restoring a scratched disk

What scratches can be removed? The game disc has two types of data surfaces: surface plastic, which covers the disc from the bottom, and aluminum storage, which is the reflective part. If the plastic is slightly scratched, it may be difficult to read data from the aluminum part and errors will occur. In this situation, the problem can be solved by filling the scratches with a thick solution like Vaseline.

  • If the aluminum surface is scratched, it is impossible to repair the disc. This happens with deep scratches.
  • Deep circular scratches cannot be repaired. This game needs to be returned or purchased a new copy.

Make sure the problem is with the disk. If the same error message appears when you run another drive on your computer or console, the problem may not be with the drives.

  • If the disc is scratched but works without problems, do not attempt to repair the disc.
  • Read errors can be caused by anything from outdated drivers to software incompatibility.
  • It should be understood that if a PC or console drive scratches one disk, it can also scratch other disks.
  • Gather the necessary materials. To repair your drive with minimal risk of damage, you will need the following:

    • towel and flat surface;
    • microfiber cloth (do not use paper napkins and towels, scarves or rags);
    • medical alcohol;
    • petroleum jelly, toothpaste with baking soda, or a disc repair kit (available at some supermarkets and hypermarkets).
  • Rinse the disc with cold water. It will remove dust, dirt and foreign substances from the surface, which during processing can scratch the disc even more. Cold water will not damage the disc.

    • Do not use hot water to avoid damaging the disc.
  • Dry the disc. Wave the disc in the air to dry it.

    • Do not wipe the disc with a cloth to prevent new scratches.
  • Place the disc on a towel on a flat surface. The bottom of the disc (reflective side) should face up.

    Spray the disc with a small amount of isopropyl alcohol. It will help remove stubborn stains like stains.

    Leave the disc to dry. Isopropyl alcohol evaporates on its own, so you just need to wait 20-30 minutes.

  • Apply a small amount of Vaseline to a microfiber cloth. This is how Vaseline should be applied to a damaged disc.

    • Instead of Vaseline, you can use a suitable toothpaste.
    • When using a repair kit, the solution can be applied directly to the disc.
  • Gently polish the scratched parts of the disc. Using straight (not circular) movements, begin rubbing Vaseline into the surface of the disc from the center to the edges and try to cover all the scratches on the disc.

    • If the disc is severely scratched, try covering the entire surface with Vaseline.
  • Working surface optical disks easily damaged - the protective layer becomes scratched even with not too intensive use. Deep defects often lead to the impossibility of extracting information from damaged media. Next, we will tell you how to restore a scratched disc by polishing using toothpaste, GOI paste, and also consider some “harmful” tips from the CD Resuscitation Network.

    Rules for working with damaged optical discs

    Let us say right away that an unreadable media with deep scratches can be restored in this way, at best, only partially. Moreover, you will have to act extremely carefully, otherwise the surface can be completely damaged. It would be better to first practice on old unnecessary media before restoring a disk with valuable information - this way you can evaluate the effectiveness of the method and, as they say, get better at it.

    And do not try to immediately resort to using the method described below when a reading error occurs - check the disk on another computer - often it is the DVD drive that causes the problems. In addition, there are a lot of applications that allow you to extract maximum information from scratched blanks thanks to a modified reading algorithm. One effective solution is Durable Copy.

    It is advisable to use the program to work with discs that have already been restored by polishing, because we have already noted that heavily damaged media can never be restored 100%.

    How to polish a blank with toothpaste at home

    The most affordable and safe way polishing - using toothpaste:


    The movements during the polishing process should not be too intense so that the surface does not heat up quickly. There is no need to put pressure on the blank either. After 15-20 minutes, rinse the disc thoroughly in warm water. Its surface may become matte due to the appearance of many microscopic scratches, but deep damage will become much less noticeable, which should have a better effect on the readability of the disc.

    Dry optical drive, try inserting it into your DVD drive. If your goal is to extract photos, important documents etc., use the Durable Copy application or similar. Surely this time there will be noticeably more copied intact information.

    If necessary, restoring the working surface using the method described above can be repeated, but it makes sense to carry it out for no more than an hour. As practice shows, polishing with paste for too long already causes reverse effect- there is less readable data on the media.

    Professional polishing method

    For truly valuable and expensive disks, such artisanal methods should no longer be used. To obtain an acceptable result, the polycarbonate base will need to be polished with fine abrasive GOI paste (sold in hardware stores) using an electric drill with a grinding attachment:


    If you don’t have a power tool, polishing with GOI paste can also be done manually, but a positive result is far from guaranteed, and the process can take a long time.

    How not to restore optical discs

    Often on the Internet you can read a lot of alternative ways to restore scratched compacts. For example, sometimes it is recommended to polish simply with soft or denim cloth. It is clear that you cannot polish the surface with non-abrasive materials. It will simply overheat and the media will no longer be recoverable.

    Another extreme option (real advice from “experts” on the Internet) is polishing with fine-grained sandpaper. This method can immediately ruin the surface without even making an effort. The same applies to heating the disk in the microwave, under a table lamp, etc.

    Another popular tip from the Internet is to cover the scratch with “green paint” or even completely treat the surface of the compact with it.

    Very difficult wheel disks preserve in its original form. They are constantly exposed external influences, which have a negative effect on the surface. This causes scratches and chips. Many drivers often ask the question, how can you remove scratches from a disc? Today this has become possible thanks to the latest technologies restoration of coverage.

    Repair features

    To restore the coating and remove scratches, you must first study the nature of their occurrence. For example, working with forged products is much more difficult than processing cast wheels. To achieve a good result, it is best to seek help from professionals.

    Models made in the USA, Japan and European countries are perfectly repaired. To restore a scratched disc, a variety of technological processes are used:

    1. You can use the method of polishing the top layer of coating.
    2. Partially paint over the damaged metal surface.
    3. Install branded emblems on branded samples.
    4. Use special spare parts.
    5. Apply alternative ways removing visual scratches.

    Polishing the disc is very popular, after which the scratches are completely removed. However, this technique does not always help. If the depth of the scratch reaches the metal, it will not be possible to remove it by polishing. More complex work will be required. Fortunately, modern technologies make it possible to completely restore any disk

    Despite the emergence of a number of portable media used to store large amounts of information, CDs are still considered one of the most durable and reliable in this group. They are less prone to causeless breakdowns, but are not protected from physical impacts 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 be readable altogether, “burying” a significant part of the data important to the user.

    But there is no need to despair: there is still a chance to repair the equipment. For this purpose, there are special commercial kits available for sale and a lot of advice on the Internet designed to help restore the original state of the disk.

    CD/DVD preparation

    Before removing scratches from a 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:

    1. Using non-abrasive products.
    2. Wipe heavily soiled media carefully with a soft cloth.
    3. Hold under running slightly warm water.

    After shaking off the water from the CD, you need to dry it by placing it on a paper towel without getting wet. This is done in order to understand the extent of the damage: if the depth of the damage reaches the metal layer, the media cannot be saved on its own.

    Removing defects on the CD/DVD surface

    It is possible to cope with this task at home, the main thing is to know how. It is easy to remove scratches from a disc; various household products- from Vaseline to toothpaste.

    Waxing with polish, car wax or other creamy texture works well when the polycarbonate coating shows signs of heavy wear. In this case, the carrier 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 help remove defects, but only fills in abrasions. After successfully using it, you should do backup copy information from a damaged CD, the further use of which remains in doubt.

    The following method (how to remove scratches from a disc with toothpaste) is very simple. It consists of polishing the top layer of the CD, thinning it and thereby reducing the depth of damage. You should resort to it at the very last moment, if more gentle options do not work.

    It is advisable to use a paste based on baking soda as it is the most effective. The substance is applied to a smooth cloth (a napkin for glasses is suitable) and with its help it 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 a similar way, then the paste is carefully washed off under warm water and the CD is allowed to dry in the open air on its own.

    Both methods are equally effective in dealing with the problem described (how to remove scratches from Xbox disk).

    Damage to Xbox CD

    If a defect is detected on the disk for game console you should make sure that she is not the culprit of the problem. Xbox sometimes has a similar flaw, and if it was purchased recently, there is a chance that the unusable media will be replaced with a new one by technical support.

    If exchange and compensation for damage are not possible, then the main methods for removing scratches from an Xbox 360 disk are those already described using toothpaste or polish.

    Caring for portable media

    The best way to solve a problem is to prevent it from occurring. To delay the confrontation with the question of how to remove scratches from a disk, you should provide it with proper operating conditions:

    • It is necessary to clean heavy stains with specialized means, using gentle movements in the direction from the central hole to the edge of the CD. Under no circumstances should you wipe the surface of the disk in a circle - this creates a risk of data loss.
    • The media should be stored 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.
    • To remove media from an optical drive, hold it by its edges or inner ring.

    By 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 a disk.

    Probably everyone has encountered the problem of a scratched disk,
    For example, in the middle of installing a game or watching a movie, an error occurs.
    Many people don’t think that it is still possible to restore it and your game will be installed..
    I advise everyone to read this article, even if you do not have a scratched disk.

    The CD may be scratched by rough handling or dropping it.
    Scratches and dirt on the disc surface can lead to disc read errors,
    Or generally prevent its reproduction, since any defects on it
    Surfaces get in the way laser beam drive to read data.
    Fingerprints and other dirt can be easily removed from the disc surface,
    But with scratches everything is much more complicated.

    A scratch not only prevents the laser from reading data,
    But also, if it is deep enough, it can damage the reflective coating of the disc,
    Which contains the data.

    The top of the disc is covered with a polycarbonate coating.
    If only this is scratched and the metal layer is not damaged,
    then the disk can be recovered.

    How to clean a disc from minor scratches:

    To clean small scratches you need cotton wool and cologne.
    Take the disc by the edges and spray it with cologne several times
    And wipe the disc with cotton, starting from the center to the edge - but not in a circular motion!
    Sometimes this is enough for the disc to start playing again.

    How to clean a disc from medium-sized scratches:

    To remove scratches from a disc, you need to carefully polish its protective coating,
    using cotton wool and a small amount of a very soft abrasive,
    for example, plain white toothpaste or furniture polish.

    So, apply a small amount of toothpaste to the scratch on the disc.
    If you apply a lot of the substance, polishing will be more difficult.
    Rub the cotton wool over the scratch without applying any extra force until
    until the scratch disappears. Start moving from the center of the disk to its edge.
    Scratches respond best when polished along their length.

    After this, clean the disc with cologne (by splashing on the disc and rubbing new cotton wool)
    And try to play it again.
    If the disc still does not play, repeat the procedure.

    Personally, I had a disk with Windows 7 and at the beginning of the installation an error occurred.
    After three attempts to clean the scratches with toothpaste, the installation began to reach the halfway point.
    Then, after cleaning it 4 more times, Windows was installed.
    And you don’t have to think: “What did the author smoke?” This method really works.

    For minor scratches, toothpaste is an effective solution.
    For deeper scratches, polish will work, but don't forget
    that too much polishing force may result in new scratches.

    For large scratches You can also use furniture or car wax.
    Apply wax to the entire disc and buff it with a cloth.
    Use a lint-free cloth. Instead of removing scratches,
    the wax will fill the gaps between them.

    Also, don’t forget that you can buy polishing kits in stores.
    For restoring scratched or damaged CDs.
    If the scratch is particularly deep, the data layer may be damaged.
    which makes the disk faulty. In this case, polishing will not help.

    Tips and warnings:
    If you want to experiment with other waxes or materials,
    Then do it on unnecessary disk- because it is possible that the wax will not come off.



     


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