Taking Care of Optical Disks Correctly

CDs and DVDs fit the bill perfectly.

CDs and DVDs have been around for a very long time and continue to dominate the data storage market even today. Their popularity can be attributed to the fact that they are extremely easy to use and offer an extremely low cost per MB data storage solution to its users.

What Can Go Wrong with Optical Disks? How Do You Protect Optical Disks from Data Loss?

Electronic equipments, because of their sheer complicated working structures, are prone to errors and damage. Your optical disks are no exception. CDs and DVDs are extremely delicate data storage media and any type of manhandling can damage the CD or DVD thereby resulting in data loss. Therefore, it is important for users to exert caution while using their optical media.

It can be very hard to differentiate one optical disk from another. Therefore, many users prefer using labels to make sure that when they search for their data, it is easily available. While labelling your CDs and DVDs is a good idea, make sure that you only use the label side to put the labels. You will also need to make sure that these labels are suitable for use on CDs and DVDs.

Labels using excessive chemical preparations can ruin the optical disks as well as the data contained therein. In addition, never write on top of a CD or DVD with a ballpoint pen or a pencil. Most people do not know how easy it is to lose data from CDs and DVDs through improper handling. Often, people do not store the optical media in proper storage areas.

When you leave your CD or DVD on your computer table without storing it properly, chances are that you will ruin the recording side of the disk. Many of us work while sipping that wonderful hot cup of tea or coffee. If this tea or coffee spills on your precious optical disk, it can result in data loss. Users should make sure that they do not allow any form of liquid, dust, or fingerprints to come in contact with the disk surface. Believe it or not, in many data loss situations, it is the fingerprints on the optical disks that are the main culprit.

Optical disks are extremely fragile. Many people carry their optical disks with them in their car and leave these disks lying around on the car seat or their dashboard. While doing so, the users expose their optical disks to direct sunlight and even humidity. Direct sunlight, humidity, extreme high or low temperatures, and dust are the worst possible enemies of the optical disks. Therefore, if you have to carry around your optical disks with you, make sure that your disks are in appropriate storage box or container so that they are not exposed to such contaminants.

Helpful Home Remedies for Accessing Lost Data

While some data loss situations can be very serious in nature and may require professional expertise, there are times when home remedies can prove to be very useful. We have highlighted some of the home-based solutions for your data loss woes.

• Try cleaning your CD or DVD using a very soft lint-free cloth. Make sure that you clean the disk using very light strokes. In addition, these strokes should only be in the radial direction.



• Evaluate your CD or DVD drive. There are times when the drive itself becomes corrupted, due to which the CD or DVD is not able to read data. If your drive is corrupted, do not run any CD or DVD on it because you may corrupt the optical disks as well.



• If you have mildly scratched your optical disk, chances are that the data has been lost locally. However, you may be still able to recover your data. Firstly, you should copy the data on your CD or DVD onto another optical disk so that whatever you may try, you do not ruin the data further. After doing so, try polishing the shallow scratches away. For this, use mild abrasives such as furniture polish or toothpaste. Make sure that you only use radial strokes to clean away the residue.



• If your optical disk has encountered deep scratches, you can use fillers such as car wax or furniture wax. You will need to cover the entire surface and then use a clean cloth to rub off the surface. Again, you need to use only radial strokes.

James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. For more information on computer crime and Computer Forensics see www.fieldsassociates.co.uk

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Taking Care of Optical Disks Correctly
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