How To Repair A Scratched CD or DVD
Almost every gamer has had trouble with a scratched CD or DVD at some time. (Or maybe you only need to fix your carts?) If a CD or DVD is scratched, the drive will obviously have problems reading the disc, increasing reading errors and causing some gameplay frustration. Or in the case of Sega Saturn or Sega CD discs (that have audio tracks), the music skips when we play it.
The first thing to do when coming across a CD with a read error is to give it a good clean and to check whether it the error is not being caused by a dirty surface. You can even wash the CD gently with a little detergent, using your fingers to clean it (avoid sponges, since they can scratch the CD). If the error persists, try reading or playing the CD on another drive. If another drive (or CD player, in the case of audio CDs) gives the same result (read error or skipping, in the case of audio CDs), it will mean that the CD is scratched.
Looking against the light, the recording surface (the flip side of the label) of a CD with this kind of trouble will allow you to easily see one or more existing scratches. A CD’s data is recorded on a metal layer inside it, a silvered layer on commercial CDs. This metal layer is inset in a transparent plastic covering (polycarbonate), used to protect the CD’s metal layer and allow printing a label on the side not used for reading.
A CD-ROM drive or CD player utilizes a laser beam to read the metal layer. This laser beam crosses the plastic layer and reads the metal layer. If the plastic layer is scratched, the beam will be unable to pass through it, resulting in a read error or skipping the music. In other words, the data to be read are still in the CD, the trouble lies in the layer of plastic.
As the CD’s contents are preserved, a scratched CD can be recovered by polishing its plastic surface. If, after carrying out the above cleansing, the CD persists in giving reading errors, just polish the CD with toothpaste. That’s right, toothpaste. It works wonders, and you won’t spend a fortune buying professional cleaning kits. Polish the scratches with a cotton swab, rubbing gently the paste-imbued swab over the scratches until they disappear or until you notice that you have removed them as far as possible. Sometimes the paste may cause new scratching, but it will be merely superficial and easily removed. After clearing the scratches, wash the CD in water and dry with a soft cloth.
When you apply light abrassives like this, try to rub from the inside ring of the disc toward the outter edge. Try to avoid rubbing in circles. You will also want to make sure to use a soft cloth when applying. This will help avoid additional problems.
If there are still scratches that the toothpaste has not managed to removed, you can use the following products (in order of effectivness) to try to fix it up any remaining scratches:
- Armor All – Automotive Interior Cleaner
- Plegde – Furnature Wax
- Brasso – Brass/Metal Polisher
- Petroleum Jelly
The last step will be testing the CD. If it starts working properly, you are in luck. If not, repeat the above procedure, looking for the scratch that is causing the error and concentrating your polishing efforts on it.
You may find that you really have some scratches that are deep. Those just might be beyond repair. Also scratches on the label side can be a death sentence as well. Most discs do not have an additional protective coating on the label side.
If you have a precious game for one of your systems that is either beyond help, or maybe you just want to preserve it, I suggest you take a look at my Hacks and Guides section. In there you will find guides to various systems — many of which tell you how to make backup copies of your games and play them on the consoles.
If you have any other comments or suggestions, please post a comment or join in the discussion on my message board.
Related Posts:
How To Restore Game Cartridges
Similar Posts From These Categories:
Hacks, Backup
Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network or Amazon Associates.
can some tell me how to clean a xbox 360 game called tna impact it got deep scracthes
It worked for me!
I’ve used car polish, rubbed it gently on surface, in circle movements.
The tooth paste did not work for me, and some Italian furniture spray also did nothing.
yea dont use toothpaste…
i had 2 rings around my need for speed game
and when i used toothpaste it just made more scratches..
actually the toothpaste thing worked but the down side is if you turn it off and back on again then it won’t be able to read it.
nevermind, the toothpaste just screwed up my disc even more.
This method worked best for me and it saved me from buying another photoshop,
This method worked best for me and it saved me from buying another photoshop.
wow! i had a scratch in my fifa 07 cd.it was a huge and deep scratch,but when i traied after applying the toothpaste ,it worked as if it was new!ur technique is super cool! and probraly the easiest.ty ty ty ty ty ty ty ty ty ty ty ty ty ty ty ty ty soooooooooooo much!!!!!!!!!
go to gamestop and get it resurfaced for 2 bucks…. pffft seriously…
OMG YOU SAVED MY ‘THE SIMS 2’ DISC. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the toothpaste made the scratches even worst…shitty how-to man. i followed your instructions to the t. if the toothpastes vary so much then dont freakin put to use toothpaste period.
agreed. toothpaste trick made my cd fog up and it lets dirt stay there easier, no good comes to it. may loook like scratches are gone but its just fog. thank you for your lame trick. i suggest going to a cd shop and getting it buffed in a machine professionly so it can take off the plastic layer, that’s the best you can do really.
the toothpaste trick works. i used a gel based paste, half of what we use on the toothbrush, smeared all over the disc, then cleansed off under the tap with a cotton swab.
it works..
wow thanks I used everything on this disk EVERYTHING but the only thing that made it work was patroleom jelly it really works but not on my other disk what do i use now
The toothpaste trick may work for some people but for most (like me) it doesn’t work. I’m just going to ask EA for a replacement >_> Thanks man.
The real easy thing to do is to go to you nearest Hollywood Video. The store that i go to charges $1.99 for one disc to be cleaned and oh my its just amazing. If not, getting a new disc is probably worth it.
omg it work lol i never thought it would work but it did so cool.
Tom’s of Maine silly strawberry toothpaste worked for us. It was a deep scratch we rubbed at it with a cotton swab and toothpaste 3 times.
The toothpaste thing does work…I didn’t believe it could, but it did! I used a Colgate brand toothpaste with a cotton swab, but it didn’t work the first time. When I tried it at first, it removed a small part of the scratch, then I tested the CD, and it still didn’t work. So for the heck of it, I tried it again using a bit more rubbing pressure and for a longer time, since I had nothing to lose…and then I tested it and it worked; the game played! I just followed the instructions above in the article. I didn’t rub in a circle motion like it said not to do, but I rubbed it from back and forth going from the center of the disk moving outward away from the center and back. Then I ran cold water on it and used my fingers to wash away the toothpaste residue, then wiped it dry with a microfiber cloth. When I looked at the disk after the rubbing, it showed new scratch marks in the inner/outer direction; basically going against the circular grain of the CD, but when I played it on the Dreamcast player, it did work again…go figure! 🙂 To whoever wrote the tip…much thanks! 🙂
i was trying2 fix my cd and i used the sand paper mathode,it actually worked!!!
The quickest, easiest and most effective way of repairing your disc is to have it professionally repaired. That’s not to say that home repair solutions don’t work, but as this article shows the results are inconsistent.
From my experience, the quality of finish is also very poor – often the disc is left hazed or cloudy. This becomes more pronounced if you use a stronger abrasive, i.e. expect more hazing with Brasso than Toothpaste.
I certainly wouldn’t recommend using anything like vasoline or a chapstick to ‘fill’ in the scratches. While it may work initially, when the disc becomes warm in the machine your ‘filling’ may drop out or loosen.
Anthony
Toothpaste works and if its gritty then dont press too hard, that’s how it scratches.
I have used the toothpaste method, the sandpaper wheels and many other methods. the one I like best is the motor driven units like this one, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0027SFPIA/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000RBE4B8&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1W962Z263JP2AZPJZ5F0, at amazon.com. it is relatively cheap and works every time for surface to moderate scratches. For deep scratches I use a filler like thos you may have seen on tv called something like Lens Dr. for repairing scratched lenses in glasses. Just follow the same instructions as if you were repairing a lens on a pair of glasses. Be sure to clean the disk before and after applying the “Lens Dr.” . Also If you purchase the Machine it helps to run it through a resurfacing cycle after the “Lens Dr.” is dry. This will fill the deep scratches and then buff it even with the rest of the disk.
Okay Well I’m Trying To Use The Toothpaste Method, And So Far It Hasn’t Worked. But, I Used A Gritty Kind. So, I’m Going To Use Colgate Fluoride Toothpaste, And See If That Works. I’ve Been Trying To Use My Sims 2 Game All Day But The File Transfer Keeps Failing /:
1) Take The CD Out Of The Drive.
2) Apply Small Amounts Of Toothpaste To 4 Quarters Of The CD.
3) Rub The Toothpaste In Up And Down Motions With A Cotton Swab Or Q-Tip.
4) Wait 50-60 Seconds And Rinse The CD Off In The Water With A Cloth.
5) Dry The CD With A Soft Cloth Or Shirt.
6) Put The CD Back Into The Drive.
7) Wait..
8) Keep Waiting..
9) Get Excited Since The CD Hasn’t Shown An Error Yet..
10) CD Starts Making Weird Noises.. /:
11) CD Is Still Crap.
Thanks I Guess /:
fairy washing up liquid worked for me… appl a small amount and as previously said… work from centre out in straight lines not circular motion… saved an old cd.. its now ripped and saved as mp3 woop woop