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How do YOU clean/fix a damaged disc?

C

Cawchy87

Diamond Member
I was going to sit down and watch it again, but it is so scratched up that it won't work. I have heard that using soap and water helps, what do you guys use when one of your discs becomes damaged?
 
Originally posted by: Cawchy87
I was going to sit down and watch it again, but it is so scratched up that it won't work. I have heard that using soap and water helps, what do you guys use when one of your discs becomes damaged?
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If its dirty soap & water may work. But if its scratched use it as a mirror.
 
polish the scratches with toothpaste. there are probably better compounds available, but not readily at hand. I did this on a rental dvd, and while it made an interesting scratched up looking disc, it did actually play without skipping (which it was doing before). I also did this to a CD I was ripping to flac successfully. It's probably not the choice for restoring your rare collection, but if you need a quick solution to get it to work *just one more time DAMMIT* then it seems to be okay.
 
Originally posted by: myusername
polish the scratches with toothpaste. there are probably better compounds available, but not readily at hand. I did this on a rental dvd, and while it made an interesting scratched up looking disc, it did actually play without skipping (which it was doing before). I also did this to a CD I was ripping to flac successfully. It's probably not the choice for restoring your rare collection, but if you need a quick solution to get it to work *just one more time DAMMIT* then it seems to be okay.
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Awsome, i'll try that. What type of toothpaste do you recommend? I have colgate, crest and sensodyne.
 
Grab a paper towel and some toothpaste, preferrably the paste and not the gel. Use water and the toothpaste on the papertowel to buff out the scratches on the disk. It takes a little elbow grease, but it actually does work (no kidding). I've saved a few disks this way, but as ironcrotch mentioned, a Disk Dr. works pretty well and is less work.
 
No idea. Just try one and see of it works 🙂 I think I used crest regular (red triangle - do they even make it any more?) on the rental DVD and I used crest whitening with scope on the CD. If you just have a single obvious scratch or two, I'd use a q-tip to apply and rub a tiny dab just over the damaged area - I did this on the CD I was trying to rip. I used a paper towel on the whole DVD, and as I mentioned, the whole thing looked pretty ugly when I was done.
 
Originally posted by: Cawchy87
Originally posted by: ironcrotch
Disc Dr.
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Looks cool, but at that price I can buy it again + a few more movies.
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Disc Dr. works great. I've fixed several movies and a badly scratched PS2 game...

Also, the local used CD shop will refinish your discs for you here...
 
Originally posted by: Cawchy87
Originally posted by: ironcrotch
Disc Dr.
Click to expand...

Looks cool, but at that price I can buy it again + a few more movies.
Click to expand...

Disc Dr. works great...fixed several movies and a badly scratched PS2 game.

Also, our local used CD shop will Disc Dr. them for you for a buck or two...
 
Originally posted by: myusername
No idea. Just try one and see of it works 🙂 I think I used crest regular (red triangle - do they even make it any more?) on the rental DVD and I used crest whitening with scope on the CD. If you just have a single obvious scratch or two, I'd use a q-tip to apply and rub a tiny dab just over the damaged area - I did this on the CD I was trying to rip. I used a paper towel on the whole DVD, and as I mentioned, the whole thing looked pretty ugly when I was done.
Click to expand...

So you just wipe the excess toothpaste off, but you leave the stuff on that is filling in the cracks?
 
Originally posted by: Cawchy87
Originally posted by: myusername
No idea. Just try one and see of it works 🙂 I think I used crest regular (red triangle - do they even make it any more?) on the rental DVD and I used crest whitening with scope on the CD. If you just have a single obvious scratch or two, I'd use a q-tip to apply and rub a tiny dab just over the damaged area - I did this on the CD I was trying to rip. I used a paper towel on the whole DVD, and as I mentioned, the whole thing looked pretty ugly when I was done.
Click to expand...

So you just wipe the excess toothpaste off, but you leave the stuff on that is filling in the cracks?
Click to expand...

No, the toothpaste acts as a polishing compound. You'll actually buff out the scratches.
 
no, the toothpaste has an abrasive in it (of course this only applies if you have a toothpaste with an abrasive in it ..) .. you "polish" out the scratch by rubbing the scratched area with toothpaste. every so often check your progress by rinsing the disc clean. Once you have polished enough, you clean and dry the disc. Do not expect the finished product to look shiny - you are actually going to be adding more scratches with the toothpaste (which is why I suggested only polishing damaged area). *hopefully* the big scratch will be polished down enough to be read, and the small "swirlies" you create while polishing will be minor enough that the hardware error correction will compensate for them.
 
Normally I'd say use toothpaste, but in my experience DVDs are much more sensitive than CDs. If you do, just make sure that you don't rub it too long or it'll get worn out.
 
Originally posted by: myusername
no, the toothpaste has an abrasive in it (of course this only applies if you have a toothpaste with an abrasive in it ..) .. you "polish" out the scratch by rubbing the scratched area with toothpaste. every so often check your progress by rinsing the disc clean. Once you have polished enough, you clean and dry the disc. Do not expect the finished product to look shiny - you are actually going to be adding more scratches with the toothpaste (which is why I suggested only polishing damaged area). *hopefully* the big scratch will be polished down enough to be read, and the small "swirlies" you create while polishing will be minor enough that the hardware error correction will compensate for them.
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Agreed - for the most part. With adequate water and work (the water is key), you can make the disk shiny again. This takes a significant amount of time and effort, however.
 
Originally posted by: Cawchy87
Would it be illigal to rent a copy and burn it? I do own it, but it just doesn't work.
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I'm not sure about this - under 'fair use' you own the rights to 'watch the movie', but the corporate position on such things is to prevent you from doing anything except watch the copy you actually purchased.

Given that dvds are digital, if you rent the same version (widescreen/fullscreen/special edition, whatever) and copy it, then it would be indistinguishable from one that you copied from the original. As long as you don't make more copies, and keep your damaged original as proof that you own the movie, I can't see a problem.

This is not a legal opinion though.
 
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