How to clean and test a CD drive?

[ICUdoUCM]

I have a Hitachi GD-2000 and it is acting up on me. It is taking forever to find and read anything. I figure it is dirty, so first question is how to clean it? Compressed air and a CD cleaning disk? Have not tried either yet. Then once I get it clean is there a way to test how fast it is? I know it is old, just want it to last a few more months if possible. Thx for any help

 

[microAmp]

CD cleaning disk

 

[MWink]

In my experience, cleaning discs don't work very well. To properly clean a CD-ROM you should take it apart and clean the lense with a Q-tip. You might also want to spray it with some compressed air (just be careful not to damage it). That is the most effective way I have found to clean an optical drive.

To test the speed get a program like CD-Speed99.