Would a scratched/warped/chipped CD damage the optical drive?

[TechnoPro]

Granted, the media not not be readable, but is there the possibility of damage to the reader?

 

[Rike]

I have heard of cases where a CD has shattered inside a drive. It's supposed to be VERY rare, but it takes the whole drive with it when it happens. Never actually seen this happen though.

 

[Abhi]

Cracked CDs CAN explode in while in the drive...

 

[TechnoPro]

I'll risk it, but not with one of my good drives. I have a CD with drivers on it that are proving to be impossible to find on the web... Definitely something to test on a spare machine.

 

[imported_Phil]

Originally posted by: Rike
I have heard of cases where a CD has shattered inside a drive. It's supposed to be VERY rare, but it takes the whole drive with it when it happens. Never actually seen this happen though.

Nope. I've seen it countless times and only once has the drive failed to work afterwards.

 

[Rike]

Good to know. I still wouldn't want to test it on one of my drives.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Rike
I have heard of cases where a CD has shattered inside a drive. It's supposed to be VERY rare, but it takes the whole drive with it when it happens. Never actually seen this happen though.

Not always. I had a Pioneer 16x/40x DVD-ROM drive that blew up a Giants: Citizen Kabuto CD. The drive sustained minor damage to a small plastic support, but it did still work - all the shards flew away from the center of the disc of course, horizontally - no vital parts of the drive were in the way. However, I did retire the drive from use, as it was already a few years old, and I didn't want to risk that it might have been defective, or had suffered some unseed damage.