The Edge Soft

A lot of us by now have collected very big libraries of DVDs, game discs and CDs. As these collections age questions of maintenance and recovery from scratch damage arise.

Many scratched CD discs, DVDs or even game discs can be replaced quite cheaply.

You can’t say the same about scratched discs that are of home videos and personal digital photos written to discs. Also you may possess scratched games discs, scratched DVDs or scratched CDs that you can’t buy any more.

The obvious answer to this is to create backups and copies of these discs before they are subjected to “wear and tear” but sometimes we forget to do that until it is too late!

So what can you do to reclaim the information from a scratched CD, game disc or DVD?

There are 3 main ways you can approach this problem.

The first and safest method is by using a software solution to the problem.

There are a number of specialist software products available that have DVD error correction capabilities built-in or have been specifically designed for this purpose.

Whether you are successful or not with this method depends on the degree of scratch damage the disc has sustained but it is the best because it doesn’t interfere with the surface.” Win or lose with this method the scratched disc is exactly the same as it was when you began.

Your second choice is to attempt to repair the CD DVD scratches by hand yourself.

There are lots of on-line videos or websites that can demonstrate how to use home products to fix up a scratched CD, DVD or game disc. You can use Pledge, toothpaste or even Brasso!

I guess the danger here is that if you get it wrong you most likely made things a whole lot worse than when you started! Naturally if you succeed… you look great!

I think of it like this: If you can usually read and follow written directions exactly and get the result you wanted you should be ok.

If you have any doubts at all then this one is not for you!

The final method of handling CD and DVD scratch repair is by using a CD DVD scratch repair machine.

If the software method or the “do it yourself” method haven’t worked then try this final way!

Unfortunately this subject is not a simple as it appears. CD DVD scratch repair machines have to complete a reasonably delicate task. They are all trying to re-surface a piece of clear polycarbonate plastic to a very high standard so that a laser beam can pass through uninterrupted.

There are lots of inexpensive CD DVD disc repair machines available thet really are a waste of your time and your money.

There are three levels of device determined by price and you get what you pay for.

This does not mean that the home user needs to spend $2000 to get a good machine, but it does mean that if you think you can get one for $20 and have it work flawlessly… you are dreaming!

By far the most effective CD DVD disc repair machines for the home user come in at just over the $120 mark and for that price you can get a very good machine that will handle your discs well.