Rescuing data from an old CD

[cwhaley]

Well I gave the CD a polish with a very soft cloth and Autoglym resin polish and it certainly got some of the finest scratches out. Tried it in the drive and it sounded like it nearly read it..! There was a pause after loading the disc in the drive, the distinctive high RPM spinning of the disc which occurs seconds before the CD mounts, but this then dropped and it started trying to read it again.

I think it's a job for a data recovery firm. Don't mind spending a bit trying to recover things off there.

 

[foxhole]

Cd and dvd created on a pc degrade with age , I had some which were stored carefully and only came out the case after 12 years , some were partially readable others totally gone .No scratches or visible damage .

 

[cwhaley]

Cd and dvd created on a pc degrade with age , I had some which were stored carefully and only came out the case after 12 years , some were partially readable others totally gone .No scratches or visible damage .

Yes I remember reading about the lifespan of 'homemade' CD-Rs and RWs. 12 years seems very premature though. I hope I am able to at least partially read the CD. Will keep searching for a company.

 

[JD2012]

I had good results with one like this.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hama-DVD-Repair-Cleaning-Kit/dp/B0013IPAJY?th=1

I was able to get it work just enough to get the data from the DVD.