Any hope for a scratched CD??? Help!!

[sas_mk]

This is definitely budget related!

I just purchased a used CD on E-Bay that provides the map data for the factory navigation in my 2002 Nissan Pathfinder. If I were to buy a new one it would cost $120. I can find other used CD's on E-bay, but there are only 2 auctions for my map region and they are around $60.

Unfortunately, the CD arrived completely scratched and will not work. It was listed in "mint" condition and the seller has already promised me a refund of my purchase price plus shipping. He also did not request the CD back and apologized profusely.

I took it today to a used game store and had them try to buff out the scratches. It looks nice and shiny -- except for the deep scratches that are left in 4 separate areas of the disc. At least the employee at the game store didn't charge me for the buff!

I would love to get this to work. I have tried making a copy of the CD, but I keep getting errors where the scratches stop the computer from being able to read the disc.

Does anybody have any suggestions you think might work? I hate to spend $60-120 on this CD -- it just isn't in the budget.

 

[Mom2micayla]

About a week after Xmas my kids scratched their brand new Super Mario Wii disc. I paid $55 for that game and I could have cried! I started doing a search and came across www.azuradisc.com. You pay them upfront, mail the disc in and they repair and send it back. It cost me $12 with shipping for the disc to be repaired and sent back, and it works (and looks) like brand new. It was a couple of substantial scratches too, so I was fairly impressed they fixed it well enough to work. It might be worth looking into. I think it took my disc about 2 weeks to be fixed and returned to me. They did have a tracking system though that let you know when the disc arrived, when it went in to repair, etc, so I felt comfortable using them. My experience was positive and I'd certainly use them again.

 

[floridascgirl]

I don't know about deep scratches. but I buff fine ones out with toothpaste (not gel) and a soft cloth.

 

[LadySiren]

Azura is probably the best CD repair system I've seen. I owned a video store for awhile, and it was a live saver for us. I'd suggest calling some of your local video stores and/or game resale shops if you're not comfortable sending your disc in via mail. I once cleaned a guy's entire CD collection after it had been damaged in a house fire. He was SO grateful because his music collection was huge and to him, priceless.

Good luck!

 

[sas_mk]

Thank you for the great replies.

I checked out www.azuradisc.com and read through their FAQ's. According to what I read, this CD is not going to work. As I looked closer at it, the scratches appear to come from the top (label) side all the way through to the bottom.

Whoever owned this CD before REALLY did a number on it!

Oh well, at least I am not out any $$ yet -- I just need to find a cost effective way to find a used CD for my region.

Thanks again for the excellent advice.

 

[dawson5]

There was a cd recovery program that might be able to do it.

I think it's cdcheck. It's free. It will repeatedly try to read the disc and add up all little bits to try and fill in the spot. It might work, might not, it will only cost you time. If it tells you CR/cyclic redundancy error, give up, nothing to be done.

Sounds like you had good info on the type of scratch. I'm trying to remember all of the possible solutions, I want to say toothpaste (I think what you already did would be in the same category), maybe car wax.

 

[santa's surpriz]

I don't remember where I learned this but, I use a glue stick. Smear it all over, rinse excess of and polish with a non-scratch clothe. It may take a few tries but I have been doing this for years. It works.

 

[wtrmlnlabs]

I've used peanut butter! But not sure how well it does on really bad scratches.

Also, our local library has something, I've seen signs up for cleaning cd's and dvd's, it was like $1-2 I think, cheap. I'd check your local libraries and see if they do this.

 

[LadySiren]

Unfortunately, if the scratches go all the way through (you can see them from the side that has the label), then you're right - the Azuradisc service won't be of help. At that point, I'd try seeing about a CD recovery program.

Have you tried Amazon? You might find a few sellers there that don't do ebay. Good luck!

Thank you for the great replies.

I checked out www.azuradisc.com and read through their FAQ's. According to what I read, this CD is not going to work. As I looked closer at it, the scratches appear to come from the top (label) side all the way through to the bottom.

Whoever owned this CD before REALLY did a number on it!

Oh well, at least I am not out any $$ yet -- I just need to find a cost effective way to find a used CD for my region.

Thanks again for the excellent advice.