The essence of the problem
This fault is damage to the magnetic plates hard drive in the form of ring scratches (cuts) resulting from the impact of magnetic heads on the surface of the plates. When the heads hit the surface of the platters, the heads fail, and the smallest metal dust appears in the HDA from the damaged magnetic layer covering the platters. Scratches on the surface of the plates are the most problematic damage when recovering data from the HDD. This is related to the fact that new block heads installed in a sawn disk, with a high degree probability will quickly fail due to the presence of scratches and the smallest magnetic dust on the surfaces of the HDD platters.
Causes of cuts:
- various mechanical effects on the drive, shocks, falls, vibration;
- low-quality power supply of the drive;
- defects in the manufacture of the drive at the manufacturer's factory;
- physical wear of the heads caused by long 24/7 operation;
- incorrect disconnection of the hard drive from a running computer;
- the disk emits a loud intermittent knock with a pronounced metallic clang;
- the hard drive motor spins up, but after a few knocks on the heads it can stop;
- the disk is not detected in any diagnostic program, and if it is detected, it does not show its volume.
Burns on the surface of magnetic platters are the most serious damage that fatally affects the possibility of successful data recovery from hard drives. The very fact of the presence of scratches on the disk plates indicates that the information cannot be completely restored, because. data in the area of scratches is already irretrievably lost. In the best case, it is possible to recover user files from undamaged portions of the plates.
Photos of discs with ring cuts on the plates
The photographs below show discs with fatal damage to the magnetic layer on the platters. The first example shows a photo of a disk whose heads have scratched a deep groove on the magnetic plates near the spindle in the parking area. Because of what appeared in the HDA great amount fine metal dust and shavings that have settled on all parts of the hard drive. In the second example, a 2.5" disk with external parking is photographed, in which the thin magnetic layer is almost completely erased by the heads and through the transparent glass plates you can see Bottom part HDD HDD. Both drives suffered such damage due to the fact that they were left on for a long time by the owners in the presence of loud knocks coming from failed heads. Different types of damage happened because the plates of 3.5" disks are made of aluminum coated with a magnetic layer, while the plates of 2.5" disks are made of tempered glass.
Technique for restoring information when cutting on the surface of magnetic plates
The appearance of scratches on the surface of the plates primarily indicates the failure of the block of magnetic heads, because. it is the heads that, when they hit the plate, form an annular cut on it and at the same moment they themselves fail. To recover data from a hard drive that has scratches on the surface of the plates, it is first necessary to replace the block of magnetic heads from exactly the same drive of a similar model and volume. Further, with the help of the PC3000 DataExtractor software and hardware complex, sector-by-sector copying of the disk is performed, taking into account the location of the ring scratch on the platters. Those. if the scratch is at the beginning of the disc, then copying is done by reverse from the end, if the scratch is at the end of the disc, then copying is done forward in ascending LBA, if the scratch is in the middle of the plate, then copying is done first to the scratch, and then reversed from the end to the scratch. This method allows you to subtract maximum amount data from a damaged drive. The presence of scratches on several HDD platters or only on one is also taken into account. If the scratch is located only on one plate, and the others are not damaged, then the data from the plates without cuts are first subtracted completely, and then the damaged plate is subtracted as much as possible. This can only be done on the PC3000 DataExtractor, because this complex, thanks to working with disks in the technological mode, allows you to see which LBA sectors are located on which platters. Please note that discs with such damage can only be copied sector by sector, excluding scratch areas. If you make an attempt to copy information by folders and files, then there is a high probability that the disk will try to read the file located directly in the filed area and then the hard disk head will instantly fail. An additional negative feature of data recovery in the presence of scratches on the disk platters is the need to use several donor disks, and not one, as in simple cases. This is due to the formation of fine metal dust inside the HDA, which appears as a result of damage to the magnetic layer of the plates as a result of the impact of the heads. Often there are cases when the disk platters are so badly scratched by the heads that it is impossible to recover data from them at all. This occurs when a knocking disk with a faulty block of magnetic heads remains switched on for a long time and the heads have time to cause significant damage to the plates.
Why a disc with sawn plates cannot be used in the future
When it comes to disks with ring cuts on the platters, we can only talk about data recovery. Even if you replace the heads and temporarily restore the HDD's performance, then when you try to use it in the future, the new heads will definitely fall on the area washed down on the plates and again instantly fail.
How to fix scratched discs?
Master's response:
Any CD, DVD disc is a round shape with a transparent base made of a substance called polycarbonate. The entire "stuffing" of the disc depends on its type, absolutely all discs have a protective layer, which completely wears out over time, and scratches appear on it.
For work you will need: toothpaste; disk.
All these scratches completely prevent the drive laser beam from processing data from the damaged area. The thickness of such a protective layer is 1.2 mm for CD and 0.6 mm for DVD. When restoring a CD or DVD, a light sanding of the clear surface can help. Take your drive toothpaste, preferably Colgate, wipes and water. By itself, the toothpaste will be a grinding tool, with its help you can remove a thin top layer along with all the scratches.
Apply the paste to the surface of the disc. Spread it completely over the surface of the disc using a tissue or with your fingers. Let the disc dry for a while, leaving it for a few minutes. After that, rinse the disc with water or in a specially prepared basin. Rinse off all the paste so that there is not even a trace. Wipe the disc dry with paper towels or a towel. Start wiping gently at all ends of the disc so as not to damage the surface and completely clean it of water.
Check the disk on your computer. If the recovery process did not help, then try to do the procedure again, but do not forget about the thickness of the protective layer, depending on the disk model. Almost 90 percent of all scratched discs will be able to recover, for a while with the help of this method. If the computer reads the contents of your media, then you need to completely transfer all data from the device to local drives computer.
If the disc has light scratches, then wipe its surface with a napkin or swab dipped in alcohol. All scratches will not disappear, but it will help wash dirt off the disc, which will improve access to the reflective layer.
CD/DVD discs are an important medium for data storage. You can store your favorite movies, songs, or even some important work projects on them. Discs must be stored in special packaging and not in bulk in any box. But even if you handle the discs with the utmost care and in the appropriate way, scratches on the surface of the discs cannot be ruled out.
This article will tell you about some simple ways get rid of scratches on CD. There are even special devices for polishing and “repairing” a scratched disc, however, these devices are quite expensive, so we will make do with “folk” means available in everyday life.
First you need to thoroughly clean the disk. This is necessary because sometimes dust and other contaminants can interfere with the normal reading of data from the disc. In order to clean the CD of contaminants, you need to wash it in warm soapy water. It can also be cleaned with liquid soap, detergents or even alcohol.
Disk needed clean away from the center of the disc to the periphery (i.e. to the edges of the disk). Necessary use a soft, lint-free cloth. After you wash the disc, it must be dried. Do not dry the disc in the sun or under a lamp, and do not use a towel to dry it.
If the CD does not work properly even after cleaning, then try turning it on in another player or drive. Often the cause of the problem is not at all the disc, but the laser of the "low" power of the player or drive.
If you begin to notice problems with reading data from a disk, and you value the data recorded on it, then you urgently need to make a copy of it or save its contents on your computer.
Note, How are the scratches on the disc?. Their location directly affects the degree of disk damage. Scratches that are perpendicular to the center of the disc affect the functionality of the CD/DVD to a much lesser extent than scratches that are located along the spiral of the disc.
Proven and reliable way polishing the disc that improves the playback quality of a scratched disc. For this you can use such tools, like soda, toothpaste, alcohol, anti-freeze (glass cleaner). These funds must be applied to the surface of the scratched disc and wipe it in a circular motion. As a rag Use a soft, lint-free cloth or wipes to clean your glasses. The CD should then be washed and allowed to dry.
For polishing disc you can also use polish for the car or neutral shoe polish.
After polishing the CD, check its surface. If you notice that the surface of the CD has become much more shiny (although some small scratches may still remain on the surface), then this means that the polishing has given positive result. If you did not notice any difference, even after polishing the disc, then the scratches on its surface are large and deep, and in this case, regular polishing will no longer help.
If everything worked out for you, then you can safely turn on your favorite CD player and go to
The working surface of optical discs is easily damaged - the protective layer is covered with scratches even with not very intensive use. Deep defects often lead to the impossibility of extracting information from the damaged media. Next, we will tell you how to restore a scratched disk by polishing with toothpaste, GOI paste, and also consider some "harmful" tips from the CD resuscitation Network.
Rules for dealing with damaged optical discs
Let's say right away that an unreadable medium with deep scratches can be restored in this way, at best, only partially. Moreover, you will have to act very carefully, otherwise the surface can be completely ruined. It would be better to practice on old unnecessary media before restoring a disk with valuable information - so you can evaluate the effectiveness of the method and, as they say, get your hands on it.
And do not immediately try to use the method described below when a read error occurs - check the disc on another computer - often it is the DVD drive that causes problems. In addition, there are many applications that allow you to extract the maximum information from scratched blanks thanks to a modified reading algorithm. One of the effective solutions is Durable Copy.
It is advisable to use the program to work with disks already restored by polishing, because we have already noted that heavily damaged media can never be reanimated 100%.
How to polish a blank with toothpaste at home
most accessible and safe way polishing - using toothpaste:
The movements during the polishing process should not be too intense so that the surface does not quickly heat up. There is also no need to press on the blank. After 15-20 minutes, thoroughly rinse the disc in warm water. Its surface may become matte due to the appearance of many microscopic scratches, but deep damage will become much less noticeable, which should have a better effect on the readability of the disc.
Dry the optical drive, try inserting it into the DVD drive. If your goal is to extract photos, important documents, etc., use the Durable Copy application or similar. Surely the copied intact information this time will become noticeably larger.
If necessary, the restoration of the working surface by the method described above can be repeated, but it makes sense to carry it out for no more than an hour. As practice shows, too long polishing with a paste already causes the opposite effect - there is less readable data on the media.
Professional polishing method
For really valuable and expensive discs, such artisanal methods should no longer be used. To obtain an acceptable result, the polycarbonate base will need to be polished with GOI fine abrasive paste (sold in hardware stores) using an electric drill with a grinding nozzle:
If you don’t have a power tool, polishing with GOI paste can also be done manually, but a positive result is far from guaranteed, and the process can take a long time.
How not to repair optical discs
You can often read a lot on the Internet alternative ways restoration of scratched compacts. For example, sometimes polishing is advised simply with soft or denim. It is clear that you will not be able to polish the surface with non-abrasive materials. It will simply overheat and the media will no longer be recoverable.
Another extreme option (the real advice of "specialists" from the Web) is polishing with fine-grained sandpaper. In this way, you can immediately spoil the surface, without even making an effort. The same applies to heating the disc in the microwave, under table lamp etc.
Another popular advice from the Internet is to cover the scratch with green paint or even completely treat the surface of the compact with it.
