Cleaning DVDs
Why do CDs and DVDs get damaged? Compact discs are all plastic. CDs are even not sensitive to magnetic fields as in case floppy disks, which never used to retain data when even a slight magnetic field is crossed with floppies. Then what is the reason why CDs get corrupted?
CDs and DVDs work on the principle of reflection of light and cleaning DVDs is essential for proper functioning. CD drives have a built in laser that is used to read data. When laser is focused on to the DVD the beam get reflected to a point when there is some data on that are i.e. 0 or 1 the points where light beam lands back is different which symbolizes the bit value. As you can imagine cleaning DVDs can make a big difference!
When an imperfection on the DVD breaks the path of the laser light, something like dust particle or something else like a FINGER PRINT!!! Finger prints are nothing but natural oil from skin that sticks to the surface in contact with the skin in a pattern of skin cells. Cleaning DVDs to remove fingerprints will directly maintain proper functioning. The oily fingerprint can refract the light of the laser and cause read issues.
When DVDs dont run, the reason is because something is interrupting the laser to read the shiny side of the DVD, cleaning DVDs prevents this. But I have important data, so what should I do now?
Most of the times it is because of dust or fingerprints, so you will just need to be cleaning DVDs more often. You can clean your DVDs with plain water or a bit soapy water. And it is better to clean the DVDs after some time. But this doesnt mean you should start putting your CDs in dishwasher or washing machine every week, cleaning DVDs does not require that!
All you need to do is to wipe the shiny side of the DVD with a clean moist cloth and try running it again make sure the CD is dry before you run it. See, cleaning DVDs is easy!
People say about using all different sorts of things when cleaning DVDs like toothpastes, wax polish etc. but I would recommend you to buy a DVD / CD cleaning kit. But if you still want to go try, do let me know the results.
And one thing I must add is that DVDs work on the same principle and are more sensitive to dust and fingerprints than a CD. You can use the above mentioned procedure for cleaning DVDs or CDs. But you need to be extremely careful when cleaning DVDs.
