Clean CD players/burners?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Are CD players/ burners supposed to be cleaned? How? I've been having
trouble with copying and restoring from data CD's. I frequently get errors
and I have tried different copying/burning scenarios. Just yesterday I was
trying to restore an image to a partition, I've installed this CD before
with no problem but during installation I received an error message 'file
can not be read.' I do not see any obvious damage to the CD, I've lost faith
in optical media as a back up. All Suggestions will be welcome, thank you.
--
Ed H
Dell Dimension 4550, WinXP Professional SP2
60 Gig. HD, 512 DDR, Pentium IV 2.40 GHz.

 

[Sandman]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Best advice I have gleaned from reading on the Web sez, DO NOT use those
'optical disc cleaner CDs' that claim to wipe the lens with a tiny brush.. I
personally use the air duster cannisters to squirt plain old air into the
drive, being careful not to shove the nozzle too far into the drive. This
should remove most dust.. If your burner is older than say several years old
and you have not done this, it may be beyond that kind of cleaning.
The very worst thing for optical drives (and everything else inside your
case) is cigaret smoke (if you smoke) as this forms heavy residue on
everything over time, that can't be removed by blowing a jet of air inside
the caase or the drives. It also could be a bad disc.
"Ed H" <w.whatkey@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:eqaxt5DiEHA.1652@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Are CD players/ burners supposed to be cleaned? How? I've been having
> trouble with copying and restoring from data CD's. I frequently get errors
> and I have tried different copying/burning scenarios. Just yesterday I was
> trying to restore an image to a partition, I've installed this CD before
> with no problem but during installation I received an error message 'file
> can not be read.' I do not see any obvious damage to the CD, I've lost
faith
> in optical media as a back up. All Suggestions will be welcome, thank you.
> --
> Ed H
> Dell Dimension 4550, WinXP Professional SP2
> 60 Gig. HD, 512 DDR, Pentium IV 2.40 GHz.
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

>-----Original Message-----
>Are CD players/ burners supposed to be cleaned? How?
I've been having
>trouble with copying and restoring from data CD's. I
frequently get errors
>and I have tried different copying/burning scenarios.
Just yesterday I was
>trying to restore an image to a partition, I've
installed this CD before
>with no problem but during installation I received an
error message 'file
>can not be read.' I do not see any obvious damage to the
CD, I've lost faith
>in optical media as a back up. All Suggestions will be
welcome, thank you.
>--
>Ed H
>Dell Dimension 4550, WinXP Professional SP2
>60 Gig. HD, 512 DDR, Pentium IV 2.40 GHz.
>
>
>
>.
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

>-----Original Message-----

<snip>

>Also bear in mind, PC CD reader / Writer is a very low
cost device: we the
>buyers have made it that way. SO there are a lot of cost
cutting measures
>which result in short product life. Many of my clients
have had to replace
>Burners within the first 18 months of their life. This
is not specific to
>any one brand.

Please explain your contention that "we the buyers" are
responsible for what you contend are poor-quality optical
drives. While you're at it, list some of the "cost
cutting measures" you refer to, with specific examples.
Also please explain how it is that any user might have
to replace an optical drive "within the first 18 months of
their life." I was in my forties before I had to replace
one.
>