CDs and DVDs are much more reliable than floppies, but they don't last forever. Even under the best environmental conditions, some writeable removable media storage devices only last for a few years. Magnifying the problem is that the Windows operating system has its own way of handling CD and DVD media, which makes data recovery all the more difficult.
In this guide, you'll find troubleshooting advice for these removable media storage devices, as well as recommendation of freeware that can help ensure that data on these devices can always be retrieved.
Removable Media Storage
CD/DVD cleaning discs may do more harm than good
There is evidence that CD/DVD cleaning discs either accomplish nothing or actually harm the drives they're supposed to protect.
Data recovery freeware works on CD and DVD media
If your only CD or DVD backup of data stopped working, you couldn't recover the data, because of how Windows handles CD/DVD media. But now there's a data recovery freeware that admins can use to bypass Windows.
Recover data from unreadable CD/DVD-ROMs
If one of your CDs or DVDs wears out, you'll need a way to recover the data. The freeware CDCheck fixes unreadable CDs and DVDs by checking removable media for errors.
CD/DVD drives slow down after consecutive read errors
CD and DVD drives suffer from the same problem as hard drives: After multiple consecutive read errors, Windows defaults them from DMA mode to the to the slower and more CPU-intensive PIO mode.
How to fix CD drive problems
Compact discs (CDs) are a reliable method of exchanging data than floppies ever were, but they're not immune to problems. Here are a few tips for troubleshooting a problem with a CD drive.
Blocking use of CD drives in WinXP for security reasons
There may be times when you want to block the use of CD drives for security reasons. In Windows XP, you can.
Troubleshooting CD/DVD-ROM devices in Windows
A particular problem with CD/DVD-ROM devices in Windows 2000 and XP can be fixed with a registry hack.
