Home >> Maintenance Tutorials >> CD/DVD important notes!!


CD/DVD disc important notes!!

CD/DVD discs are so important for every one because of many reasons, the main reasons are they're portable and different types of files can be stored on them, so I will show you below some points on how to protect your CD/DVDs and for saving them for a longer life time lasting but before that I want to give you a breif introduction for the CD/DVD discs types.


Types of CD/DVDs:


CD (Compact Disc):

CD-R discWhich is used for storing different types of data like documents, videos, audios etc…, it's media storage size around 700MB, it can be used on PC, Video games, CD players etc…
There are two CD types CD-R and CD-RW, the CD-R means "Read" hence you can only use it once when you burn files on it you cannot erase them anymore, however the CD-RW means "Read and Write" which you can use it many times as you need by formatting it with the writable CD-ROM drive before adding the new data.


DVD (Digital Versatile Disc):


It has the same look size of the normal CD disc but much bigger DVD discstoring media capacity size, normally there are three capacity sizes:

Around 4.7 GB (single-sided single-layer):

This is the most common type used these days where it can be used to store all types of files.


Around 8.54 GB (single-sided double-layer):

This type is the same concept of the 4.7 GB DVD but uses another method of data storing where the media contains of two layers and can be used by the normal DVD-ROM drive for writing or reading.


Around 17.08 GB (double-sided double-layer):

It uses the same concept of the 8.54 GB DVD but with two sides, where you can use both DVD faces for reading and writing but rarely you can find this type in the market.

Note: DVDs Contains of two categories, the normal DVDs which are DVD-R and DVD+R  and two categories of re-writable types DVD+RW and DVD-RW; the normal category used only once so when writing files it cannot be erased anymore, the – and + signs represents the method of storing the data on the DVD by the laser beam so for writing on DVD+R we have to use the DVD+R ROM writable drivers to burn files on it, however the DVD-R is compatible with both DVD-R and DVD+R ROM drivers in writing perspective, hence for DVD reading it doesn’t matter using any types of DVD ROM drivers for all types listed above.


BD (Blu-ray Disc):

Blu-Ray disc
It is a new generation of DVD medium storage disc that supersede the normal DVD format and used to store the High Definition Video or audio files or storing play station 3 games with a huge capacity of 25GB for single layer and 50GB for the double layer for each disc.

 

Side effects of CD/DVD discs

  • They can be scratched easily.
  • Limited life time.
  • Affected by moisture and heat.
  • Can be broken easily.

 

How to deal with CD/DVD discs for long life lasting?

  1. All the data stored on the printed side of the disc, so any scratch on this face might cause a permanent damage to the data so be careful DVD printed facewhen handling the printed face.

  2. Don’t use normal pen to write the disc's title on the printed face, however there is a special pen type used for this purpose.

  3. Don’t put the disc on a table on it's bottom face because this would scratch it's surface and don’t put it on the printed face as well because this would collect dust from the air on the bottom face then when using the disc in the CD/DVD ROM drive the dust will Cd/DVD coverwaste the laser lens, so instead of that use point number 4 below.

  4. Always keep the discs inside their plastic covers when not using.

  5. Don’t touch the bottom face by your fingers cause it will leave finger prints and make the disc hard to be read over time.

  6. wrong CD CleaningCorrect CD cleaningWhen cleaning the discs from the bottom face always use a very soft wet cloth (same cloth of cleaning the glasses) and the cleaning moving paths should be on straight lines starting from the center of the disc crossing the disc towards the external circumference, so don’t use the circular moving paths like moving the cloth several times on the media in circle moves because this will make small scratches on the disc surface and the disc might hard to be read.

  7. Don’t leave the disc in hot environments.

  8. Don’t wash the disc by water, this might damage it over time because of the moisture.

  9. Don't put a scratched disk into the CD/DVD drive becuase this might scratch it more and cause a lens damage.

 

Related Links:

CD/DVD Autorun feature

CD/DVD Burning Methods and Implementations

I lost My windows CD key!!