What Is Optical Disc Error Recovery?
Understanding recovery when CDs and DVDs cannot be read normally.
Optical-disc error recovery is the controlled process of obtaining content from discs affected by scratches, contamination, ageing or read errors.
Why optical discs fail
National Archives notes that dust, grit, fingerprints and scratches on the data surface can interfere with the laser reading an optical disc.
Cleaning and handling
Cleaning should be conservative and should not introduce further damage. The source should be handled by the edges and centre hole rather than the data surface.
Multiple drives
Where a normal read fails, specialist extraction methods and different optical drives may recover sectors that another drive cannot read.
Sector errors
Recovered data should be clearly distinguished from missing or uncertain content. Never silently substitute files from another source.
Recovery documentation
Record read errors, recovered sectors, checksums and any limitations in the final report.
Reference guidance: This article is informed by optical-media preservation guidance from the U.S. National Archives and the Library of Congress Recommended Formats Statement. Where appropriate, the article distinguishes preservation guidance from practical extraction procedures.
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