Maybe a stupid question, but... repairing broken CD?

I have a CD that had some very important stuff on it and I found it yesterday on my bookshelf and it's been clean split in 2... (my 4yr old swears she has nothing to do with it... :innocent ) This might be a stupid question, but are there any ways to fix it? Any tricks to try that might work?

Thanks in advance.

 

nope

 

Even if you could put it back together, where it split data will be lost. amd the navigation data on the disk would be corrupt, sooo in conclusion.. its bye bye disk. sorry to say

 

If you've lost no splinters it can be done. Look around the net in your country at electronic hobby outlets (Maplin in UK) some sell kit to repair simple breaks. There are also some adverts in computer mags for the service commercially.
It all depends on how important your data is.

Studio T

 

I actually did repair a cracked CD once, but it wasn't broken all the way in two . . . just from an edge to the center hole. Nor was the CD otherwise visually warped or bent.

I lined up the two edges together as best as I could, and put a very thin layer of a gell acrylic glue along the crack on the TOP of the CD (not the data side) then set it on a book-case with the glue edge hanging over the side. I left it overnight, just to be sure the glue had set. To be on the safe side, I also applied a blank CD label (Memorex brand, I think, the kind that covers the whole CD) on the top side of the CD as added support. The CD contained .doc and .jpg files, and I was able to recover all of the data, as I recall. I am not sure how this would have worked had the CD contained a program.

Take note I was able to try the repaired CD on a computer that was not my main machine, so if it damaged the CD-ROM drive I wasn't out much - and the CD-ROM drive in question was an older type, only a 6X or 8X speed. If I had to use my main PC, I probably wouldn't have chanced it at that time.

Since your CD is broken all the way in two, I'm not sure if this type of repair is advisable or even possible. There would seem to be too much risk of the CD flying apart and doing damage to your computer, or worse - it's not beyond the realm of possibility it could cause injury as well.

studiot is correct in recommending a commercial solution to the problem. I fear for a CD that is in two pieces the options will be slim - but I have never researched it.

Good luck, and if you get a chance, let us know how it turns out!

 

Very sensible advice, natakel;run the repair on the slowest drive.