Dust on a CD. Hoiw bad is it for the drive?

Whenever I put a CD or DVd in a drive I always try to get all the dust off it but sometimes it's impossible. There always seems to be a few specs of dust on the CD when it does into the drive. Does dust on a CD or DVD hurt the drive?

 

It's not killer, but long-term, it's not good for it. A little bit of dust gets in normally, but adding extra isn't a great idea. Too much and eventually the laser lens gets coated with enough dust to keep it from reading a CD. Too much junk on the bottom of the CD will keep to laset from reading the disk accurately.

If you've got enough dust on them to worry about, it sounds like you're leaving them out loose. You should keep them in jewel cases or some kind of protection, as getting them too scratched up on the bottom surface will ruin them too.

 

Not to hijack Ecin's thread, but what about all the dust that gets sucked in the front of the 'puter by the fans in the back? It coagulates around the CD, floppy, etc. Canned air just seems to blow it inside the machine, then what? Is it bad?

 

Thanks

 

Thanks, too! I have some air conditioner filter scraps I will try, until I can research the motherboard foam you are referring to.

 

that's a great idea that I never thought of. I always use a special CD cloth to wipe off my CD's, but when I use the cloth is often leaves more dust on the CD. I am going to use some compressed air and see how that works.. I keep all my CD's in a book but dust finds it's way in there.

 

I got tired of buying compressed air.
I just use my electric compressor, just have to be carefull not to use to much PSI

 

dust can also get into the mechanical parts of the drive and cause problems too. If it gets in the track where the laser moves it can cause problems.

Actually, scratching the top is more dangerous. it takes a pretty deep scratch in the bottom to ruin it, but if you scratch the top (which holds the data) a much smaller scratch can hurt it much more. There is a small aluminum layer at the top that holds the data, and if it is even dented the cd won't read right.